(Untitled)

[nimbrethil]

I'm wondering about slipping stitches.  Specifically, I've noted that a lot of patterns are emphatic about whether you should slip a stitch purlwise or knitwise.  I assume they do so because it makes a difference in the FO, so I wonder what a knitter can assume when there are no explicit instructions.  My inclination is to always slip knitwise,

Comments

[sarakate]

Slipping knitwise changes the orientation of the stitch, so you should only do it where you want to change the orientation. Usually the reason why you'd want to do so is because you're going to do some other manipulation -- for instance, if you're doing a sl1-k1-psso, you slip knitwise because you want the left leg in front, so when you pass it to the left and over the subsequent stitch, that leg ends up to the left of the stitch, rather than the right leg twisting across in front. If all you're doing is not working the stitch this row, but coming back to work it later, usually you want to preserve the original orientation. If in doubt, try it both ways and look carefully -- does the stitch end up twisted, and if so, do you *want* it twisted? Do it the way that gives you the intended result.

You also had a question in another comment about orientation of stitches after ripping. It's not important that you get them on the needle in the original orientation when you're catching them, and in fact I often find it easier to catch them with left legs in front. What *is* important is that you knit them untwisted (unless of course your pattern calls for twisting). You can individually re-orient them as you come to ones that ended up left legs forward, or you can simply make sure that you work each stitch through its right leg, wherever that right leg happens to be located.

There's no reason not to use circs of whatever length you like, as long as they're at least long enough to accommodate all your stitches, when using circs to knit flat. Individuals may find a long unused cable annoying, but that's purely a matter of personal preference and not a technical issue. As has been noted, 16" circs (and shorter) have shorter than normal needles, to allow them to bend in the tighter circle; this is why interchangeable sets won't make a set of 16" circs. Some people like this -- for instance, I strongly prefer 16" circs for sock needles, though not in larger sizes -- while others find that it detracts. Again, personal preference governs.