Learning to Knit? Mastering the Basics of Knitting Comes First!

Basics of Knitting

Have you ever wanted to learn the beautiful art of knitting?  At first knitting may seem very difficult, but with practice and patience, it can become really fun and easy.  I didn't really know how to knit when I first picked up the book "Knitting- Teach Yourself Visually" by Sharon Turner, and it was a challenge to start learning, but I gave it time, and now I know the basics of knitting. 


I am going to be learning throughout the 3 months in which we were assigned to read and blog about one particular non-fiction book and how we incorporate it into our everyday lives, to learn a new skill every single blog post.  For the first blog post, I mastered the skill of the basics of knitting, for example casting-on, and the basic knit.  For the second blog post, I am going to master and complete a knitted square and learn how to cast the square off.  For the third blog post, I am going to knit a square using a type of special knit called a purl.  For the 4th, I am going to complete a square with purls and different colors.  And for the 5th and final blog post, I am going to put all my knowledge to a test and create a scarf with purl knits, different colors, and cast-off. 


A knit piece may look something like this...

 

So what's the big deal with knitting?
According to the non-fiction book, "Knitting", knitting is fun and relaxing, "Once you begin to get into a knitting rhythm, you'll discover one of the most relaxing and satisfying of hobbies." (Turner 4).  Knitting is not just for grandmothers; children, teens, 20 year-olds, and new mothers are learning to share the hobby (Turner 4).  I decided to take up this challenge of learning how to knit, because for Christmas I wish to give my mom a hand-knit scarf with beautiful colors and different kinds of stitches.  "A hand-knit gift with extra meaning for both the person giving and the one receiving.  When you knit a special hat, scarf, or baby sweater for someone, you weave your love into the fabric, and the person receiving your gift will know it and appreciate it." (Turner 5)


So what did I learn to do, you may ask?
For this specific blog post, I learned to take up the art of casting on and learning to do a basic knit (stich).  According to this non-fiction book, "Knitting", I first learned the different yarn types.  A few different types are cotton, mohair, wool, alpaca, nylon, acrylic, and polyester (Turner 6).  For this specific project, I used acrylic yarn.  Secondly I learned all about different yarn weights.  There are lots of different yarn weights such as, "super-fine, fine, light, medium, bulky, and super-bulky," (Turner 6).  For this knitting experience I used medium.  Next I learned about different types of needles.  There are lots of different types such as wood, metal, bamboo, and plastic, (Turner 10).  I will be using bamboo needles.  Also there are lots of different types of shapes for needles.  I will be using the straight needles, since I am a beginner, but the others are double-pointed and circular.  Also I will be using some extra supplies that I may need like scissors.  

 

 

 Yay!!! Now it's time to make a slip knot!

Now that I got all of the things that I need to begin knitting, I can start.  From the book, it says the following, "Basic Techniques: A knitted fabric is made up of many stitches.  In this chapter, you will learn the basics: how to get your first row of stitches on the needle as well as how to knit."  (Turner 11).  This is what I am going to be focusing on in this blog post.  First I will be learning how to make a slipknot.  Well what is a slipknot?  A slipknot is "your very first stitch," (Turner 14).  To make a slipknot, I followed the very clear instructions that were listed in the book, "Start about 10 inches in from the end of your yarn, make a loop.  Pull the working yarn (the yarn coming from the ball) behind the loop as shown.  Insert the needle underneath the working yarn and pull it up through the loop.  Pull the ends of the yarn so that the slipknot sits snugly on the needle,"  (Turner 14).  These instructions were very easy to follow and I made a slip knot myself with yarn and a needle.

Well what's next?
Casting on is next.  According to the nonfiction book, "Knitting", "Casting on is what you do to get a foundation row of stitches on you needle so that you can start to knit," (Turner 15).  There were many types of methods of casting on shown in the book such as the backward-loop cast-on, the long-tail cast-on, the knit cast-on, the cable cast-on, and the provisional cast-on, (Turner 17-20).  I experimented with all of the methods, but found that the knit cast-on was the easiest to do and would be good for this particular project.  "The knit cast-on produces an elegant elastic edge, so it's good for most anything..." (Turner 18).  The instructions say to, "Put a slipknot on your needle.  Holding this needle in your left hand and the empty needle in your right hand, insert the right needle into the stitch from front to back, as if to knit.  Wrap the working yarn around the tip of the right needle and pull up a loop, as when knitting a stitch.  Do not slip the stitch off the needle.  Transfer the new stitch to the left needle by inserting the left needle into the stitch then sliding the right needle out.  Pull the working yarn to tighten.  Repeat steps 1-4, placing each new stitch to the right of the previously cast-on stitch until you have the desired number of stitches on the left needle," (Turner 18).  I followed this exactly, and now I know how to cast on!  I'm almost done with mastering the basics of knitting, just need to know how to do a basic row of stitches first!  My progress is below. 

Time to Knit!!!
So according to the book "Knitting", "It's a good idea to start with a small number of stitches (10-15) on your needles.  You will want to count your stitches after every row to make sure you haven't dropped or added any accidentally," (Turner 24).  The method shown in the book to knit is called the English Method.  A few instructions that come from the book is to hold the needle with the cast-on stitches in your left hand and hold the working needle in your right hand and then create an X with both of your needles with the right needle behind the left needle.  Then holding the crossed needles bring the yarn around the right needle from back to front and then bring it down between the two needles.   After that pull the right needle toward the front, bringing the new loop of yarn you just wrapped around it through the stitch on the needle and slip the old stitch off the left needle.  This is the 1st stich.  The book then says to repeat these steps until the there is no more stitches that can happen until going to the next row, (Turner 24-25).  I followed these steps very closely and created my first row of stitches.  I then went on to create two more rows of stitches.  My progress is as follows.

So am I done?
Let's look at my goals for this blog-post.  They were to master the basics of knitting by casting-on and doing the basic knit.   I successfully did this!  This book told me the steps of how to cast-on and how to a basic knit (stich) and now I know how to do a slip-knot, a basic stitch, a cast-on, and I completed my first 3 rows!  Now you may be asking, 'Ok so how does this help you with your life'.  Which this is part of the project.  This helps me with my life, because now that I know and have mastered the basics of knitting, I can make a scarf or anything else that I want to.  This is going to impact my life, because thanks to the book "Knitting" I will be making a scarf for my mom for Christmas.  I won't have to take time and effort and money trying to think of the perfect gift to buy at the store, because a knit scarf will be genuine and not cost near as much money as a present I could buy.  This has always been a passion of mine, creating art, and now that I know how to knit, I will take up knitting, and instead of wasting my money on gifts that don't really count from a store, I can make my family and friends meaningful gifts in which they will treasure.


A question for any fellow knitting-bloggers out there:
Have you found an easy way to cast-off? (Since I think I may struggle with this).


Also do you think that purling or the basic stich is harder?  I personally like purling better, but I was wondering what any readers thought and liked better. 


What should you take away from reading this?
You should take away that although knitting, or anything can be a struggle, you should just try and do it anyway, because it could change your life (no matter how small of a change, it will still impact your life). 
Also the argument that I am trying to express in this post, is that you should take up a hobby that you have always wanted to do, because it may be hard at first, but the end result will be rewarding. 


MLA CITATION
Turner, Sharon. Knitting: Teach Yourself Visually. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Pub., 2007. Print.








Dated: 11/30/15