How-To Knit

materials source: Craft Yarn Council of America

Click on the desired subject title below to connect to the directions.
Casting On (CO)
Holding the Yarn and Needles
How-To Work Knit Stitches (k)
How-To Work Purl Stitches (p)
Binding Off
Joining A New Yarn
Slip Stitch (sl st)
Yarn Over (yo)
Increasing (inc)
Decreasing (dec)

Finishing Off By Weaving In Ends - see How-To Crochet - Fastening Off

Casting On (CO)
The first step of knitting is to put stitches onto your needle. This is called
casting on. There are a wide variety of methods of casting on. One of the
most popular methods is described here.
One Needle or Sling Shot Method and Slip-Knot
This method uses a double strand of yarn and a single needle. This is
sometimes called the "sling shot method." This method will give you a
firm attractive edge and can only be used at the beginning of a piece. The
"sling shot method" appears different on each side. The smooth side is
generally considered to be the right side of your work. In other words, if you
were going to begin working stockinette stitch immediately after your cast
on row, you would purl the first row.

	1. Measure off a length of yarn allowing 1" for each stitch you will cast on. Make a slip-knot there and leave the length of yarn attached. This slip-knot will be your first stitch. To make a slip-knot, make a pretzel shape with the yarn as shown in the diagram to the left.
	2. Slip the needle into the pretzel as shown.
	3. Pull down on both ends of the yarn to tighten the knot.
	4. Gently pull the two ends apart, to tighten the loop. Hold the needles as shown in the diagram to the left, with the short end of yarn over the thumb and the long end over the index finger. Both strand of yarn should rest in the palm, with the last two fingers holding them down.
	5. Pull the needle downward, then insert the point of the needle through the loop that is on your thumb.
	6. Move the point of the needle over, then around the right-hand strand of yarn.
	7. Bring the point of the needle back through the thumb loop.
	8. Drop the thumb loop, then pull on the short end of yarn with your thumb.
	9. This will tighten the stitch. You now has two stitches on your needle.

Holding the Yarn and Needles

	Hold the needle with the cast on stitches in your left hand as shown in the diagram to the left.
	Insert the right needle into the first stitch as shown in the diagram to the left. Hold it there with your left hand.
	Wind the yarn that comes from the skein through your fingers. Drape the yarn over your index finger, under the middle and ring fingers and around your pinky, as shown in the diagram to the left.

How-To Work Knit Stitches (k)
Knitting uses only two stitches - the knit stitch and the purl stitch. It is the variations and combinations of these two stitches that create all the different stitch patterns.

	1. Cast on the desired number of stitches. Now, hold the needle with the stitches in your left hand, and insert the right needle into the front of the first stitch from right to left as shown in the diagram to the left. The yarn should be in back if your work.
	2. Wrap the yarn around the right needle from back to front, so that it rests between the two needles.
	3. Slide the right needle down, then bring the point forward through the stitch, bringing the yarn with it.
	4. Slip the old stitch off the left needle. Be careful to slip only the one stitch that was worked off the left needle - do not allow the others to slip off.
	5. The new stitch is now on the right needle as shown in the diagram to the left. Repeat the above steps for each stitch on the left needle. Notice that at the beginning and end of each stitch, the yarn is at the back of the work. At the end of the row, all the new stitches will be on the right needle, and the left needle ill be empty.
	Second and All Other Rows: Switch the needle with the new stitches over to your left hand. Put the empty needle into your right hand. Be sure to pull the yarn straight down at the beginning of the row. If it is pulled up and over the needle it will look like two stitches instead of one. Insert the needle into the first stitch as shown in the diagram to the left. Work each stitch in the row as before. Additional rows are worked in the same manner.

How-To Work Purl Stitches (p)
A purl stitch looks just like the back of a knit stitch.

	1. Cast on the desired number of stitches. Hold the needle with the cast on stitches in your left hand, making sure the yarn from the skein as at the right, in front of the needle. Insert the needle into the front of the stitch from right to left as shown in the diagram to the left.
	2. Wrap the yarn around the right needle as shown in the diagram to the left. The yarn will still be at the front of your work.
	3. Slide the right needle down, then bring the tip from front to back through the stitch, bringing the yarn with it.
	4. Slip the old stitch off the left needle. You now have a new stitch on the right needle. Continue purling across the row, following the above steps. Notice that at the beginning and end of each stitch, the yarn is at the front of your work. Second and All Other Rows: Work additional rows by switching the needle with the stitches to your left hand, then beginning to purl the new stitches.

Binding Off
When you have finished knitting a piece, you will have a row of loops on your
needle. You must bind off (fasten down) these loops, or your work will unravel.

Knit the first two stitches of the row. Now using the point of the left needle, lift the first stitch up and over the second stitch and off the end of the right needle. You have just bound off one stitch. There should be one stitch remaining on your right needle. Now work the next stitch in the row. Left the second stitch over the third and off the needle. Continue in this manner across the row. It is very important to work your bind off row loosely. It needs to be elastic, just like your knitting. If you have difficulty a larger needle may be used for the bind off row.

At the end of the row, you will have one stitch remaining on your needle. Cut the yarn (at least 3" long) and pull the tail of yarn through the last stitch. This is called "finishing off" the yarn and will prevent the work from unraveling. The same procedure would be followed for binding off in purl stitch, except the stitches are purled instead of knitted. Always bind off in pattern, knitting the knit stitches and purling the purl stitches.

Joining A New Yarn
Most projects require more than one skein of yarn. It is best to add new yarn at
the beginning of a row so the joining is not visible in the middle of a piece of work.

1. To join yarn at the beginning of a row, simply drop the old yarn and pick up the new yarn and continue knitting using the new yarn. 2. After you have worked a few rows, twist the ends around each other and weave them into the edges in opposite directions on the wrong side. See diagram: How-to Crochet - Fastening Off

Slip Stitch (sl st)

To slip a stitch means you move it from the left needle to the right needle without working it. Unless the directions say otherwise, slip the stitch as to purl but with yarn to the back, which means insert the right needle into the left needle's stitch as if you were going to purl and move the stitch over from the left needle to the right needle without purling. You can also slip a stitch as if to knit.

Yarn Over (yo)

	Knit to Knit: 1. On a knit row, with yarn at back of work, bring the yarn forward between the tow needles, then back over the right needle to the back of the work. Knit your next stitch, and you will see you have added another loop to your needle.
	Purl to Purl: 2. On a purl row, with yarn at front of work, bring yarn over the right needle to the back of the work, then bring it back forward again between the two needles. Purl the next stitch and you will see you have added an extra loop to the right needle.

Increasing (inc)
There are different methods to increase stitches. Knit in front and back of the
same stitch is described here. This may also be done on a purl stitch by purling
in the front and back of one stitch.

	1. Insert needle into the front of the stitch. Knit the stitch but do not remove from left needle.
	2. Insert right needle into back of the same stitch and knit again.
	3. Remove the stitch from the needle.

Decreasing (dec)

	Knitting 2 Stitches Together (k2tog): To knit 2 stitches together, just insert the right needle into two stitches at the same time as shown in the diagrams to the left. This decrease will slant to the right.
	Purling 2 Stitches Together (p2tog): Purling 2 stitches together is done by inserting the needle into 2 stitches at once, and then purling them as if they were one stitch as shown in the diagram to the left.

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