Understanding a knitting pattern can be easy only if you know how to break the code. All knitting patterns you find will usually follow the same structure, the one I am about to outline here for you. The abbreviations used can confuse at times but if you have the right knowledge before you set to read a pattern you are unlikely to find it difficult.
The basics of knitting can be summed-up in two stitches: the knit stitch and the purl stitch. A basic pattern in knitting has stitches from the “right side” (knit stitch) and from the “wrong side” (purls stitch). In this article, you will find basic instructions for knitting these two stitches. Once you have understood how to cast on, you can move on to trying out the following instructions for the knit stitch as well as the purl stitch.
Maintenance Is The Key
Knitting fabric takes a lot of time and involves a lot of sweat and toil. Wouldn’t it be devastating if the sweater you spent hours knitting didn’t last more than a few washes? I certainly would be shattered if I was not able to use something I have created with such effort waste away too quick. Mostly we would end up blaming the yarn and cursing ourselves for not picking better quality stuff. However, most of us do not ever consider bad maintenance as a probable cause of the fabric’s short life.
Knitting is a craft with a rich culture and history. What makes knitting unique as an art is the fact that just about anybody can learn how to knit! All you need to perfect this art form is dedication and practice.
The invention of the knitting machine was crucial to understanding the social nature of knitting. Only with this invention did knitting-by-hand take on such a social character. Much like crochet or quilting, knitting-by-hand became a non-essential craft and therefore penetrated the sphere of social activity. Using a different system, machine knitting can produce patterns identical to the ones produced by hand knitting.
Even though knitting machines revolutionized the process, there is literally a twist you must beware of! While purchasing a knitting machine you must be very careful to figure out and understand the “twist”. The texture and tension of your finished fabric will depend on the twist of the yarn. When knitting with a machine, the yarn that you use and the degree of the twist are what decide the texture of your finished product.
Most people go on to assume that knitting with a machine is a more complex task than knitting by hand. The fear that learning how to use the machine will be more difficult than learning how to knit, is baseless. Mostly, the problems that arise during knitting with a machine can be blamed on yarn texture and not on the machine.
When knitting with a machine, it is of great importance that you pick up the correct yarn for the pattern. Yes, you will find the specifications of the yarn to be used on the pattern itself. However, you must keep in mind that the specification, when applied to different types of yarn like cotton or crepe, can mean different results. The same specification when applied to different types of yarn will definitely give you different texture. This is primarily because of the twist of the yarn. A low twist yarn like baby will give you a much softer fabric than the high twist and stiff crepe. Most yarns differ from each other only to the extent of the twist when the fiber is the same.
This is how the degree of twist can affect your knitting: a high twist yarn will generally produce a stiff fabric that is unlikely to change shape and be flexible. This also depends on the level of tension used on a machine and the size of needles used in hand knitting. On the other hand, a low-twist soft yarn will give you a much softer fabric that will take on new shapes when pulled, pressed or crushed.
Therefore, before you start that knitting machine you just bought, be sure that the yarn you picked is what you want for the pattern!
Knitted clothes do not have to look like potato sacks – large, bulky and ill fitted. With the proper technique, knitting can give you well fitted and smart outfits that you can wear all through the year.
Knitting can be traced back to 1000 A.D Egypt and colorful socks. And since then it sure has come a long way. From sweaters to socks and from bags to various other accessories, knitting lets you to design your own wardrobe. And trust me, it will be nothing less than a designer wardrobe and so cost-effective! With knitting as a hobby, you can get a lot more for a lot less. For years, designer labels have been using knitted clothes and accessories on the runway and in their stores. Even celebrities – supermodels and Hollywood stars can be spotted wearing knitted attires.
For a beginner, it can be difficult to understand the knitting literature you find in magazines or online. To decode the language used to describe a pattern can be tougher than knitting the pattern itself at times. In addition, the sight of so much jargon can definitely give cold feet and make knitting seem more complicated than it is. Therefore, I thought a compilation of knitting terminology could really benefit you. To this end, I present to you a short and concise glossary of certain important terms used in knitting.
Now that knitting appears to you in all its exciting promise, let us get you started on your first project. Knitting is a craft and therefore needs a lot of practice before you can master it. Hence, it is very important that you pick your projects carefully and proceed step-by-step. The process of getting started on that first exciting project can be outlined as:
Knitting is a versatile activity in itself. I am sure that by now you have mastered the two basic stitches: the knit and the purl. The next logical step is to move on to some more complex stitches so bring variety into your knitting fabrics. To knit the same stitch repeatedly, project after project, can make the whole exercise painfully dull. Therefore, it is important that you try out other stitches and master them so you can use a lot more variety in your knitting. You can find instructions for other stitches in magazines and on the internet. However, I am going to give you my list of the most popular types of stitches in knitting so get you started!
Garter Stitch:
A garter stitch creates the most basic knitting pattern of all. With every row as a knit, the garter stitch leaves the fabric looking identical on both sides. Used in basic designs like scarves, the garter stitch is also popularly known as “Knit Every Row”. The stitch is probably the easiest and therefore ideal for beginners.
Knit Two Together
As the name suggests, you are knitting two stitches together. It is the same as the knit stitch except you are picking two stitches instead of one as in the case of a regular knit stitch. The easiest way of decreasing stitches, it helps you give shape to any fabric. To make the decrease even, since this stitch will slant to the right, you can add slip knits to balance out the decrease by adding a left slant.
Stockinette Stitch
Wonder how people get that braided look in their knitted fabric? This stitch is your answer to that. The stockinette is a basic stitch that involves one row of knit stitches and the next row of purl stitches. This alternate combination gives your fabric the “braided” look. Another option is a reverse stockinette stitch. As is obvious by the name, the first row in the stitch is purled and the second is knitted. This stitch is also popularly known as “knit one row purl one row” and ‘stocking stitch’.
Yarn Over
The yarn over is the exact opposite of the Knit two together. Like a knit two together can help you decrease stitches and narrow your fabric, the yarn over can increase stitches to broaden it. Creating a hole in the knitting, this stitch is popularly used with the knit two together as well. To use a yarn over, just loop the yarn over the right needle counterclockwise before you proceed with the stitch as you normally would. This creates an extra stitch in the row that you can knit as a normal stitch when you get to the next row.