DPNs, no more ladders
I battled with DPNs for years and always ended up magic looping in the end. I read all the advice, pull the first stitches tight, shift the stitches, add more DPNs. None of it worked for me. I couldn't stand magic looping tiny glove fingers though, so I finally decided to conquer the DPN.
Finally, I have discovered something that I can share that I never saw come up when looking for laddering advice when I needed it. I will share my solution with you in the hopes that you may too win your battle with your DPNs.
While we are knitting along, we open up each stitch as we go, it is part of our tension. Like this:
Look how wide my stitch opens when I pull the yarn through. That tightens up the last stitch on the previous row by drawing yarn from it.
What I noticed, was that when I started on the next needle, I either naturally entered the stitch at a different angle and it didn't open up or I actively tried to keep it from stretching open in a misguided attempt to keep that stitch 'tight'.
See how it didn't open up here? That breaks the tension I had running across the previous needle. By not opening up that first stitch, the last stitch of the row on the previous needle remains loose and will lead to laddering.
Instead, open up that first stitch on each needle. That tightens up the last stitch on the previous row and keeps your tension even throughout.
Once the stitch has been opened up, knit/purl it.
Now you can snug it up, no need for a death grip. I find it best to hold the needle below the previous one as shown here for a knit stitch and above the previous needle if this stitch is a purl.
I haven't seen so much as a hint of a ladder since I started doing this. I hope it helps someone else.