Rebecca Danger here again for week 2 of learning to knit! I hope everything went well last week? Youe got your yarn, you got your needles, you’ve got 24 stitches cast on and ready to go? Awesome! This week we are going to get started on the “Knit Stitch” part of knitting. Yeah! So exciting.
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Run it over the BACK of your fingers
And over your index finger
Place your middle finger on the back of the first stitch on the needle, “holding” it in place
Make sure your “working yarn” (the yarn coming from the ball, in other words the yarn you are working with) is coming from the back of your needle (as you see in the pictures). Grab your second needle in your right hand. Put it through the first loop on the needle, moving from bottom of the stitch to top, and from the front of the stitch to the back.
See how your working yarn is running right behind the stitch? Wrap your yarn OVER the needle tip, making a wrap around your needle. Make sure the yarn is going over the needle as in the picture. You can remember which way to go with a rhyme. The correct way around is the shorter route, so just remember, “The Long Way Around Is The Wrong Way Around.” Make sense?
Pull that wrap back through the loop on your left hand needle
And slip the loop completely off your left hand needle
You just knit a stitch!
See that after making the wrap through the loop, you transferred that new loop from your left needle to your right needle? Keep repeating.
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Repeat the above steps until you are across the row. Here’s what it will look like a few stitches across
Keep going until your washcloth measures about 8” long, or whatever looks like a washcloth shape to you. Next week we’ll finish this up and bind off the last row.
Knit and Purl.
Once you learn those stitches, you have 95% of the skills it takes to do any knitting project. Awesome, right? Especially since you know 50% of those stitches already. I know, really cool.
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Yes! Thanks for this!!!
I am over the top excited about this new series!! Thank you!
Shanna
Thanks! I have been wanting to learn how to knit. :)
And special thanx for the information that the style my grandma tought me is named "Continental" :-))
I already knit, but I'm so excited that this series teaches the Continental Method. It's my preferred method of knitting, too!
Interesting…I wrap my yarn around my right hand when I knit, which is the opposite to have you have done here. I wonder if this is because I am left handed?!
A friend just showed me your blog over the weekend and I am so excited! Went to JoAnn last night and bought some knit fabric to make a cute spring-ish scarf! Can't wait to try more projects! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
Ack! I'm so excited! I've been waiting patiently, staying away from YouTube so I don't start trying to figure out the next step. I thought I was going to have to wait until tomorrow for the tutorial. Yea! I know what I'm doing during nap time today.
aah!!! thank you so much for this!!! I'm super excited! I've been wanting to learn to knit!!! yay! you're the best!
Do you think part of the "Learn to Knit" series could include how to read a knitting pattern? I'm a knitting newbie and this is where it gets really confusing to me…
Love this! Now I can learn!!
Also… Where did you get that green ring??? I LOVE IT!!!!
I'm learning so much. I've never been so excited to see a wash cloth before! I can see I'll need a lot of practice to make my knits nice and even, off to practice more…
Hi EHC: Yes, a reading a pattern post will be included at the end!
Panda: That's my engagement ring so I don't know where Mr Danger got it, it was many years ago. It's Peridot, if that's any help!
Oh and TheGreeningGirl: You knit the "English" way, where you "throw" your yarn using your right hand. That's why I made sure to mention this is the Continental method.
Hello,
thanks for the explanation.
The color of the wool we use is very beautiful.
Kisses.
I am still having a tough time with this. I'm a crafter, quilter,etc. but never a knitter. I seem to keep ending up with a tight bunch of yarn just at the tips of my needles and can't get the needle into the next loop.
Did I cast on too tight?
Tracy, you are probably casting on too tightly. That was my problem and the pictures and video weren't making sense to me with what I was seeing on my needles. I couldn't bring the wrap back through the loop. Once I casted on loosely I was able to do it correctly.
Ohhh, how I love peridot… *sigh*
Hi there! Stumbled upon you via so many other blogs! I'm overwhelmed now… Your blog is wonderful and I love your ideas! Thank you for sharing them with us…
this is awesome!!! I've been wanting to learn how to knit for awhile now and I am finally doing it!
Awesome! I should definitely be studying right now, but I've got senioritis (even as a grad student), and this is just perfect!! I love learning new things, and it looks like I need a lot of practice! My stitches are very uneven and my hands are cramping a bit… Hopefully I can stick with it.
Hi Tracy-
Sounds like you might be doing everything too tight! The main key to knitting is to find the right gauge. You do not need to pull on your stitches or really tighten them at all as you are knitting, though I know it feels like it at first. If you look at your cast on and get the feeling of "death grip" at all, loosen up. Your stitches should be able to slide around somewhat freely on your needle. You can also cast onto a needle 1-2 sizes larger than you plan on using so that your first row is immediately looser as you get started.
I would try casting on again and thinking "loose" this time. Let me know if that seems to help.
Rebecca
I started with 24 stitches, and about 6 rows in now, I have 41! What am I doing wrong??? I really love this series–thank you!