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KNITTING 101

Melisa Friel

West Alabama Fiber Guild

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What we’ll learn today

Continental Knitting Style

How to hold your yarn and needles

Casting on:

Long tail cast on

Knitted cast on

Stitches:

Knit and purl

Stitch patterns:

Garter, stockinette and reverse stockinette

Traditional bind off

Tips to get even stitches and good tension

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What is Continental Knitting?

  • Also called picking or German.
  • Yarn is held in the left hand.
  • The right hand manages the working needle.
  • The left hand holds the needle with stitches ready to be knit.
  • Pros: faster than other methods. Easy to transition between knits and purls.
  • Cons: it can be harder to perfect the purl in continental knitting.

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Stitch Anatomy

  • Take your swatch and gently pull the fabric and note how the stitches are built.
  • Take the front side of the fabric, all stitches were knitted here, each V represents a stitch.
  • With the right side of the fabric facing you, take the tip of your needle and trace a line of ”V”s horizontally (stiches), and a line vertically (rows) on the swatch provided. How many stitches and rows do you see?
  • Turn the fabric around, this is where all stitches were purled. Notice the purl bumps.
  • Knowing how to count stitches and rows would help you figure out if you dropped a stitch or accidentally created an extra stitch.

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CASTING ON

Cable Cast On & Long Tail Cast On

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Pros & Cons of Two Basic Cast on Methods

Knitted Cast On

  • Pros:
  • No need to estimate how long the tail should be.
  • Easy and you can also use a crochet hook
  • Cons:
  • Slow
  • Not very elastic
  • Harder to make it look neat

Long Tail Cast On

  • Pros:
  • Neat edging, good elasticity.
  • Very quick
  • Can cast on in pattern (purl or knit).
  • Good for everything
  • Cons:
  • Mastering might take longer.
  • Tricky to estimate how long the tail should be

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Long Tail Cast On

  • To estimate the length of the tail, use this formula:
  • Take the number of stitches you need to cast on (CO) and divide it by 10. Example: CO 25 st: 25/10= 2.5
  • Multiply that number by the metric needle size. Example US 7= 4.5 mm, so:
    • 2.5*4.5= 11.25
  • Your tail will need to be about 11 ¼ inches.

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Knitted Cast On/ Crochet CO

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How to hold your yarn and needles

Min 2:35

  • Hold and tension the yarn as shown. Yarn should flow easily between your fingers.
  • Tip: make sure your left index finger can touch the needle.

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The Knit Stitch

  • Suzanne Bryan Continental Stitch
  • Cast on 10 stitches, any method.
  • Hold the needle with the cast on stitches in your left hand.
  • The right hand has the needle that will go into the stitches.
  • Yarn is held in the back.
  • Bring your right needle between the first two stitches and insert the tip into the front leg of the first stitch.
  • Wrap the yarn around the needle and pull it off.

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The purl stitch

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The Norwegian Purl

  • Best suited for those who prefer the Norwegian style of knitting where your hands are held very close to your needles and yarn.
  • Closed hand style.
  • You keep the yarn in the back and "scoop” the purl. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg4FLjgeosc
  • Arne & Carlos
  • Look how they hold their needles and yarn.

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YARN OVER (YO)

Makes a hole in your knitting.

Useful for making buttonholes and lace.

Keep yarn in the back and drape over the right needle.

Image source: Knitting for Dummies

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Knit 2 Together (k2tog)

  • Basic decrease. Leans to the right.
  • K2tog= -1 stitch
  • You grab two stitches instead of one and pull the yarn through both loops.
  • Image and Video: Suzanne Bryan
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmo-imGpsWY

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Binding Off

  • You can bind off on a knit or purl row. For a neat look bind off in pattern, meaning knit the knit stitches and purl the purl stitches as you bind off.
  • To bind off, first work the first two stitches of the row.
  • With the tip of your left needle, lift the first stitch and pull it over the second stitch and off the right needle. TIP: If you’re a crocheter, you might find this easier to do with a crochet hook.
  • After you bind off one stitch there will be one stitch left on the right needle. Continue binding off the rest of the stitches.
  • Video: Very Pink Knits Crocheted Bind Off
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzJyuPt1JuA

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Common Mistakes

  • Dropped stitches: locate the dropped stitch, grab it with a crochet hook and knit it with the running yarn, following the stitch the pattern indicates.
  • Making additional stitches: this usually happens when yarn overs get done by mistake. This will make a hole in the fabric and the tension will look loose. The best fix is to tink back if it’s just a few rows, or frog until the mistake is found.
  • Every knitter frogs, even expert, and super experienced knitters. Frogging is usually the best answer.

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How do I know if I’m twisting my stitches?

  • This happens when you’re knitting western continental style but insert the needle in the back leg (through the loop) instead of inserting it through the front leg (from the back).
  • This also happens when you purl with the yarn under the needle. One trick I taught myself is to think you’re putting a hat on the stitch when purling. A hat must go on top of the head of the stitch, never under.

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To purl put the hat on the stitch! Yarn goes on top of the stitch.

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Additional Resources

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  • The Craft Yarn Council, Knitting 911: https://www.craftyarncouncil.com/?q=knit911.html#k8
  • (2018). The Editors of Vogue Magazine. Vogue Knitting, The Ultimate Knitting Book.
  • Suzanne Bryan YouTube Channel. Master Knitter with many detailed video tutorials.
  • Paid but totally worth it: Patty Lyons classes and knit along tutorials.

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