BellaOnline Forums Hobbies and Crafts Knitting Yarn Breaking

Hi Everyone & Happy New Year,

I'm new to knitting and to the boards here. I was wondering if someone can help me.

I've been having trouble with the yarn breaking whilst I'm knitting. Its happened to me now twice with two completely different yarns. Since this I've only just got started, and only tried a couple yarns, I think the problem is more likely me than the yarns. The yarn I am using now is mainly alpaca, and as far as I can tell, it is becoming unspun as I knit.

Does anyone have any advice on how I could improve my technique to stop this happening?

Thanks,
Natasha.

Welcome, Natasha!

A couple of questions for you. First, tell me a little more about the yarn you're using. Is it one-ply or multi-ply (in other words, can you unwind it into multiple little strands, or is it just one strand)? I've had some breakage problems with one-ply yarn, because it just isn't as strong. Working with a multi-ply yarn might help.

But you're probably on the right track in thinking that it's not just the yarn. Are you a tight knitter? Do you have to go up needle sizes to knit to gauge? I'm guessing that you are a tight knitter and need to "loosen up" a bit <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Do you use your left hand to add tension to your knitting? If so, try and add less tension with that hand. (It's hard to be more specific because I can't see you knit.) If I haven't hit it, let me know and I'll try again.

Hang in there!
Becky

And to add to the above suggestions my first thought is how is the yarn wound ? Sometimes you have to re wind the yarn so that as you use it, it won't become tangled.

This was me- depending on the yarn, I can knit tight, and the yarn would break. My solution is to rewind the yarn into nice balls. I then keep the balls in a gallon ziplock bag (with a corner cut out for the yarn to be pulled through!) and this keeps the yarn from hanging up on something. I've also been rolling my own center pull balls, and that method is heaven sent- I don't have the ball of yarn rolling places, getting caught, etc. Lastly, I keep the yarn in the ziplock bag in one of my Bolga baskets. These are baskets my mom found me- they come from Africa, and the straw is so pliable; you wet it, shape it however you want- when it dries, it keeps its shape. The baskets keep everything togther, and when I have to "throw" my work into a pile (like, when the puppy is doing something he shouldn't be doing, and I have to go after him!) it is all contained in the basket.

I hope the suggestions here help you. Yarn breakage is disappointing as well as frustrating.