knitting instruction blog

Sorry for the delay! By now you must have MASTERED casting on...which is a good thing, because you can't knit without it! Ready for more? Consider this post the "meat and potatoes" of knitting (given the time of year, maybe the "corned beef and cabbage" is more appropriate!).

A little background about what you are about to learn. "Knitting" has two definitions. One is the general term for the craft itself. But "knitting" also describes the act of doing the "knit stitch". You see, there are two basic components of Knitting (the craft, which I'll designate with a capital K...) - knitting and purling. When you are doing the knit stitch, you are knitting. When you are doing the purl stitch, you are purling. (But either way, you are Knitting - get it?) Both knitting and purling are very simple...and once you've learned them, you can do a myriad other things. Everything else is a combination of knitting and purling, with a few detail techniques thrown in to keep you enchanted.

Whether you are knitting or purling, you are simply transferring all of your stitches from one needle to the other, then back again (over and over). That's the basic premise of Knitting. Every transfer creates a new row, and each row adds length to your project.

We are going to start by learning the knit stitch. Be patient - it takes some practice. Your head will learn first, and your hands will follow. It may feel awkward for a while, but your hands will soon catch up to your head, and you'll be a knitting machine!

KNITTING 101: the knit stitch

1. You are going to knit off of your cast-on stitches. Try casting on about 10 stitches. Hold the needle with the cast-on stitches in your left hand. Hold the other needle in the right. Look at the yarn that is hanging from the cast-on stitches. There should be two strands - one is attached to the skein of yarn - we'll call this the "working yarn", and one is a tail - which should be ignored. Be sure that as you follow the directions, you are using the "working yarn" and ignoring the tail. Some people tie something to the tail, like a button or a safety pin, so that they don't make the mistake of knitting with it.

2. With your right needle, pass the tip through the front of the first stitch on the left needle, from front to back.

3. Now take the "working yarn" and bring it around the right needle from back to front. In other words, bring it behind the needle to the left, then in front of the needle to the right, or wrap it counter-clockwise.

4. Try to get a sturdy grasp on the "working yarn" with your right hand by draping it down the length of the right needle and pretending that it is a part of the needle.

5. Now, bring the right needle from the back of the left needle to the front, dragging along the loop that you made from the "working yarn". If you have a slight tug on the "working yarn", it should follow the needle pretty easily.

Does this feel familiar? It should. You've just done the same motion that you did to cast on. But here's where things are different...

6. You now have a loop of yarn on the right needle. Pull on this loop with your right needle to that the original loop/stitch on the left needle falls right off of the left needle.

Now look at your needles -- you should have 9 stitches on the left and 1 on the right. Hooray! You just *knit* your first stitch. Keep on going in the same fashion, knitting one stitch at a time off of the left needle and adding it on to the right...

Continue with the above directions until you have knit all stitches from the left needle onto the right. Then simply change hands -- put the needle that is holding the stitches into your left hand and the naked needle into your right. You're ready to knit another row!

A few tips to remember -
-always keep the "working yarn" to the back of your stitches when you are doing the knit stitch.
-practice practice practice!
-try not to knit too tight - it makes life very difficult! Remember the rule about your favorite jeans. Your stitches should hug your needle gently, with room to wiggle.

What you are doing right now, by knitting every row, is called the garter stitch. The garter stitch is very commonly used in Knitting because it is creates a nice sturdy fabric which doesn't roll or curl. It is also reversible - the front and back look exactly the same. It makes a nice scarf!