New (and even experienced) knitters can sometimes wrap the yarn backwards, which results in twisted stitches. The video below shows how to wrap the yarn the correct way around your needle when knitting or purling. Spoiler: always wrap counter-clockwise. You may also want to check out these tips for yarn and stitch orientation.
Author Archives: Susan Relland
How to Do the Continental Cast On
Casting on is how you get the yarn into loops and onto the needles at the beginning of a project so you can start to knit. There are many different methods of casting on. Perhaps the easiest for new knitters is the Continental Cast On, which is very similar to simply knitting. Check out theContinue reading “How to Do the Continental Cast On”
How to Make a Knit Stitch
There are two main stitches in knitting: the knit stitch and the purl stitch. When looking at fabric knit in stockinette, the side with the “v” shaped columns is the side that was knit; the purl side is the one with the “bumps,” which are sometimes described as “smiles and frowns.” Note that the backContinue reading “How to Make a Knit Stitch”
How to Knit Garter Stitch
To knit in garter stitch simply means you knit every row when making a flat piece of fabric. (When knitting in the round, you would need to alternate between knit rows and purl rows in order to create garter stitch fabric.) This creates a kind of ripply fabric that’s the same on both sides. TheContinue reading “How to Knit Garter Stitch”
Where to Hold the Yarn After Turning Your Work
New knitters sometimes have a hard time understanding where the yarn should be positioned after turning the work, particularly after completing a knit row. If you don’t do this correctly, you can end up accidentally adding a stitch. The following video shows where to hold the yarn after turning your work to be positioned correctlyContinue reading “Where to Hold the Yarn After Turning Your Work”
How to Bind Off
Binding off is what you do to take your project of the needles when you’ve finished knitting the pattern. There are several different ways to bind off your work. With the simple or traditional bind off, you knit two stitches and then pass the first stitch over the second and off the needle. Here areContinue reading “How to Bind Off”
How to Weave in the Ends
To weave (or sew) in the ends is usually the last step of a project. At the very least, one usually needs to weave in the tail end of the yarn from where the first slip knot was made to start the project, and the very last tail end of yarn that remains after bindingContinue reading “How to Weave in the Ends”
How to Slip Stitches
Knitting patterns often direct the knitter to “slip a stitch,” perhaps with additional instructions such as to “slip knitwise.” In short, to slip a stitch is to move a stitch from one needle to the other without getting new yarn and making a new stitch. In the following video, we’ll learn about slipping stitches.
How to Make a Purl Stitch
There are two main stitches in knitting: the knit stitch and the purl stitch. When looking at fabric knit in stockinette, the purl side is the one with the “bumps,” which are sometimes described as “smiles and frowns.” The side with the “v” shaped columns is the side that was knit. Note that the backContinue reading “How to Make a Purl Stitch”
Coco Knits Sweater Pattern
I made this Coco Knits Sweater from her Sweater Workshop as a class offered by my local yarn store, Yarnatopia. It was a little more complicated than I might have wanted to tackle on my own the first time, but was great to do as part of a class. The book, worksheet, and colored stitchContinue reading “Coco Knits Sweater Pattern”
Cushion of Joy 