Shoutout to the lady at the yarn store who told me my tension was way too tight

Ngl, I was pretty proud of my first attempt at knitting a scarf last month. I brought it into this little shop in Portland to ask about a pattern, and the owner just looked at me and said 'honey, you're strangling those stitches'. I thought tight tension meant it would look neat, but she showed me how it was making the fabric stiff and tiny. So I loosened up my grip and started over, and now the stitches actually look like they're supposed to. Has anyone else gotten a brutal but helpful critique that totally changed how you do your hobby? I swear I was about to quit before she said that.

2 comments

2 Comments

alicec8612d agoMost Upvoted

Did you also have to learn the hard way that 'relax your hands' is just code for 'don't choke the yarn to death'?

schmidt.eva11d ago

My first crochet project was a potholder so stiff it could've been a cutting board, so I feel your pain @alicec86. That "strangling the stitches" comment was a wake-up call for me too.