Tutorial: How to Knit

[mollypop]

Okay, so teaching someone how to knit can be really difficult, and I'm going to try my best to give a good photo tutorial...if you have any questions at all or need clarification, let me know...other knitters can add on to my explanation as well.

What you'll need!
Yarn (if you're a beginner, try a non chunky one--aka NOT the kind I used.)
Needles (Mine are bamboo size 10.5...the average size is around 8ish.)

1. Casting On

Take the end of the your yarn, and start holding it in your hand like this:

with the short end closer to your palm.

Then move the short end in between your index and middle finger:


And then grab the long end with your ring and pinky finger.


Next, take your needle and put it under the first string and over the second.



Then bring your needle under both strings, in between the strings and that space between your thumb and index finger.



Then pull it off.

Your first stitch will most likely just look like you twisted the yarn around the needle once, and that’s okay.

Repeat the above steps until you have the desired amount of stitches and thus the desired width of your piece. (I suggest starting with a scarf.)

[mollypop]

2. KNITTING!
This is the “knit”—there are several stitches you can do with yarn and needles, but this is the classic one. The other commonly used one is the purl…the purl and knit stitch look pretty sweet together.

Okay!
Take your casted on needle. Put your empty needle’s point into the first stitch and cross it to the back.



Take your yarn and bring to the left around to the back, then cross it through the middle of the two needles.






Now take the empty needle and point it downwards:


Now you want to bring the tip of the downward facing needle and bring it up through the second hole (created by the string crossing over).
And because this is difficult to explain and my yarn makes it so difficult to see what’s going on:

(needle through the highlighted green part.)


After you do that


Pull off the entire stitch, with it now only on your once empty needle.




Make sure it ONLY comes off the needle on the left, otherwise you will drop a stitch! Which means you will have a hole in your creation.

TA DAA! You now know how to knit.
Which brings us to the end:

[mollypop]

3. Casting Off

Once you have knitted your way to glory and achieved the desired length of your piece, you now have to cast off.

Make sure you have enough yarn to last you a little over 1 row.

Knit two stitches.


Take the bottom stitch and simply pull it over the top one and off the needle.




Then stitch another on and repeat. When you have only one stitch left, cut the end of the yarn about 6 inches to be safe, and then weave it up through the bottom, and pull it off. To be safe, tie a knot at the end, and if you want, trim off the extra yarn.

Yay! You’re done!

If you have any questions or need any clarifications then definitely ask away!
I hope you are able to understand this tutorial!

[OxyMorbid]

aw man, i haven't knit in years! i forgot everything...well, maybe now i'll knit myself something. awesome tut!

[Scarlet Fox]

great tut!!! I've always wondered how to start and finish a knit. My mom did that for me when I was younger and I just did the "filling in" part of knitting. Now I want to knit stuff now lol

[mollypop]

Also, now that I've done all this work, I come across this video:
http://www.threadbanger.com/episode/THR_20070921

In it, she casts on a different way than I do and she also purls instead of knits. But, I should definitely start with a slipknot...I never knew how haha.

[Runyerpockets77]

I think I'm doing it wrong...

Oh yeah, totally dont pull it right..

[CaterpillarGirl]

Oh Molly, you are so brilliant!
I used to know how to knit when I was a kid, but I've forgotten it all. Plus I'm left-handed and try to do everything the opposite way round >__<
I am totally gonna try and re-learn now though.

[CretHAN Hop@aol.com]

molly...you are the greatest.

[JADED YOUTH]

i wish the pics were more clear because im a visual lerner.. i will attempt this though! i find it very amausing that i can watch your tv in these photos.

[Holy Magenta]

Oh Molly, you are so brilliant!
I used to know how to knit when I was a kid, but I've forgotten it all. Plus I'm left-handed and try to do everything the opposite way round >__<
I am totally gonna try and re-learn now though.

Me too. So no one can teach me.

[CaterpillarGirl]

Oh Molly, you are so brilliant!
I used to know how to knit when I was a kid, but I've forgotten it all. Plus I'm left-handed and try to do everything the opposite way round >__<
I am totally gonna try and re-learn now though.

Me too. So no one can teach me.

It sucks eh?
I got a book out of the library to try teach myself to knit, but I'm not good at learning from books either... I guess I'm a visual learner also. I'm still gonna try with this tut though.

[mollypop]

i wish the pics were more clear because im a visual lerner.. i will attempt this though! i find it very amausing that i can watch your tv in these photos.

Yeah, sorry about that...its really hard to get a clear picture up close, and its hard to see what's going on when its far away. ><

Sorry lefties! Could you try reversing this, or is that way too hard? because I'm pretty sure if I was left handed I wouldn't be able to reverse the whole thing just from looking at this.

[lilpixie17]

Here's a link that might help some of you lefties out. You want to pay attention to the Conventional Method. They are the pink videos. Most right handed knitters use the English method.

[url]
http://www.knittinghelp.com/knitting/ba ... /index.php[/url]

Its a great site that can show some other techniques as well.

Also, thanks Mollypop for doing this. I envy the time it took to actually pull this together.

[no_poeticdevice]

I've always wanted to know how to knit but dont know anyone that can teach me...so Im going to have to get some yarn and knitter needle things and try this out..Thanks!!!