So you wanna knit? Part six: the purl stitch

If you feel good about the knit stitch, you are already half-way to becoming a Knitter (with a capital K).  Pretty good!!  The other half of the Knitting equation is *purling*...which essentially is just inside-out knitting.  The purl stitch can feel a little awkward, especially if you are used to knitting knitting knitting.  But some people LOVE to purl!  Maybe you'll be one of them!

PURLING 101

1.  The first thing to know about purling is that the working yarn must be kept IN FRONT of your needles. This is in contrast to knitting, where the working yarn was always behind.  So before you even start, make sure your yarn is in front.  Now, with your naked needle in your right hand and the stitch-filled needle in your left, insert the tip of the naked needle (x-rated knitting?) into the front of the first stitch, from right to left:

2.  Take the working yarn and wrap it AROUND the tip of the right needle from right to left, or counter clockwise.  Another way to describe this is going over then under the right needle with the yarn:

Hold the working yarn taught, along the length of the right needle:

3.  Now, move the right needle from the front of the left needle to the back, pulling the working yarn along with it.  The right needle will be moving THROUGH the loop on the left hand needle as you do this:

4.  You are almost done!  Pull the right needle to the right, so that the original loop that you went through in step 1 slips off of the left needle.  What you'll have is a new stitch on your right needle. This is a purl stitch!

5. Repeat steps 1-4 until you have purled all stitches off of the left needle.  Voila!!

When you purl every row, your work looks the same as knitting every row - *garter stitch*.  If you alternate knitting an purling, magic happens!  This is called *stockinette stitch* - try it!  I'll post a picture of stockinette stitch soon.  First see if you can discover it on your own!

Questions? Comments?? I've been told that my "comment" button doesn't appear in my posts.  I'm trying to get blogger to help me fix this, but so far - no good.  Please email me!  cygknits@gmail.com - can't wait to hear about your progress!

So you wanna knit? Part five: the knit stitch

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!

Do you have any cool ideas for what to make using garter stitch??

The Yarn Garden

Big trouble!! I've stumbled upon a new LYS (local yarn shop)!! And it's awesome and adorable. It's called The Yarn Garden and is on Elm Street in Meriden, CT. If you weren't looking for it, you might not see it - it is literally tucked into a cottage-like home in the middle of a quiet neighborhood. But what a gem! It is cozy and friendly and is chock-full of scrumptious yarns. They also have a huge library of patterns that are nicely organized. I've been there twice in the past week and have picked up some really good stuff!

1. simple knits for cherished babies - by Erika Knight

I have a lot of preggo friends...and am loving knitting baby stuff. This book is a staple for baby-knits and I'm excited to tackle some of the patterns inside.

2.  Baby boutique by Plymouth Yarns - soft and silky, but still durable (and machine washable!).  I'm using it to knit a super cute sweater for one of my BFF's baby, who is on the way :)  I'll post the pattern and photos when I'm all done.  I don't want to ruin any surprises!

3.  Namaste - If you are looking for a hip, trendy way to carry around your knitting stuff, check out the bags and accessories made by Namaste. I bought a cute carrying case for my dpns called the mini cozy, from the "Cali collection'. Love it!

4.  You might die when you see how cute these baby booties are - Toddler Merry-Jane and Toddler Moc-a-soc.  I can't wait to start a pair.  I bought the patterns at The Yarn Garden, but you can also buy them online and they'll be delivered to your email in 24 hours, in a PDF file.  This is a great way to order patterns.  You can save them on your computer, and print them when/if you need to.  A good way to knit green!

Thanks Yarn Garden! See you again soon!

Presto Chango

A co-worker of mine is having a baby.  Soon!  We are scheduled to "shower" her in a week or so...and I've been knitting away on the Presto Chango (free download!)...quite possibly the cutest baby sweater I've ever seen.  I love it because it looks like a mini-grown up sweater.  And the concept of a detachable/interchangable front panel is so cool.  I wish I had come up with it!  You can actually knit different panels that button-on when you want a new "look"...for your very stylish baby.   

This is the back...

The front panel has a lovely yarnover (YO) pattern.

The buttons are very simple - I bought them at Michael's.  (P.S. the baby's a girl, don't worry...) 

I used organic cotton from Debbie Bliss's ECO Fairtrade Collection.  The gauge is 4 stitches to the inch, and I achieved this on size US 8. 

I hope baby and mama like!

So you wanna knit? Part four: casting on

Ready?  Good.  Let's go.
Grab your needles and your yarn.  Put on some good tunes.  Pour a glass of wine.  Let's cast on.

"Casting on" is how you get your stitches on your needles.  You are building a foundation to knit off of.  Your pattern will tell you how many stitches to cast on (CO).  Do what you are told.  If you are just playing around, it doesn't matter so much.  Try casting on 20, or in Knitting-ese, "CO 20".

The first stitch that you cast on is made out of a slip knot.  Have you ever made a slip knot?  Probably.  But maybe knot (sorry, couldn't resist).  It's easier to learn by seeing it, than reading it, so here are a few pictures that might help:

SLIP KNOT 101

1.  With the palm of one hand facing you, drape the tail end of your yarn over your hand from front to back.  Leave about a foot of yarn hanging off the back of your hand.

2.  Grab the tail of the yarn with your opposite hand and wrap it around your pointer and middle fingers one time so that it is hanging behind your fingers again.  Like this:

3.  Curl your pointer and middle fingers towards you and with your opposite hand, push a loop of the tail through the yarn that is wrapped around your fingers.  Grab this loop with your right hand and pull your left fingers out.  While holding the loop, gently tug on the yarn tail - the one that is "hanging loose" (not the one attached to the skein).  This will tighten the loop.

4.  You have just made a slip knot.  It is called a slip knot because it easily slips into a bigger or smaller loop, depending on how you tug it.  Play with it a little, and make a couple until you feel like you have the hang of it.  It becomes so second nature after a while that you do it without even thinking about it.  No luck?? It might be easier to watch a video. Try this one! Or just go to YouTube and type in "slip knot" - you'll find more videos than you'll know what to do with. There are lots of different ways to make a slip knot. You'll find one that works for your happy little fingers.

The loop of the slip knot gets put onto one needle. Then this needle is held in your non-dominant hand. This is going to be your working needle. You are going to add many more loops to this needle until you have as many as you need to start your project. This will be the foundation of your knitting, and what you are about to do is "cast on".

CASTING ON

Okay.  You already have one stitch "cast on" to your needle - the "stitch" that was created by the slip knot.  I am going to walk you through the "cable cast on" method. I like this method because as you cast on, you will also be learning the "knit stitch" (more-or-less)...so pay attention!  There are other ways to cast on, but we'll save them for later.

CABLE CAST ON:

1.  Hold the needle with the slip knot in your non-dominant hand.  (For me this is the left, so all of my pictures will illustrate right-handed kntting.  If you are a lefty, this link will walk you through how to do this in the other direction).  With your dominant hand, put the tip of the other needle through the front of the stitch, keeping the right needle below the left.

2. Next, wrap the end of the yarn which is attached to the skein around the tip of the right needle, from back to front:

Give this tail a little tug, almost so it snaps into place in between the two needles, and is snug against the first loop.

3. Now, with your right hand, bring the right needle from the back to the front of the left, carrying along the yarn that you looped around.  In other words, bring the yarn THROUGH the original stitch, back to front.

See what you've got?? You've got another loop.  Where do you think it should go??  Next to the first loop! 

4. So, with your right needle, pull a little to make the loop bigger, then slip it on to the end of the left needle.

Gently pull the tail to make this loop fit nicely next to its neighbor.  You never want to cast on too TIGHT.  The stitches should encircle the needle like your favorite old pair of broken-in-jeans fits your hips.

The next stitch will be made by repeating the above, but building on the stitch you just made.  The only difference is this: instead of inserting your right needle through the front of the stitch, you are going to wedge it between the first stitch and second stitch, like this:

Do you see the difference?  The rest is the same...wrap the yarn (which is connected to the skein) around the right needle from back to front, give it a tug, and carry it from back to front with your right needle.  Then tug on the loop and add it to the left needle, next to the first two. 

Do this over and over again, adding one stitch at a time, until you have "cast on" as many stitches as you need.  The stitches will stack nicely next to one another, and when you are all done, it will look something like this:

Congrats!  Practice makes perfect (hint, hint!).

What the...? Demystifying knitting lingo

I thought I was pretty cool in seventh grade.  I transformed from "Mandy" into "Mandi", got my first real boyfriend (or two), and made the executive decision to take...(drumroll)...FRENCH.  Up until seventh grade, you see, my classmates and I were forced to take Spanish.  Blah.  Uno, dos, tres.  I mean, like, didn't the teachers know that we, like, totally learned all of that stuff, like, on Sesame Street, about a TRILLION years ago??  What-EVER! 

But French...ooh la la!  So exotic, so sophisticated.  Someone decided that as seventh graders we were mature enough to handle the language of love, and voila!  I was officially a French Student.  Adios espanol!

Now, a decade (or two) later, I'm cursing that Francophilic adolescent.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed learning French, and continued to study it through my freshman year of college (thank you Prof. Williamson!).  But now that I'm a big girl with a big-girl job, I NEED TO SPEAK SPANISH!!!  Hindsight is 20/20, as they say.  I am exposed to more Spanish than English on any given day in my profession. Who would have known.  Rosetta Stone is my only hope at this point.  If I had only stuck with Spanish back when I was still Mandy, I would probably be pretty good by now.

Despite my failed attempts at being bilingual in the traditional sort-of way, I am proud to say that I am fluent in the language of knitting. 

The language of knitting is more like a shorthand.  The key is learning how to decipher the abbreviations and symbols that represent knitting stitches and techniques.  The shorthand helps to keep patterns concise and easy to follow.  Writing out "slip one knit-wise, knit one, and pass slipped stich over" takes up a lot more room than "SKP", and is messier for your brain to process when you are quickly glancing at a written pattern and telling your fingers how to follow.  Here's a run-down of some basic abbreviations:

CO = cast on
k = knit
p = purl
dec = decrease
inc = increase
k2tog = knit two together
yo = yarn over
wyif = with yarn in front
St st = stockinette stitch
BO = bind off

There are lots more, which you will learn along the way.

Most knitting patterns will have a key which explains what their abbreviations mean.  The Craft Yarn Council of America has certain standards for knitting abbreviations, and if you click here, you will find them all.  Any good knitting instruction book will have an index of abbreviations, and if all else fails, type "xx knitting abbreviation" into google, and you are almost guaranteed to decipher even the most obscure notation.  Knitting patterns that originate in other countries may have different abbreviations, but they are usually pretty easy to interpret with the right guidance (i.e. internet, expert knitter, LYS employee).

Allons-y!

Coming up...casting on.

Star Crossed Slouchy Beret

Have you noticed how H-O-T the knitted beret is right now??  If not, look around.  I like a knitted beret because it keeps you warm now, but can transition into the spring and still be stylish and appropriate.  Natalie Larson has a great beret pattern on ravelry called "Star Crossed Slouchy Beret" (it's a free download).  It knits up beautifully with worsted weight yarn and is a nice pattern for practicing all sorts of knitting techniques: ribbing, increasing, decreasing, and cables.  Try it!

The top is like a pinwheel, made by doing a simple decrease with double pointed needles (dpns) or by using the magic loop method.

I followed Natalie's advice and used Malabrigo worsted yarn.  It is a scrumptious kettle dyed merino wool that is soft yet durable.  The colors are so vibrant and earthy.  I literally couldn't stop buying skein after skein.  Each beret used about 2/3 of a skein.  Here's what it looks like on your (my) head...

Have you ever tried taking pictures of yourself in the mirror with your cell phone?? Not easy!