Knitting: Knit Stitch

What is it:

The knit stitch (together with the purl stitch, slightly trickier) forms the basis of many knitted pieces. It is straightforward to master and once you do, you can, basically, knit anything.


Where do you start:

1. First, watch the tutorial video!

2. Hold the needle with the cast-on stitches in your left hand and the other needle in your right hand.

3. Don’t get tangled up in your loose yarn by keeping it at the back of your work.

4. Then, working from left to right, insert the right-hand needle through the first loop (of your cast on stitches) on the left-hand needle. Position the needles such that the right-hand needle crosses under the left-hand needle.

5. Always making sure the loose yarn remains at the back of the needles.

6. Now, take control of the yarn by holding it nice and tight (but don’t break it). Wrap it around the tip of the right needle, from left to right. The yarn will rest in the middle of your crossed needles.

7. Gently, pull the right-hand needle back through the first loop (of the stitch), drawing the yarns through the stitch towards you, making a new stitch on the right-hand needle. The “starting” stitch on the left-hand needle you slip off and you keep the “new” stitch on the right-hand needle.

8. Now you are knitting! To knit a row, simply repeat steps [ ] through [ ].

9. When all the stitches on the left-hand needle have been transferred to the right-hand needle, you’ve finished one row.

10. Health warning: make sure your stitch loops are not too loose nor too tight. Stitches that are too loose will affect your design, but make them too tight and you cannot slide the needle into the loops.