Lessons from the Landscape: Knitting Day Two: The Knit Stitch

Still not convinced you can knit? If you cast on stitches after watching the video I posted yesterday, you've already done it. Yep, just wrap the yarn around the tip of the back needle as shown in the casting on video, and, using the tip of that needle, shove the yarn downward and through. Very similar to typing a shoe. The only difference—the yarn is wrapped counterclockwise, and the shoelace, clockwise. It's that simple.

But...in order to knit all stitches and create rows, you won't transfer the loop that you created on the right needle to the left as the cast on video instructed. You'll leave it in place.

Sound like gibberish? Here are two videos that demonstrate the simple procedure. The first, from Lion Brand:

Another video with the camera positioned closer to the needles.

Note: I've never used my index finger as the instructor in the second video suggested, but it might be helpful during your first efforts.

Now try it. Don't be afraid to make a mistake—that's normal. Try a few stitches, then knit the entire row. When you're finished, all the stitches will be on the right needle. Simply put the needle full of stitches into your left hand and knit the row again!

Knit several rows. Don't be surprised if your sample looks like this:

Instead of this:

The latter, which I expected to see when I started knitting, is created by knitting one row, and then purling the next. Don't know how to purl? I'll post that video tomorrow.