One of the biggest issues that could happen when we work in the round is a column of long horizontal strands that appears between the needles. This column is called a “ladder” because it looks a lot like a ladder.
Ladders are rare in projects with many stitches, but they are quite common in seamless projects that have a small circumference, like socks, mittens, small hats and sleeves.
They are usually more prominent in projects worked with double-pointed needles, especially when we use four needles instead of five. But ladders also happen in projects worked with two circular needles or with one long circular needle using the magic loop technique.
Because ladders are caused by an uneven tension, the best way to get rid of this issue is to improve our knitting tension in general. This is a big goal that could take years of diligent knitting to achieve.
Meanwhile, we can use a very simple method that completely eliminates ladders in any project worked with any type of needles.
Let’s see how it works.
If you are a visual learner, learn this little trick from a video tutorial:
We’ll start by taking care of ladders between the most ladder-prone tools – double-pointed needles.
STEP 1
As you finish working on one group of stitches, put the empty needle aside for a moment.
STEP 2
Take the needle with the next group of stitches in your left hand and work one or two stitches from that needle to the needle that holds the previous group of stitches.
Now, the right needle has more stitches than the left needle. It is totally fine. By the end of the round, we’ll fix this difference.
As to the number of extra stitches that we should work, it is usually more convenient to work the number of stitches that forms the pattern repeat.
For example, if a project is made in stockinette stitch, moving one stitch to the right needle is enough. When we work in 1 x 1 ribbing, it makes more sense to shift the distribution of stitches by two stitches.
STEP 3
Take the empty needle in your right hand and work the stitches of the second group.
Then repeat the same three steps – put the empty needle aside, work a few stitches from the group of stitches on the left to the needle that holds the previous group of stitches, then pick up the empty needle and use it to work the group of stitches on the left.
Once you finish working stitches on each needle, you will see that the stitches are, once again, evenly distributed between the needles.
You will also notice that the beginning of the round has shifted. It will move every time we work this “shifting round”, so place a marker to make sure you remember where the beginning of the round is.
Because we moved the stitches between the needles, the spots that could potentially get a ladder are now safely tucked away from the gaps between the needles.
Repeat this round every few rounds to keep the ladders at bay. If you don’t want to give the ladders even a slightest chance, work the “shifting round” in every round.
The idea is exactly the same when we want to avoid ladders between two circular needles or between two groups of stitches on one long circular needle used with the magic loop method. But the process is a little bit different.
STEP 1
When you finish working on one group of stitches, rearrange the needles for working the other group of stitches.
STEP 2
Work one or two stitches (depending on the stitch pattern used in your project).
STEP 3
Pull the right needle up to move the stitch (or stitches) that you’ve just worked down the cord until they join the previous group of stitches.
Continue to work on the current group of stitches and repeat these steps one more time when you rearrange the needles for working on the previous group of stitches again.
Now both groups have the same number of stitches.
Because the beginning of the round is shifting, it helps to attach a marker to remember where the round starts.
If the ladders in your projects are barely visible, you can keep them from forming if you hold the right and the left needles almost parallel to each other to make the fabric as flat as possible when you work the first couple of stitches on the left needle. This method is described as “tip #4” in this tutorial
SAVE IT FOR LATER:
This and 41 other in-depth tutorials are part of Knitting Collection #6.
