In this post I’m going to show you how to knit the knit stitch. I’ve taken this from my “Learn to Knit for Beginners Course” which you can find here.
Because I thought that you may want to look at specific techniques, I’ve broken it up into a set of posts like this.
If you’re just starting out though, check out my Learn to Knit for Beginners course for lots more techniques and a “getting started” guide.
Lets get started!
Learn to knit the Knit Stitch
Cast-on the number of stitches required by your pattern. If you are just casting on to learn to knit, try casting on 25-30 stitches. If you’re not sure how to cast-on, see my quick tutorial here to show you how to make a “Long-tail” cast-on.
Have a look at the stitches that you have cast-on. Holding the needle with the tip pointing towards you, you’ll see that each stitch (loop) has yarn that runs down the front and back of the needle (right and left as you’re looking at it). This is known as a front loop and a back loop. For knitting and Purling we are going to be using the front loop.
Pick up your work and hold the “working yarn” (the yarn that is coming from the ball of yarn that you will use to make the stitches) behind / underneath the needle like shown in the picture below.
You will make a knit stitch as follows:
In the pictures, I’ve shown you what it will look like on this initial cast-on and what it will look like once you are knitting.
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
So, all you have to do now is repeat these steps for the next (and all stitches) in the row. You have now knitted a row of knit-stitches!
Now, practice knitting a few rows, if you knit every stitch on every row, you will be creating something called “Garter Stitch”.
As you can see from the picture below, there are a number of different textures that you can create from just two stitches. If you want to make any of these, you will need to learn how to make the “Purl-stitch” too. You can find my tutorial on the Purl-Stitch here.
It may seem a bit complicated if you’re just starting out, but don’t worry, I have put lots more information on different knitted fabrics in Lesson 2 of my Learn to Knit for Beginners, which you can find here.
How to Knit the Knit Stitch – Video Tutorial
Because it’s not always easy to follow pictures, I’ve also created this video. It shows you how to make multiple knit stitches:
If you found this tutorial useful, check out my other tutorials here.