Knitting
The following instructions for casting on, for plain knitting, for purl knitting and for casting off
have been made as clear as possible, and have been successfully tested by some very inexperienced
knitters, but the easiest way to learn how to knit is for someone to show you, and if you have any
difficulty following them it may be a good idea to seek help from a friend who knows how to knit.
Casting on
Casting on is the most difficult aspect of knitting and there are various different methods of
doing it. The method shown here is relatively simple and works well.
Tip:
Tip:The ball of wool should be at your right side, and the wool is carried by the right hand, unless you are
left-handed, in which case the instructions can be reversed. However, some left-handed people are quite at
ease knitting in a right-handed way, provided they learn the right-handed method from the beginning.
1. Make a loop 20 cm (8ý) from the end of the wool and
push the left needle through this loop. Pull the loop up
so that it fits closely round the needle, but is not too
tight. This will be the first stitch.
2. Hold this needle in the left hand. Take the second
needle and the length of wool that is attached to the
ball, in the right hand. Push the right needle up Diagram 1
through the loop on the left needle, so that the right
needle comes under the left one (Diagram 1).
3. Bring the wool that is attached to the ball round the
back and over the point of the right needle.
4. Draw the right needle back towards yourself from
under the left needle. Bring the point through the first
stitch, without letting the wool slip off, and place it on
top of the left needle (Diagram 2).
5. Bring the point of the left needle round on top of the
right needle, insert it up through the loop on the right Diagram 2
needle, then draw the right needle out and away
(Diagram 3). There are now 2 stitches or loops on the
left needle.
6. Repeat steps 2 to 5 until you have the required number
of stitches on your left needle.
7. Always keep the length of wool that you are knitting
with, underneath and at the back of the needles.
Diagram 3
Plain Knitting
There are 2 basic knitting stitches –
plain and purl. Plain knitting is usually
abbreviated to ‘K’ in knitting patterns.
Before you begin a garment it is a
good idea to do some practice knitting to
get used to the stitches. You can always
pull out your work and start again if it all
goes wrong.
1. Cast on 10 stitches.
Diagram 1
2. Hold the needle with the stitches in
the left hand. Insert the right needle up
through the first stitch on the left
needle, so that the right needle comes
under the left one (just as you did
when casting on) (Diagram 1).
3. Pass the wool round the back and
over the point of the right needle,
from left to right. Draw the point of
the right needle back out of the stitch
and round to the front of the needle,
making sure that you still have a
stitch on the right needle (Diagrams 2
Diagram 2
and 3).
4. Slip the first loop off the left needle.
There should now be 9 stitches on the
left needle and 1 stitch on the right
needle.
5. Continue to work into every loop in
this way, until there are 10 stitches on
the right needle and none on the left
needle.
6. Turn the work, placing the needle with
all the new stitches into the left hand,
with its tip pointing to the right.
7. Work another row exactly as you did
the last one, remembering that in plain
knitting the wool is always kept at the
back of the work, and that every row is Diagram 3
the same.
Purl Knitting
You can now learn purl knitting.
This is done into the front of the
stitches. (It is abbreviated to ‘P’ in
knitting patterns.)
1. Cast on another 10 stitches (or
continue on the piece of plain
knitting you have just done). Take
the needle with stitches in the left Diagram 1
hand, and keep the wool at the front
of the work.
2. Holding the left needle horizontally,
push the right needle through the top
of the first stitch on the left needle,
from the right to the left of the
stitch, keeping the right needle in
front of the left one (Diagram 1).
3. Now pass the wool round the point
of the right needle, from right to left
(Diagram 2).
Diagram 2
4. Repeat the action described in Step
3 of plain knitting i.e. draw the point
of the right needle back out of the
stitch making sure that it emerges
with the loop still round it
(Diagram 3).
5. Place the right needle behind the left
needle, then slip the first stitch off
the left needle.
Diagram 3
6. Work into each stitch on the left
needle in the same way, until all the
stitches are transferred to the right
needle.
Stitches
Garter Stitch
Garter stitch is another name for plain knitting stitch. Knitting something in
garter stitch also means to knit every row in plain knitting (i.e. no purl knitting).
It forms ridges on alternate rows.
Stocking Stitch (abbreviated to st.st.)
Stocking stitch is one row in plain knitting and the next row in purl knitting.
Slip Stitch (abbreviated to sl.st.)
1. Hold the needle with the stitches in the left hand.
2. Push the point of the right needle up through the front of the first stitch on the
left needle, from left to right, and draw the loop off the left needle on to the right
needle, without knitting it.
Casting off
This should be done loosely.
1. Put the needle with the stitches on in the left hand, and knit the first two stitches
in plain knitting.
2. Push the point of the left needle, from left to right, through the front of the first-
knitted of the two stitches on the right needle
3. Hook this first stitch over the second stitch and then over the point of the right
needle. Let this stitch drop in between the needles. One stitch has now been cast
off.
4. Plain knit (K) the next stitch from the left needle, making two stitches again on
the right needle and, as before, slip the first one over the second.
5. Continue in this way until only one stitch remains on the right needle.
6. Break off the wool from the work, leaving about
15 cm (6ý) of wool hanging loose.
7. Slip the last remaining stitch loosely off the needle and draw the end of the wool
through this last stitch. Pull tightly.
8. Thread the end through a wool needle and sew it neatly into what you have
knitted. (A wool needle is like an ordinary sewing needle, but it has a blunt
point.)
