how to knit knitting instructions


How to Hold yarn	Now, make a slip loop and put it on the left hand knitting pin.

CASTING ON METHOD 1 - WITH 2 NEEDLES
	Holding yarn in right hand, insert the tip of right hand needle into the slip loop on left hand needle, from front to back. (STAGE 1)

	Wind yarn under and over the point of the right hand needle and draw a new loop through the slip loop. (STAGE 2)

	Place the newly made loop onto the left hand needle. Now, place the tip of the right hand needle between the two loops on the left hand needle from front to back and with the yarn under and over the point of this needle as before.

Draw a new loop through to the front of the work and place this on the left hand needle too. Continue adding loops in this way until required number of stitches obtained.

CASTING ON METHOD 2 - WITH THE THUMB
This method requires one needle only. It is the way I always cast on but Method 1 is equally as good - especially for beginners.
IMPORTANT - You need to have a very long length of yarn before you make your slip loop as you use the end and the wool from the ball with this method.
	Make a slip loop about 1 metre from end of yarn and place on needle. Hold needle in right hand. (STAGE 1)

	Working with end of yarn in left hand wrap thumb around yarn, insert the tip of needle through the loop made by thumb, (STAGE 2).

	Wind yarn from ball of wool around needle (STAGE 3)

	Bring a loop through to the front, placing loop on right hand needle. (STAGE 4)

Continue in this way until the required number of stitches have been made. Now place knitting in left hand needle and using the other needle and the yarn from the ball, start to knit.

THE KNIT STITCH
	Hold the needle with the cast on stitches in the left hand and the other needle and the yarn from the ball of wool in the right hand. See how to hold yarn correctly above. Insert the tip of the right hand needle through the first stitch on the left hand needle from front to back. Holding the yarn at the back of the work, wind it under and over the point of the right hand needle (STAGE 1)

		Draw the loop through the stitch and keeping it on the right hand needle slip the stitch on the left hand needle off. (STAGE 2 and 3)

Continue in this way until all stitches have been knitted and passed over to right hand needle.

TIP TO HELP YOU REMEMBER THE KNIT STITCH
My children had a very easy book when they were young. It had a little rhyme in it to help you remember what to do. Jack goes in (right hand needle tip into left hand stitch) Puts on his scarf (wind wool round tip of needle) Comes back out (bring loop through onto right hand needle) and takes if off (slip stitch on left hand needle off and let it drop) Hope it helps you.

THE PURL STITCH
	Hold the needle with the cast on stitches in the left hand and the other needle and yarn in right hand as before. Insert the tip of right hand needle through the first stitch on left hand needle from right to left bringing needle out of front of stitch. Holding the yarn at the front of the work, pass if over and round the right hand needle point. (STAGE 1).

		Bring the new stitch out as before and place on left hand needle, letting the stitch on the left needle drop off. (STAGE 2 AND 3)


GARTER STITCH = EVERY ROW KNIT.

STOCKING STITCH = 1 ROW KNIT, 1 ROW PURL.

INCREASING
There are two main ways of increasing 1. Make one - in patterns this is usually referred to as M1 This increase is usually made in the middle of a row - without leaving a hole.
	Pick up the strand of yarn between the stitch you have just knitted and the next stitch with the right hand knitting pin. Pass if over to the left hand pin. Now Knit into the back of it, twisting it as you go (see picture on the left).

2. Increasing - in patterns usually referred to as Inc1.
	This is usually done only at either end of a row. You simply knit twice into the same stitch, into the back and then into the front BEFORE you take the left hand stitch off the knitting pin (see picture on the left).

	CASTING OFF
1. ON A KNIT ROW.
	Knit two stitches, then pass first stitch knitted over second stitch and off needle. Use the left hand knitting pin to lift the first stitch over the second and off the pin. Continue in this way until only one stitch is left on the right knitting pin. Break yarn and pass end of yarn through this last stitch and pull tight.


2. ON A PURL ROW.
	Purl two stitches, then pass first stitch over second as before until all stitches have been cast off. If you can do these stitches you can knit ANYTHING! All fancy stitches are a variation of the above. Most knitting patterns have an abbreviations section which explain any fancy stitches. Good Luck, please send me an email if you have any questions.

There is only one thing you need to watch for with this method. That is that it is not usually every single row that you pick up a stitch because this would make the edging too loose. However, the pattern will tell you how many stitches you need to pick up. The best thing to do to get an even pick up is to fold the knitting in half and mark with a pin. Then divide again into quarters by folding the two halves again and marking with a pin. If it is a particularly large garment you can divide again into eighths and sixteenths and mark with a pin each time. Then divide the number of stitches you were asked to pick up by the amount of spaces you have pinned. That will be the number of stitches you need to pick up in each section. It is much easier to get an even amount of stitches spaced out along the edge this way.

For example: You have a cardigan edge which has 200 rows on it. You might be asked to pick up say 160 stitches. If you mark off your cardigan edge into four sections and you will need to pick up 40 stitches in each section or if you have marked it off into eight sections you will need to pick up 20 stitches into each section. Or you can divide it up again into 16 sections and then you know you need to pick up 10 stitches in each section.

Now you have finished your garment - the finishing and putting together is really crucial. A badly sewn up garment can ruin all your hard work. But even before we think about sewing up the blocking or steaming of your pieces are also very important.

WOOL: If you have used pure wool you can place a dry cloth over the top of the piece and run a steam iron over the top BUT do not PRESS or put any weight on the knitting. This can so easily flatten and ruin the work. Some manufacturers recommend just spraying the piece with a fine mist spray, covering the knitting with a dry cloth and leaving to dry naturally.

COTTON: Pure cotton is usually much more resilient than wool. You can put some pressure on the knitting when you press but don't put weight on like you would when pressing your trousers for instance. You don't want to flatten your stitches, especially if you have worked a fancy pattern.

MIXTURE AND ACRYLIC: Really a mixture yarn should be treated as acrylic. You must NEVER put any pressure or weight on an acrylic yarn. The blocking and spraying and leaving method is probably the best one for anything with acrylic in it. I have seen some potentially lovely garments ruined by pressing. The stitches are separated out and really "cooked" so that no amount of washing will ever bring the garment back to the size it started out.

Now you have blocked your pieces it will be much easier to put them together successfully.

This is a thumbnail picture - click on it for a closer look.

1. Backstitch seam. Remember not to put your needle through the wool, only through the holes between stitches and pull yarn fairly tight or you will get a baggy seam. (See first picture).

2. Invisible Seam. This is the way I use and think is the neatest edge you can get. You sew up from the front of the knitting and slip your needle through the first stitch on each row from side to side leaving the yarn loose for about five rows and then pulling up tight. The seam is pulled together and you can hardly see where the seam is because the stitches from both sides are pulled together. (See second picture). I always illustrate what a good seam you get with this method by using a contrast yarn to sew up with. When you pull the yarn up tight it completely disappears.

3. Flat seam. This is used when you do not want any bulk on the inside of your knitting. You weave in and out of both sides on the very edge of the knitting. (See third picture). This is the recommended seam for tiny baby garments - especially for premature babies as any bulky seam and dig in.

All these methods work although I always use method 2. But NEVER OVERSEW along the seam as this will always show and is very difficult to get a neat tight seam.

You may now like to knit in more than one colour. When you knit a picture or symbol on a jumper this is called Intarsia. You just have to remember when changing colour that you have to wrap the yarns around each other so that you don't have any holes.

Before you start it is best to wind your yarn onto small bobbins. That way you will not get all tied up. The bobbins sit at the back of the knitting and don't roll around all over the place getting in a muddle. Do not stretch the yarn across the back of the knitting at all. If there is more than one place on a row where you use the same colour, use separate bobbins so that there are no long floats across the back. If you stretch floats across the back you can't help pulling a little too tightly and will then get a puckered look to the picture. You get lots of ends to sew in at the end but you get a much better, flat picture.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of checking your tension. If you get your tension too tight your garment will be too small and likewise if you are a loose knitter your garment will be too big and will not wash well.

People hate checking their tension and yet it can save hours and hours of wasted hard work in the long run.

Every pattern gives a tension for the yarn and the size knitting pins suggested. Please remember this is not the knitting pin size you must use. It is the size of the tension square that matters, not the size of the pins.

If your tension square is smaller than it should be just try again with a larger pair of knitting pins. Also when your knitting is too tight, NEVER make a larger size garment as your knitting will be too stiff and will not hang correctly.

In the illustration above the tension is being taken from a larger piece of knitting, say ten stitches more than you need and 10 rows more. You place a pin where the 4 inches or 10 centimetres should be, counting out the stitches and rows. If the measurement goes beyond your pins you have knitted too tightly and need to try with a larger knitting pin. If the measurement is within the pins then you have knitted too loosely and need to try with a smaller size.

Remember, there is nothing wrong with you if your tension isn't the same as the pattern. You just have to adjust your knitting pin size to get to the right size. Once you have got this right then all your garments will come out right.

Do you hate knitting button and buttonhole bands and then having to stretch and stitch on?

Cast on stitches for rib PLUS the stitches for your band. Work as pattern until required length for rib.

Change your knitting needles for main part of garment but keep you band stitches on the smaller ones. A good idea is to use shorter or children�s needles, or cut down a plastic or bamboo pair.

Continue working across main part of knitting on larger pins but when you get to the band use the smaller size. Thus, leaving main knitting on larger pin and band knitting on smaller pin, working any shaping before you work the band.

When working buttonholes, first mark positions of buttons on button band and then work buttonholes to match.

If making a V-neck cardigan or jacket, when you have reached shoulders leave button bands on a stitch holder until garment is joined at shoulders. Then continue band until it reaches centre back, slightly stretched. You will then have to stitch this on and join at centre back.

Apart from the back neck this saves you stretching and sewing. No bulges and puckers � easy!

	FIG A changing on a knit row. Knit with yarn A until you want to change. Pull yarn A over to the left and wrap yarn B across the back of A as you knit the next stitch.
Fig A

	FIG B changing on a purl row. Purl with yarn A until you want to change. Pull yarn A over to left and wrap yarn B under A as you bring it across to purl the next stitch. You can see from Fig B that the edge resembles a sideways knitted row as on each row you cross the yarns over. This way you should get no holes. Don't worry if you see holes where the yarn is loose in some places. When you finish your work you will have lots of ends to sew in and you can pull these tight and sew up any holes that still appear.
Fig B