Do you row out? Or do you knit like a master?

As you know, I’m a huge fan of Craftsy!  It’s actually a little sad for me, because I basically have all the classes, so I just wait anxiously for them to release something new!  Anyway, I feel compelled to share a quick tip from one of my favorite classes, Knit Like a Master, taught by Ann Budd (FYI: those are affiliate links).

Funny story: I was knitting up a baby blanket while watching the part of the class on gauge when Ann started talking about a phenomenon called “rowing out,” that happens when your purl stitches are looser than your knit stitches.  It shows up most obviously on the reverse side of stockinette where you see ridges on the back of your work.  So, as I was knitting this mostly-stockinette blanket, I looked down and there they were!  Totally obvious ridges.
It’s weird that I’ve never noticed this in my knitting until now!  To be fair, I rarely knit flat and rarely knit large swatches of stockinette.  Still, when you’ve been knitting for 15 years, it’s surprising and kind of exciting to learn something new about such a basic thing as stockinette stitch.
Anyway… here’s the quick tip I promised you: set up your knitting so you are working your purl rows with a needle one size smaller than your knit rows.  I didn’t feel like ripping out this blanket and starting over to try it, but I will definitely do it next time!
Thank you, Ann!