To cast on, first make
a slip knot on the needle. (Same as beginning a sl knot on hook, for
crochet).
Lay the yarn over the
needle with about 4 inches on your side. With your left hand, pinch
the yarn below the needle, twist, give it to the right hand to hold
under the needle, and with your left hand, take the long end of the
yarn and yo (yarn over) the needle from back to front. Then take the
loop you just made over the loop that is on the needle (or hook, for
crochet). That gets your yarn on the needle or (or crochet hook) to
stay.
Put right needle in
the top stitch behind the first needle, making an X- you are
lifting up the yarn with your needle behind the first needle.
(Yo) (yarn over)
(Picture of yarn draped
over finger. Knitter is making stockinette stitch- combination of
knit and purl stitch)
First, think of a
clock's hands. (This always helped me). Your yo will always be
counter-clockwise around the BACK needle, using your left hand to
yarn over.
With yarn (and cast on
stitches on needle) in left hand, yo (yarn over) back needle COUNTER-
CLOCKWISE. Place first finger of right hand on yarn over loop
you just made on back needle (near the tip of back needle for
control) and draw the yo loop down through the loop you stuck your
needle in. Now, take this same loop that you stuck your needle in off
the left needle. (It helps to push your left needle down slightly
with any fingers you have free).
You have just made one
knit stitch. Now knit across row.
To start next row,
place needle with stitches on it in your left hand again and repeat.
This is called garter stitch, when you repeat your knit rows.
It is best for the beginner to practice this stitch exclusively until
you have it down before trying the purl stitch.
(Picture of Garter
stitch, made by repeating knit rows over and over). Cute puppy!
Purl Stitch:
Uses-
1. To make ribbing
(stretchy pieces around a cap's band, sweater or wrist bands, socks,
etc.)
(Ribbing around cap to
keep it's shape)
2. To make SS (stockinette
stitch), a lovely braided type look you have seen on sweaters, where
the stitches seem to flow into each other. Stockinette stitch is made
of one row knit stitch, one row purl stitch, alternating.
(Picture of stockinette
stitch)
3. To make speciality
stitches such as lace, cables, etc.- using a combination of knit and
purl stitches.
(Picture of knit cable
patterns).
(Small picture of a
lace pattern).
To purl:
Left hand:
Place cast on or
knitted stitches on needle in left hand. Make a light fist and hold
point of needle out to left. (As if you were going to jab something).
Long end of yarn should be dangling near the front.
(Note: Purl stitches
are worked more horizontally while knit stitches are worked more
vertically. Purl stitches are worked with the new needle coming in
front of the stitches, while knit stitches are worked with the new
needle going into back of stitches).
Right hand:
Make a light fist and
hold right needle with point at left, as if you were going to jab
something. Place this needle under front of first stitch on left
needle.
Bring yarn
counter-clockwise up and over new needle back down to bottom, using
right hand. (Your left hand will have to help a bit in this as it
holds your right needle as you yarn over). Grab the right needle
again in your right hand and bring the tip down and under through the
stitch you stuck your needle in. Take this first stitch you stuck
your needle in off the left needle.
Continue to purl across
the stitches.
Ribbing:
Ribbing is made with a
combination of knit and purl stitches. (For example, knit 2, purl 2).
This seems to take forever at first but gets easier the more you
practice.
Double pointed
needles (DPN's):
(My advice is to learn
to knit comfortably first before trying dpns).
(Picture of a seamless hat worked on
DPN's)
Double pointed needles (dpns) are sets of 4
(sometimes 5) needles that
are completely smooth, without any knobs at the ends to hold the yarn
on. They are used for making seamless round things- like mittens, socks,
etc. They also give a very nice look to finishing the crown of a hat
(see picture).
Cast on about the same amount of stitches on three needles. For
example, you cast on about 10 on the first needle. Holding the next
needle below it and slightly in front of it, you cast on 10 more.
Repeat with the 3rd needle. (The 4th needle is used for knitting).
Then you lay them on your lap and rotate the first needle upside
down to the left. The next needle is rotated slightly to lay in a
triangle under the other two. Then you turn all of the needles
carefully together to begin your first stitch. (The first stitch
goes in to the first stitch with the tail), using the free needle
and working from the last needle which has the long end of yarn.
Knit the ones off the first needle, then take the needle you just
freed up to knit the next needle, and work around. The first row is
easiest to do lying on your lap, so the needles don't fall out, but
as you begin to work around a few rows, you are able to pick it up
and have the needles hold with no problem.
The plastic needles seem to not fall out as
much at first as the metal needles. Once you knit a few rounds,
though, all needles should stay fairly firmly in the work.
The first few rounds
are always the most awkward, then the work begins to move very
smoothly and quickly. The work looks beautiful as it is seamless-
with circular needles you always have to have quite a few on the
needles or it is very tight, unless you use one of the newer methods
(See link at bottom of page- how to knit with 2 circulars).
Of course, you can still increase or decrease as you need
on dpns as you need to.
I recommend using the knit stitch around
until you become comfortable with dpns, then try ribbing (k 1, p 1).
This is valuable for making mittens and socks when you need
elasticity.
For stockinette stitch, you won't have to knit
a row, then purl a row- you will just do knit rows only and it will
look like the stockinette stitch.
For purl stitch, you will do one round of knit stitch
and one round of purl stitch.
