Table of Contents

- Foreword

- Introduction

- How to Use This Book

- How This Book Is Organized

- Part I

- Part II

- Part III

- Part IV

- Part V

- Appendixes

- Swatching

- Putting It into Practice

- Teaching Yourself to Knit from a Book

- Chapter 1: Two Needles and a Ball of Yarn

- Knitting up Good Karma

- Calling on Your Creativity

- Mastering the Basics

- Casting on

- Now you’re knitting

- Perfect purling

- Binding off

- Chapter 2: Knits and Purls: The Bricks and Mortar of Knitting

- Learning to Read Stitch Patterns

- Following written stitch patterns

- Reading charted stitch patterns

- Cool Things You Can Do with Knits and Purls

- Creating stripes with texture

- Making ribbing

- Knitting checkerboard patterns

- Knitting Notebook

- 4 x 4 ribbing

- Mistake stitch ribbing

- Interrupted rib

- Diagonal ribbing

- Basketweave

- Double basket pattern

- Ripple stitch

- Diamond brocade

- Seed stitch diamonds

- Combining Stitch Patterns

- Knitted plaid

- Guernsey knit-purl pattern

- Chapter 3: Oops! Fixing Common Mistakes

- Having Too Few Stitches on Your Needle

- Rescuing a dropped stitch in the row below

- Rescuing a dropped stitch from several rows below

- Having Too Many Stitches on Your Needle

- Ripping out: Stitch by stitch

- Ripping out: Row by row

- Chapter 4: Tools of the Trade

- Yarn: The (Quick) Consumer’s Guide

- A weighty matter

- Fiber fundamentals

- Looking at yarn packaging

- Choosing yarn for a specific project

- Knitting Needles

- Exploring needle types

- Sizing them up

- The stuff they’re made of

- Gizmos and Gadgets

- The essentials

- Not necessarily essential but nice to have

- Blocking Equipment

- Organizing Your Equipment

- Software for Knitters

- Chapter 5: Friendly Math (Gauge) for Knitters

- Getting to Know Gauge

- Needles and stitch size

- Stitch patterns and stitch size

- Working with Gauge

- Making a gauge swatch

- Measuring your gauge

- Comparing your gauge to the pattern’s gauge

- Designing with Gauge

- Chapter 6: Getting Started with Simple Projects

- Garter Ridge Scarf

- Making your scarf

- Varying your scarf

- Everywhere Bag in Garter Stitch

- Making the bag

- Varying your bag

- Three-Way Hat

- Knitting the base

- Making a Tassel Hat

- Making an Envelope Hat

- Making a Tie Hat

- Varying your hat

- Chapter 7: Vital Stitchtistics: Manipulating Stitches

- Slipping Stitches (sl)

- Knitting into the Stitch Below (k1b or k-b)

- Making a Yarn Over (yo)

- Twisting Stitches

- Doing the Twist: Making Mini Cables

- Twisting to the right

- Twisting to the left

- Knitting Notebook

- Garter slip-stitch pattern

- Fisherman’s rib

- Twists

- Twisted rib and garter stitch

- Chapter 8: Shaping: The Ins and Outs of Knitting

- Working Increases (inc)

- Adding a single stitch

- Making a double increase

- Increasing multiple stitches in one place

- Doing Decreases

- Knitting 2 stitches together (k2tog)

- Purling 2 stitches together (p2tog)

- Slip, slip, knit (ssk)

- Pass slipped stitch over (psso)

- Making double decreases

- Reading Shaping Charts

- Shaping with Short Rows

- Working a short row with the knit side facing

- Working a short row with the purl side facing

- Knitting Notebook

- Bobbles

- Chevron

- Wildflower knot

- Practice Projects

- Increase/Decrease Sampler

- Scalloped Scarf

- Chapter 9: Cable Musings: Knitting Over and Under

- Understanding Cables

- Knitting a standard cable

- Checking gauge in a cable pattern

- Starting and stopping

- Reading Cable Charts

- Trying an Open Cable

- Moving cable strands to the right

- Moving cable strands to the left

- Varying a Cable

- Knitting Notebook

- Double cable

- Wave cable

- Chain cable

- Honeycomb cable

- Braid cable

- Open cable

- Practice Cable Projects

- Making a cable sampler

- Eccentric Cable Scarf

- Cable Hat with Pompoms

- Chapter 10: Let the Sun Shine In: Knitting Lace

- Recognizing Different Kinds of Lace

- Eyelet patterns

- Open lace patterns

- Faggot lace patterns

- Reading Lace Charts

- Keeping up with a changing number of stitches

- Working patterns with the “no stitch” symbol

- Choosing Lace Patterns

- Correcting Mistakes When You’re Working Lace Patterns

- Lacing Things Up a Little

- Lace insertions

- Lace edgings

- Shaping Up Nicely

- Working the increases on a sleeve

- Dealing with decreases

- Blocking Lace

- Knitting Notebook

- Eyelet patterns

- Lace patterns

- Faggot lace

- Practice Projects

- Scarf with Faggot Lace

- Felted Scarf in Horseshoe Lace

- Chapter 11: Color 101: Earning Your Stripes

- Yipes . . . Stripes!

- Designing with stripes

- Choosing yarn for striped patterns

- Knitting Stripes

- Counting rows

- Changing colors

- Carrying the yarn up the side as you go

- Weaving in ends

- Stirring Up Stripes

- Varying your stitch pattern

- Making waves

- Any which way

- Slipping Colors

- Practice Projects

- Bold and Bright Scarf

- Colorful Garter Slip-Stitch Scarf

- Chapter 12: Color 201: Advanced Color

- Knitting Fair Isle

- Charting the Fair Isles

- Knitting Fair Isle with one hand

- Trying two-handed Fair Isle knitting

- Fixing floats

- Getting into Intarsia

- Charting intarsia

- Knitting intarsia

- Using intarsia in motifs

- Ending the Ends

- Weaving as you go: The quick method

- Weaving in later: The slow method

- Knitting Notebook

- Practice Projects

- Everyday Bag in Triangle Pattern

- Intarsia Pillow

- Chapter 13: Knitting Patterns: Helpful Blueprints or Hieroglyphics?

- Deciphering Knitterese

- The Anatomy of a Sweater Pattern

- Picture this

- How hard is easy?

- Sizes

- Materials

- Gauge

- Special pattern stitches

- The schematic

- Knitting instructions

- Finishing

- Reading Charts

- Chapter 14: Following the Blueprint: Knitting Your First Sweater

- Gathering Your Materials

- Preparing to Cast On

- Step 1: Be sizewise

- Step 2: Find your gauge

- Knitting . . . at Last!

- Knitting the back

- Knitting the front

- Knitting sleeves

- Chapter 15: Fearless Finishing: Putting It All Together

- Tying Up Loose Ends

- Weaving them up the sides

- Weaving the ends horizontally

- Weaving ends into a bound-off edge

- Better Blocking

- Getting your blocking equipment together

- Steam, dunk, or spray? Deciding which blocking method to use

- Wet blocking

- Wet-blocking identical pieces

- Spray blocking

- Steam blocking

- Three-dimensional blocking

- Assembling the Pieces

- Understanding the basic techniques

- Determining the order of sweater assembly

- Joining backs to fronts at the shoulder

- Attaching a sleeve to a sweater body

- Making side and sleeve seams

- Chapter 16: Defining Details

- Pick Up and Go

- Picking up stitches along a horizontal edge

- Picking up stitches on a vertical edge

- Picking up stitches on a diagonal or curved edge

- Bring on the Bands

- Bottoms up! Vertical bands

- Horizontal picked-up bands

- Hole in One: Buttonholes

- All-purpose horizontal buttonhole

- Simple vertical buttonhole

- Round (eyelet) buttonhole

- Button Up!

- Plotting button placement

- So happy together: Keeping your buttons buttoned

- Sewing on buttons

- Chapter 17: Knitting in Circles

- Choosing Needles for Knitting in the Round

- Circular needles

- Double-pointed needles

- Casting On for Circular Knitting

- Up and Running Around

- Measuring Gauge in the Round

- Practice Projects

- Easy Knit-from-the-Top-Down Hat

- Basic Socks

- Chapter 18: Working from the Blueprint: Starter Garments

- Sleeveless Cowl Neck Sweater in the Round

- Knitting the body

- Shaping the armholes

- Finishing and making the collar

- Adding detachable sleeves

- Varying your sweater

- Red Pullover with High Collar

- Knitting the back

- Knitting the front

- Knitting the sleeves

- Finishing and making the collar

- Varying your sweater

- Toggle Jacket

- Working the back panel

- Making pocket linings

- Working the left front panel

- Working the right front panel

- Making the sleeves

- Finishing your sweater

- Varying your jacket

- Chapter 19: Ten Great Knitting Books

- Chapter 20: Ten Unkinking Exercises for Knitters

- Relaxing Your Neck

- Sloughing Stress from Your Shoulders and Arms

- Relaxing Your Hands and Wrists

- Appendix A: Knitting Resources

- Appendix B: Practicing with More Samplers

- Sampling Lace: The Basic Unit

- Knitting the sampler

- Notes on the sampler

- Sampling Color: Assorted Slip-Stitch Sampler

- Appendix C: Some Thoughts about Color

- Color Theory for Knitters

- Experimenting with Color

Knitting For Dummies®

by Pam Allen

Foreword by Trisha Malcolm

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New York, NY ¨ Indianapolis, IN

Knitting For Dummies®

Published by:
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
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About the Author

Like every beginning knitter, Pam Allen made her share of wobbly edged scarves in garter stitch before committing herself to learning everything she could about making stitches with two needles and a ball of yarn. In the 15 years she has been designing hand-knit sweaters for magazines and yarn companies and creating “swatches” and knitwear ideas for ready-to-wear, she has tried nearly every knitting, finishing, and embellishment technique she could find or come up with.

Her knitwear designs have been published in Family Circle, Woman’s Day, Vogue Knitting, Interweave Knits, Knitters, and McCall’s among others. Her work has also been featured in the books Knitting in America and Vogue Knitting Contemporary Collection and shown in the Maryland exhibit Breaking Patterns: Contemporary Hand Knitting in the United States. In addition to designing, Pam gives workshops on a variety of knitting techniques for knitting guilds, yarn shops, and knitting “conventions.”

She lives and continues to explore knitting and its possibilities in Camden, Maine, with her son and daughter and more cats than she needs.

Dedication

To Paul S. Allen and Marilee McRill Allen — more than tongue can tell

Author’s Acknowledgments

I most want to thank my editor, Marcia Johnson, for her meticulous care in editing this book. With the reader ever in mind, she has helped to make the information in this book thoroughly accessible to the beginning knitter. Her thoughtful queries and suggestions have made this a far better book than it would otherwise have been. I want to thank her, too, for her unfailing sense of humor — even when working overtime to juggle the unending number of details that go into a book like this — and for her willingness to read and work on the text with needles and yarn in hand.

I’d also like to thank copy editor Tina Sims and editorial manager Pam Mourouzis for their excellent comments and suggestions and especially Jean Lampe for her detailed and thorough technical editing. My gratitude as well to Cheryl Fall for her clean illustrations and to Clint Lahnen and others on the production staff at Wiley Publishing for going out of their way to help on the art component of this book.

Thanks to my friends Misty Van Kennen and Faith Getchell, who gladly and expertly knitted the striped socks and garter stitch projects in this book. And thanks to friends and neighbors Wendy Crossman and Sandy Bodemer for their willingness to let me teach them knitting basics — invaluable in testing the instructions in the first chapter of this book — and to Meema Spodola for trying out the color chapter and offering invaluable suggestions on it.

Thanks to Margery Winter at Berroco and Diane Friedman at Tahki-Stacy Charles for answering my questions on yarns and fibers.

Thanks to Joan Somerville at Cascade Yarns, Linda Lacher at Classic Elite, Rae Yurek at Harrisville Yarns, and Nora Gaughan at JCA for generously contributing yarn for the projects in this book.

Thanks to the friendly and supportive women who work in my local yarn shops, Unique One and Stitchery Square. Especially to Beth Collins at Unique One for graciously letting me cart off a collection of lovely novelty yarns to photograph, and to Brenda Laukka for keeping the shop open so late in the evening.

Thanks to Sally Regan, Holly Torsey, and Priscilla Wood at the Rockport Public Library and to Dotty Moralis at the Camden Public Library for their help in obtaining books for me and for letting me renew them — and renew them and renew them.

I am enormously grateful to Sabrina Seelig for her good eye and fine photographs in the color insert and to Julie Cocoran for her equally lovely photographs and for being available at the last minute to shoot the final projects. My gratitude to Caitlin FitzGerald for her willingness to get up earlier than usual — smiling — to model the sweaters in this book and to Alexi Xenakis for his helpful suggestions on photographing knitted fabric. Thanks to Laurie Adams for letting us take pictures in her incomparable garden and to Laura at the Ortolan Café for opening up before hours to let us take pictures in the patio.

Finally, I’m grateful to Dora Lievow, Dyan Dyer, Angela Loavenbruck, Jodi Carpenter, Frank and Cyrene Slegona, and my pal Tasheba Davis for their friendship and support over the years, for their full appreciation of the number of hours it takes to make the thousands of stitches in a single sweater, and for never losing patience or taking it personally when I have had to cancel dates and hibernate to meet a deadline.

And, of course, my heartfelt gratitude to my children Caitlin and Ryan FitzGerald, who for years have gracefully put up with the clutter, learned to prefer spaghetti sauce out of a jar to homemade, and were almost always willing to wait until I finished the row.

Finally, I’m indebted to all knitters past and present who have experimented with yarn and needles, researched the history and regional techniques of knitting, recorded patterns, and written books and articles on their findings. They have greatly enriched our world by making us conscious of our knitting heritage, giving us knowledge to grow with and build upon.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Online Registration Form located at www.wiley.com

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

Project Editor: Marcia L. Johnson

Managing Editor: Tracy Boggier

Copy Editor: Tina Sims

Technical Editor: Jean Lampe

Editorial Managers: Christine Meloy Beck, Pamela Mourouzis

Editorial Assistant: Carol Strickland

Special Help: Chrissy Guthrie

Cover Photos: © Bob Daemmrich/Stock, Boston Inc./PictureQuest

Production

Project Coordinator: Nancee Reeves

Special Art: Cheryl Fall, illustrator; Sabrina Seelig, color photography

Proofreaders: TECHBOOKS, Marianne Santy

Indexer: TECHBOOKS

Wiley Publishing Consumer Reference Group

Business: Kathleen Nebenhaus, Vice President and Publisher; Kevin Thornton, Acquisitions Manager

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Wiley Publishing Consumer Production: Debbie Stailey, Production Director

Foreword

“You knit! How cool!” is the usual response I get after I tell people what I do for a living. In our small knitting world, most of the people I meet — editors, designers, store owners, yarn spinners, and distributors — are avid knitters and have been for most of their lives. But when the day is done and I rejoin the world at large, there are the inevitable social situations in which I find myself being asked about my occupation. “I’ve always wanted to learn to knit,” is the response that usually follows, with either “It looks so complicated; I’m not sure I could do it” or “Where can I learn?” I reassure them that anyone can learn to knit and that there are classes, Web sites, and lots of willing teachers who would be honored to introduce them to the secret workings of their life’s passion.

Until now, what I haven’t told anyone is that there is the perfect book that will lead them step-by-revealing-step through every aspect of this amazing craft, and it is written with them, who think they’re unable to knit, in mind. Knitting For Dummies is for every new knitter and is filled with all the information they will need to equip themselves for their new endeavor. From gathering their materials to making the first awkward knots and stitches to completing a simple project, this book will hold their hands as they make their way to knitting nirvana.

Soon they’ll be like the rest of us — our homes and offices stashed to the gills with sumptuous yarns in every color and fiber combination possible and with needles in every size and style imaginable, from basic plastics to circular metals and hand-carved woods. They will start collecting magazines and patterns for future projects, not one of which they can ever part with, even if they will never have time to make them. And then there are the beautiful totes they will buy to carry their knitting with them wherever they go . . . .

It takes a special author to break the mysteries of knitting into bite-sized chunks that can easily be digested, even by “Dummies.” Pam Allen brings to this book many years of knitting mastery, a successful career as a hand-knit designer, and a following of dedicated students she has taught and inspired. Pam knows intuitively how to dish up all this information to entice even the newest of knitters. From their first taste to the joy of completing the whole course, she will feed them until they too are feasting just like the rest of us!

— Trisha Malcolm, Editor-in-Chief, Vogue Knitting International Magazine

Introduction

Not long ago, a major New York City department store ran a humorous ad disparaging knitting as an activity for grandmothers. Imagine their surprise when ardent members of New York’s Big Apple Knitting Guild took up their yarn and needles and staged a knit-in. To demonstrate that knitting isn’t an activity limited to the rocking chair set but rather is an alive and timely art, a group of knitters of every age and gender gathered in the store to spend the afternoon knitting. Designer and knitter par excellence Lily Chin designed, knit, and wore a shimmering slit-to-the-thigh floor length gown — demonstrating that more than button-to-the-throat cardigans and stiff socks can come off the needles.

Sure, grandmothers knit, but so do movie stars, football players, doctors, and lawyers. They know what our grandmothers do: Knitting does more than just provide you with warm and cozy things to wear. Knitting stirs creativity, gives you an ongoing sense of purpose, teaches patience, and soothes the soul. Don’t believe me? Try it!

Now is a great time to learn to knit. Never before have you had so many lovely and imaginative yarns from which to choose and so many stylish and sophisticated patterns to work with. Traditional knitting is still going strong. Beautifully illustrated books and magazine articles that explore and document knitting techniques and designs from all parts of the world are regularly published. You can find knitting workshops, conferences, cruises, and camps to sign up for, and everywhere plenty of fellow knitters are happy to share their love of knitting with you.

This book is designed as a hands-on book, as well as a reference book. Throughout Knitting For Dummies, you find lots of opportunities to practice and perfect your skills. Every chapter explaining a specific knitting technique includes a Knitting Notebook of sample patterns to show you some of the different ways it can be used and a section of Practice Projects that gives step-by-step instructions for simple and attractive knitted accessories nearly all of which are featured on the pages of the color insert. Most projects end with a list of project variations — ways to expand on your understanding of how to craft and design projects on your own.

How to Use This Book

If you’re an absolute beginner, start at the beginning and read and practice your way through Part I — the basics. This section will ground you in the moves you’ll need to know in order to progress to more complicated kinds of knitting. I’ve tried to anticipate your questions and where you might run into problems. By the time you’ve read (and knitted) through Part I, you’ll be up and clicking and well on your way to being an accomplished knitter.

If you already know how to knit and purl, you’ll find plenty in Parts II and III to build your skills and confidence. If you’re interested in knitting techniques, work through the chapters of Part II consecutively to learn more about cables, lace, and color knitting, or jump into the chapter that discusses what you’re most interested in.

Maybe you’ve had your eye on a pattern for a complicated-looking Aran sweater (those poetic combinations of twists and turns) but you’ve never worked a cable, or maybe you’ve seen a sweater with a knitted lace border but haven’t a clue how to read the chart for it. You’ll find out how to do these things and more. And all the way through, I give you loads of pictures and special extras to guide you along and make your learning process as easy as possible.

How This Book Is Organized

This book is divided into five parts. Each one focuses on a separate aspect of knitting, but together they lay the foundation for successful knitting experiences at all levels.

Part I

Part I introduces you to the whys and wherefores of knitting — what it is and how to do it. It shows you the fundamental moves, including how to cast on, knit, purl, and bind off. It introduces you to the variety of ways that knit and purl stitches can be combined to make different stitch patterns. It gives advice on troubleshooting the most common mistakes. It tells you about the materials and tools you’ll need to get up and running right now and what you’ll want to have after you’re launched. Finally, it introduces gauge and the simple math you need to know to go from knitting practice fabric to knitting a finished project. By the time you reach the projects in Chapter 6 at the end of Part I, you’ll be ready to make any of the scarves, hats, bags, and pillows shown there.

Part II

In Part II, you expand on your new skills. You find out how to manipulate stitches for different effects. You discover how to shape your work with increases and decreases — adding stitches and getting rid of them. I also take you step by step through crafting cables and knitting lace patterns.

Part III

Part III introduces you to the pleasures and possibilities in knitting with more than one color. Start by seeing how stripes and simple slip-stitch patterns can get you going. Then find out how to work more complex color patterns using more than one color per row. You learn how to make colorful repeating patterns using the Fair Isle technique and how to “paint” with yarn using the intarsia method.

Part IV

Part IV puts it all together — how to take your knitting skills and apply them to making garments. It tells you how to make sense of a commercial knitting pattern, and follow a pattern step by step to a finished sweater or project. You uncover the secrets of finishing, or turning your frumpled knitted pieces into a smooth and tidy project. You find explicit instructions for working defining details such as neckbands, cardigan bands, and buttonholes. This part also introduces you to the whys and hows of knitting in the round. If you want to practice your sweater-making skills, in the final chapter, you can get detailed, step-by-step instructions for three beginning sweaters.

Part V

In Part V, you see how to unkink when you’ve been sitting and knitting too long. You also find a helpful list of my favorite knitting books.

Appendixes

In the appendix section, you find lists and contact information for knitting magazines, knitting supply sources, yarn suppliers, and Web sites. I also include a brief discussion on color to shed some light on the question of why certain colors look good together (and why some don’t) and to help you hone your own color sense. Finally, because I feel so strongly that by working samplers you gain a true understanding of the stitches and techniques, I’ve added two more sampler projects for you. Enjoy!

Swatching

Swatching (making a sample of knitted fabric) is to the knitter what scales and exercises are to the pianist and what rough sketches and doodles are to the painter. A swatch is a sample of knitting. It can be big (50 stitches and 50 rows) or small (20 stitches and 20 rows). Most of the time, knitters make a swatch to measure gauge (to see how many stitches and rows there are to an inch). But dedicated knitters also work up swatches to learn, to practice, to experiment, and to invent.

Here are some things your swatch can tell you:

*  Whether your yarn and needles work up to the necessary gauge

*  Whether your yarn shows off your stitch pattern or obscures it

*  Whether your chosen color combination works or needs tweaking

*  Whether you understand a new technique

If the swatches answer the questions you started with, they’ll pose even more questions as you become a more advanced knitter.

I urge you as you go through or skip around this book to keep your yarn and needles handy as you read and try out the patterns stitches and techniques given. In some cases, I even provide specific instructions in the project sections for making a sampler of a particular technique.

The samples you make will keep you limber, stretch your knowledge, and be your own best teacher.

Putting It into Practice

Each part provides projects to allow you to practice the basic skills and discover something about how hats, bags, and stitches are put together. By the time you reach Part II, you may want to try your hand at applying some of the techniques, such as making cables or lace, in a sweater. As soon as you’re confident in your basic knit and purl skills, consider finding a basic sweater pattern. Once you’ve worked it up and are happy with its fit and style, use it as a base for the fabric design ideas in Part II. Armed with a sweater pattern whose mechanics and shape are familiar to you, you can add your own cables, lace panels, and color patterns — in short, become your own designer.

Teaching Yourself to Knit from a Book

Everyone learns a new skill in a different way. If you’re not sure that you can teach yourself to knit from a book, you can do a few things to make the process easier and help to ensure success.

*  First, study the illustrations carefully and compare them with what your own hands, needles, and yarn are doing.

*  Use your right hand (not your left) if a right hand is pictured.

*  Notice the path of the yarn in the illustration and see whether yours is doing the same thing. For example, does the yarn cross from right to left, or over or under the needle?

*  If necessary, keep a pad of self-stick notes nearby and use them on these pages to help you focus on the illustration or text you’re trying to understand.

*  Have a friend read the instructions aloud to you while you look at the pictures and your hands.

*  If you get stuck, gather your materials and head to your local knitting shop. Most store personnel are happy to get a new knitter up and running. While you’re there, ask whether the store sponsors a knitting group or knows of any. You can learn loads from other knitters. Or sign up for a knitting list on the Web, and you won’t have to leave home. Whatever you do, don’t give up. The rewards of being a knitter are worth the effort of learning how to be one.

Part I: Knitting Primer

In this part . . .

This is where you find out what you need to get clicking. In this part, you find out about the four basic knitting moves — casting on, knitting, purling, and binding off. You also discover how you can use the building blocks of knitting — knit and purl stitches — to create hundreds of stitch patterns. Noticing glitches in your knitting? Not to worry. I explain how to recognize the common mistakes and how to correct them.

Next, you get an idea of the yarns and other tools of the trade that you can expect to see in your local knitting shop. You find out about friendly math and how to use it when you’re knitting a project. And finally, before you move on to Part II, you have a chance to put it all together in some starter projects. Before you know it, you’ll be turning out hats, scarves, and bags in all your favorite colors. So check the next page and get started.

Chapter 1: Two Needles and a Ball of Yarn

In This Chapter

* Exploring the many reasons to knit

* Learning how to cast on, knit, purl, and bind off

* Recognizing the difference between English and Continental styles of knitting

Knitting is a relatively simple process requiring a minimal set of tools — two needles and a ball of yarn. Its basic structure of interlocking loops couldn’t be less complicated. Yet the possibilities for design and pattern innovation seem endless. Knitting has more than cozy socks and colorful sweaters to offer. Knitting is also an excellent way to mitigate some of the stresses and frustrations of day-to-day life.

This chapter introduces you to knitting — what it is and how to do it. You learn the four elemental moves of knitting: casting on, knitting, purling, and binding off. Practice these, and by the end of the chapter, you’ll be ready to launch a project. With the skills you learn in this chapter and the ones introduced in the chapters that follow, you can explore with confidence the myriad things you can do with two needles and a ball of yarn.

Knitting up Good Karma

The repetitive movements of needles and yarn truly knit up the raveled sleeve of care. Have you ever noticed a knitter’s face while working away on the needles? Did you see the expression of relaxed alertness? It’s the look we’d all be wearing if our alpha waves were lined up properly. The rhythmic movements of knitting, together with the mental focus needed for building a fabric stitch by stitch, make for a kind of meditation. It’s real. Ask anyone who knits.

Turning colorful skeins of yarn into exciting knitted hats and sweaters gives you a feeling of competence and accomplishment. If you knit a little while waiting for your computer to change screens, red lights to turn green, and commercials to end, you’ll never have to worry about wasting time again.

Knitting is portable, too, so you can work on your karma wherever you find yourself. You can knit in the living room while you’re watching TV or in the kitchen waiting for the pasta to cook. You can knit while waiting to catch a plane or sitting on a park bench watching your children play. You can take your knitting with you, whether it’s a challenging project that requires quiet concentration (and possibly your glasses) or something simple that you can tote along and pull out at the odd moment for a quick row or two.

If you carry your knitting wherever you go, you always bring along a little well-being with you. In a world giving way to things global and anonymous, a knitting project at hand reminds you of the comforts and familiarity of things small, local, and individual.

Calling on Your Creativity

Knitting is a process of combining yarn, needles, pattern, and color. Even if all you do is follow a sweater pattern by using the exact yarn and needles it calls for, each stitch is of your own making, and no two sweaters from the same pattern worked by different knitters are ever exactly the same.

Chances are, after your first project or two, you’ll be venturing with pleasure into the wonderland of new combinations of yarn, pattern stitch, color, and embellishment. You’ll be wondering how you’ll ever find the time to make all the things you have ideas for.

Creativity is less about being born with a friendly muse and more about putting time and effort into developing know-how. Granted, moments of inspiration can wake you up at 4:00 in the morning, but rarely do they happen unless you first lay the groundwork. Work all day on finding the right color combination for a project, and the solution will come at an unlikely moment. By learning, practicing, and mastering your art and craft, you become creative.

Mastering the Basics

A pair of needles, some yarn, and a little uninterrupted time are all you need to learn to knit. Practice each of the four basic moves — casting on, knitting, purling, and binding off — and you’ll soon be amazed at your nimble fingers.

In order to practice, you need a ball of medium-weight yarn and a pair of size 8 or 9 needles. You don’t have to buy the best-quality yarn, but if at all possible, choose wool, the knitter’s best friend. Wool is elastic, making it easy to get your needles in and out of the stitches. (See more on yarn and needles in Chapter 2.) Cotton doesn’t give enough to make it a good choice for your first forays into knitting, and 100 percent acrylics can give you sweaty palms. Whatever yarn you choose, pick a light or bright color yarn, which makes it easier to see the stitches.

Knitting needles come in a variety of materials. Plastic or wood needles are a good choice for beginners because they aren’t slick, so you won’t have to worry about your stitches sliding off when you’re not looking (or when you are).

Casting on

Creating the first row of stitches is called casting on. There are various ways to cast on, and different knitters have their favorites. The two-strand method given in this section is a great all-around cast-on for your starting repertoire. It’s elastic, attractive, and easy to knit from.

Making a slip knot (the first stitch)

The first stitch on your needle will be a slip knot. Here’s how to make it.

1.  Measure off approximately 30 inches from the end of the yarn (a little more than 1 inch for each stitch to be cast on) and make a pretzel-shaped loop.

2.  With your knitting needle, reach into the loop, as pictured in Figure 1-1a, and gently pull on both ends of yarn until the stitch is firmly on the needle but can still slide easily back and forth, as shown in Figure 1-1b.

Figure 1-1: Getting the first stitch on your needle.

The first few times you make a slip knot, arrange your starting pretzel on a flat surface or table. It will be easier to see what you’re doing. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to make a slip knot anywhere. Practice making the slip knot stitch several times until you feel comfortable with it.

Completing the cast-on row

Notice the two strands hanging down from your slip-knot stitch — the short or tail end and the ball end of your yarn. You’ll use both strands for the cast-on — that’s why it’s called the two-strand cast-on.

1.  Holding the needle in your right hand, with the tip pointing away from you, take the short end of yarn over your left thumb, as illustrated in Figure 1-2a.

2.  Keeping a little tension on the short end by holding it gently against your palm with the fingertips of your left hand, insert the tip of the needle into the thumb loop, as shown in Figure 1-2b.

Figure 1-2: Getting into position to cast on your first stitch.

3.  With your right hand, bring the ball end of your yarn under the needle to the left then back over the needle to the right, as shown in Figure 1-3a.

4.  Keeping a little tension on the ball yarn, use your left thumb to guide the thumb loop up and over the tip of the needle and at the same time bring the tip of the needle through the thumb loop. See this step in Figure 1-3b.

Figure 1-3: Picking up the yarn for your first cast-on stitch.

5.  Take your thumb out of the loop and pull gently on the short strand to snug up the stitch.

If it’s still sloppy, pull a little on the long strand. The stitches should be firm but slide easily along the needle, as shown in Figure 1-4.

Figure 1-4: Finished cast-on stitch.

Continue Steps 1through 5 until you have 28 stitches on your needle, including your first slip-knot stitch.

Phew! Feeling a little tense? Take a breather. Shake your hands and wriggle your shoulders. You’ve accomplished a lot. Did you notice that the last few stitches you cast on felt a little easier than the first few? Although these motions may feel awkward at first and you have to pay attention to each movement, with time and practice, you’ll no longer have to think about what your hands are doing. You’ll be surprised how quickly your hands will learn the movements and make them smoothly and effortlessly while you think about something entirely unknitterish. For additional cast-on techniques, see Chapter 8.

Now you’re knitting

Knitted stitches are made by using a continuous strand of yarn and two needles to pull new loops through old loops. That’s it. But how a knitter goes about holding the yarn and needles to make these new loops varies.

The merits and weakness of holding the yarn in the right hand (wrapping) versus holding the yarn in the left hand (picing, pronounced “picking”) is always a lively, if not hot, topic of conversation when knitters of different persuasions get together.

Is there a best way? Yes. The best way is whatever feels right to you. Knitting is an individual art. Sooner or later, everyone who knits develops her own style of knitting The good news is that no matter which method you use, you’ll get the same result — loops pulled through loops to make knitted fabric. The most important thing is that knitting should feel comfortable to you and your stitches should look even.

How should you decide which method to use? If you know a knitter who would sign on to be your knitting mentor (and I’ve never met a fellow knitter who didn’t love to show off her techniques), do what that person does. If you’re learning on your own, start with one method. If it gives you trouble, try the other.

In the best of all possible worlds, you’ll learn both. If you plan to knit color patterns, being able to knit with one color in the right hand and the other color in the left hand makes things quicker and easier. The sections that follow introduce you to both styles.

From now on, the needle in your left hand carrying the stitches to be worked will be called the left-hand (LH) needle, and the needle on which you’re making new stitches will be your right-hand (RH) needle.

Knitting with the yarn in your right hand (English style)

If you’ve chosen to knit with the yarn in your right hand, known as the English style, here’s how to proceed. When you have finished casting on, hold the needle with the cast-on stitches in your left hand, pointing to the right. Make sure that the first stitch is no more than 1 inch from the tip of the needle.

1.  Insert the tip of the empty (RH) needle into the first stitch on the LH needle from left to right and front to back, forming a T with the tips of the needles.

The RH needle will be behind the LH needle, as shown in Figure 1-5.

Figure 1-5: Inserting the RH needle into the first stitch on the LH needle.

2.  With your right hand, hold the ball yarn 2 or 3 inches from your needles and bring the yarn to the front on the left side of the RH needle, and then over the RH needle to the right and down between the needles.

You can try to maneuver the yarn with your right forefinger, as shown in Figure 1-6a, or just hold it between your thumb and forefinger for now.

3.  Keeping a slight tension on the wrapped yarn, bring the tip of the RH needle with its wrap of yarn through the loop on the LH needle to the front.

The RH needle is now in front of the LH needle, as shown in Figure 1-6b. Keep the tip of the left forefinger on the point of the RH needle to help guide the needle through the old stitch and prevent losing the wrap of yarn.

Figure 1-6: Completing a knit stitch.

When you bring the new loop through the old, bring the RH needle up far enough that the new stitch forms on the large part of the needle, not just on the tip. If you work too close to the tips, you will form new stitches on the narrow part of your needles, and your stitches will be too tight to knit with ease. Tight stitches have brought many a new knitter to a frustrated halt. By the same token, don’t knit too far from the tips. Keep the stitches on the LH needle close enough to the tip so that you don’t struggle and stretch to pull off the old stitch.

4.  Slide the RH needle to the right till the old loop on the LH needle drops off.

You now have a new stitch/loop on the RH needle — the old stitch hangs below it. Does it look like Figure 1-7?

Congratulations! You’ve just made your first knitted stitch!

Figure 1-7: Your first knitted stitch!

As you repeat these steps, you may want to recite the following knitting mantra to yourself: “Needle in, yarn around, new loop through, old loop off.”

Continue until you have knitted all the stitches from your LH needle. Your LH needle is now empty, and your RH needle is full of beautiful, new stitches. Now switch hands: Turn your RH needle and hold it in your left hand, pointing right. Your RH needle has now become your LH needle. And your old, empty LH needle has become your new, empty RH needle ready to take on a new row of stitches.

Repeat the sequence of the preceding steps for several more rows (or all afternoon) until you’re comfortable with the movements. Aim to make these steps one continuous movement, to make even stitches, and to stay relaxed!

Note that when you’ve finished making a knit stitch, the yarn is coming out the back on the side of the needle facing away from you. Be sure that the yarn hasn’t ended up in front of your work or over the needle before you start your next stitch.

When you turn your work from right facing to wrong side facing or vice versa, it’s called turning your work. When knitting instructions tell you to turn, simply pivot your needle so that the opposite side is facing and you’re ready to work again.

When you turn your work, the yarn strand coming out of the first stitch to knit will not be in back. Instead, it will hang down in the front, as shown in Figure 1-8.

Figure 1-8: The first stitch of the next row.

Often the stitch just below the first stitch on your LH needle is larger than the rest and can obscure your view of where your needle should go. You may be tempted to pull the yarn strand over the needle to the back to tighten up the stitch. If you do this, it will look like you have 2 stitches on your needle instead of 1. Keep the strand in front and gently pull down on it, and the big stitch if necessary, to better see the opening you’re supposed to go into.

Insert the point of the RH needle in the loop on the LH needle and not into the stitch below.

Once you feel comfortable making knit stitches, you can try weaving the yarn through the fingers of your right hand in one of the ways illustrated in Figure 1-9. Carrying the yarn this way puts a gentle tension on the strand, making it possible to work tidy stitches at a good clip.

Figure 1-9: Some ways to carry the yarn in the right hand.

If you find that hunching over little loops on your needles and scrutinizing the illustrations make you tense, take time regularly to shake out your hands, take a deep breath, and do some stretches for a minute or two. (See Chapter 20 for suggested exercises to unkink your fingers.)

Knitting with the yarn in your left hand (Continental style)

If you choose to knit with the yarn in your left hand, known as the Continental style, follow these instructions. When you have finished casting on, hold the needle with the cast-on stitches in the left hand, pointing to the right. Make sure that the first stitch is no more than 1 inch from the tip of the needle. Wind the yarn around your left pinky and over your left forefinger, as shown in Figure 1-10.

Figure 1-10: Carrying the yarn in your left hand.

You’ll be holding both the yarn and the needle with the stitches in your left hand. Your left forefinger should be close to the tip of the LH needle, and the yarn between the needle and your forefinger should be a bit taut. The yarn strand will be behind your LH needle, as shown in Figure 1-11a.

1.  Insert the tip of the empty (RH) needle into the first stitch on the LH needle from left to right and front to back (RH needle is behind the LH needle), as shown in Figure 1-11b.

Fig 1-11: Getting ready to knit Continental style.

2.  Swivel the tip of the RH needle to the right and under the yarn strand, scooping up the yarn from your left forefinger.

You end up with the yarn wrapped around the needle, as shown in Figure 1-12a.

3.  Bring the tip of the RH needle with the strand of yarn through the loop on the LH needle, as shown in Figure 1-12b.

Figure 1-12: Completing a Continental knit stitch.

4.  Slide the old loop off the LH needle and let it drop.

As you practice, aim to make these four steps a smooth continuous action — in, around, through, off.

To make Continental style knitting a little easier for you, try the following:

*  Put the tip of your right forefinger on each new stitch made on the RH needle to secure it while you insert the RH needle into the next stitch on the LH needle.

*  After you’ve inserted the RH needle into the next stitch to be knitted, slightly stretch the loop on the LH needle to the right, opening it out somewhat, before you scoop the strand of yarn.

Whether you decide to master English or Continental style, practice until the movements feel comfortable and relaxed. When you feel like you’re getting the hang of it, try an experiment. Close your eyes or look at the ceiling while you knit — let your fingers feel their way. Can you knit without looking yet? Eventually you’ll be able to. If you make this your goal, you can get lots done at the movies!

If you’re having trouble getting your knitting to “flow,” try changing the way you carry the yarn in your hand. If you knit with the yarn in the right hand, try propping the knob of your RH needle under your armpit or on your hipbone to keep it stationary, and use the left hand to initiate the movements. Study how other knitters do things. Be willing to try it different ways until you find your knitting “home.” Once you understand how the yarn travels around your needle to make new loops, you’ll find the best way to hold your yarn and needles for comfort, speed, and even stitches.

For left-handed knitters

Knitting is a two-handed endeavor. Whether you use your right hand or your left hand to write or stir your coffee, you use them both to knit.

For better or worse, knitting patterns are written for right-handed knitters (those who work from the left needle to the right needle). If you can master either of the knitting methods presented in this chapter, you won’t have to reinterpret patterns in order to work them in reverse. Chances are, like most right-handed knitters, sooner or later you’ll work out a series of movements that feel natural and easy, and your stitches will be smooth and even.

If you find that, while trying the steps presented in this chapter, the initial awkward feeling isn’t going away, then try to work in reverse — moving the stitches from the RH needle to the LH one.

Follow the instructions for either English or Continental style, substituting the word right for left and vice versa. To make the illustrations work for you, hold a mirror up to the side of the relevant illustration and mimic the hand and yarn positions in the mirror image.

If you find that working in reverse is the most comfortable method, be aware that some directions in knitting patterns, such as decreases, look different when worked in the opposite direction. This will be most problematic for lace patterns, but it’s a small price to pay for comfortable knitting. If you go this route, hunt up a copy of Left-Handed Knitting by Regina Hurlbert (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1977).

Creating garter stitch by repeating knitted rows

Garter stitch is the most basic of all knitted fabrics. It’s made by knitting every row. (After you learn to purl, you’ll realize that you can also create garter stitch by purling every row. Neat, huh?) You can recognize garter stitch by the horizontal ridges formed by the tops of the knitted loops on every other row.

After you’ve knitted several rows, pull down slightly on your knitting. You should be able to see the individual loops and how they’re connected. Look carefully at your knitting and compare what you've made to Figure 1-13. Can you identify the loops? Can you follow the path of your yarn?

Figure 1-13: Garter stitch.

If you have trouble making out individual stitches and the path of the yarn, knit a row with a different color and then several rows in the original color. The row worked in a different color will stand out and be easy to follow.

Garter stitch has a lot going for it in addition to being easy to create. It is reversible, lies flat, and has a pleasant rustic look. Unlike most knitted fabrics, garter stitch has a square gauge, meaning that there are usually twice as many rows in 1 inch as there are stitches. To count rows in garter stitch, count the ridges and multiply by 2 or count the ridges by twos. Flip to Chapter 5 for more about gauge.

Joining yarns

Balls of yarn are finite. When you’re knitting away and you least expect it, you’ll run out of yarn. Time to start the next ball of yarn, called “joining yarn.”

When possible, start a new ball of yarn on an edge that will be enclosed in a seam. However, try not to start a new ball of yarn on an edge that will be exposed. You can knit the first stitch of the next row with both ends held together, drop the old strand, and carry on. Or knit the first few stitches with the new yarn only, stop, and tie the two ends together temporarily to secure them. Either way, leave the ends at least 3 inches long.

If you run out of yarn in the middle of a row, you can do the same thing. Tie a temporary knot with both yarns, leaving 3-inch ends, or knit the next stitch with both strands, drop the old one, and continue knitting from the new ball. (See Chapter 15 for how to finish off the ends.)

Perfect purling

Purling is working a knit stitch backwards. Instead of going into the stitch from front to back, you enter it from back to front. Combining knit stitches with purl stitches enables you to make a wide variety of textured stitch patterns.

Purling with the yarn in your right hand (English style)

Purling, like knitting, can be done with the yarn held in the right hand or in the left hand. Use whatever method you’ve chosen for knitting. If you’ve chosen to hold the yarn in your left hand, skip over this section and go right to the section on purling Continental style. However, if English style works best for you, follow the steps that follow.

1.  Cast on 28 stitches.

2.  Hold the needle with the cast-on stitches in your left hand pointing to the right. Insert the tip of the RH needle into the first loop on the LH needle from right to left, forming a T with the needle tips. In other words, the RH needle is in front of the LH needle, and the ball yarn is in front of your needles.

Check out Figure 1-14a. This is the reverse of what you do when you form a knit stitch.

3.  With your right hand, follow Figure 1-14b and wrap the yarn around the back of the needle from right to left and down.

Figure 1-14: Getting ready to purl English style.

4.  Keeping a slight tension on the wrap of yarn, bring the tip of the RH needle with its wrap of yarn down and through the loop on the LH needle to the back side of the LH needle, as shown in Figure 1-15a.

5.  Slide the old loop off the tip of the LH needle.

A new loop/stitch is made on the RH needle. You can see how it should look in Figure 1-15b.

Figure 1-15: Finishing your purl stitch.

6.  Repeat Steps 1 through 5.

Here’s the purl mantra: “Needle in (from the right), yarn around and down, loop through to the back, old stitch off.”

When you purl, the yarn strand comes out of the new stitches on the side of the knitting facing you. When you knit, the yarn comes out of the new stitches on the side facing away from you.

Continue to the end of the row. Repeat this row as many times as you need to feel comfortable with purling. Then take a look at what you’ve made. Looks just like your knitted swatch, doesn’t it? Purling is simply the reverse of knitting. Whether you knit all the rows or purl all the rows, you’re working garter stitch (see the section “Creating garter stitch by repeating knitted rows” earlier in this chapter for more on garter stitch).

Purling with the yarn in your left hand (Continental style)

If you choose to knit Continental style, follow these steps for purling.

1.  Cast on 28 stitches.

2.  Hold the needle with the stitches in the left hand, pointing to the right.

Make sure that the first stitch is no more than 1 inch from the tip of the LH needle.

3.  Wind the yarn around your left pinky and over your left forefinger.

You hold the yarn the same as when you knit in Continental style. Flip back to Figure 1-10 to review what this looks like.

You’ll be holding both the yarn and the needle with the stitches on it in your left hand. Your left forefinger should be close to the tip of the LH needle, and the yarn between the needle and your forefinger should be a bit taut. The yarn between your needle and forefinger will be in front of the needle.

4.  Insert the tip of the RH needle into the first loop on the LH needle from right to left.

The RH needle is in front of the LH needle, and the ball yarn is in front of your needles. Things should be arranged as shown in Figure 1-16a.

5.  Slightly swivel the right needle tip to the right while the pad of your left forefinger brings the yarn between the needles from right to left and down between the needles, as shown in Figure 1-16b.

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