How Easy Is It To Knit?

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Myth busting alert: Knitting is not scary, you do not have to be an expert to knit an item to wear.

That said, it’s all about learning the basics of how to actually knit, and then practice, practice, and more practice. To knit a hat or scarf is probably the easiest item to start with these work as basic rectangles of differing lengths

Slip knot

Casting on sound complicated but it really is about finding out the method that suits you best. YouTube is a great way to show you how to do this (see our tutorial https://youtu.be/kU9e-Uzof2E) but here are some step by step instructions. First you will need to create the knot that allows you to start knitting or casting on, it is called a slip knot as it can tighen up once the row is finished and it will give a neat appearance.

To create a knot, wrap the wool around the finger twice, making a X shape

Step 2: Take if off the finger and it should resemble a loose circle

Step 3: Bring the yarn through the centre of the circle and pull to tighten

Step 4: Slide the knot onto the needle and you are ready to go

Casting on

Casting on is where you make the number of stitches to be held on the needle to allow you to create your item. This is the foundation of your work and so this needs to be neat and not too tight! of the various methods of casting on, here at Sisters, we like the two needle version as this works well with a slip knot. Check out our how to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbhUDZxy0vA

Step 1: Taking the slip knot, slide your second needle into the loop

Step 2: Wind the yarn around the second needle, bringing through the middle of both.

Step 3: Pull the yarn to bring it right up against the slip knot.

Step 4: Bring the second needle down, so that the tip touches the yarn in-between the two needles

Step 5: Take the tip of the second needle and ‘catching the yarn that you brought between the two needles, bring it through the slip knot.

Step 6: Pull the needle to stretch the loop you have created with the yarn through the slip knot.

Step 7: Keep pulling the loop until it is large enough to go over needle one and slip it onto it.

Step 8: You now have 2 stitches cast on. Follow these steps to create all the stitches you need for your project.

Knit Stitch

Now you have cast on you can tackle the stitches you will need to create your item. The knit stitch is versatile and simple, making it easy to learn and use to create many projects. These can range from blankets, hats or scarves and once you get confident you can then move onto simple toys or even clothing. But, first we need to master the stitch, happily this is very similar to the cast on stitch up to step 6, where then we pull off the loop from needle 1 and the stitch moves to needle 2

Step 1: This is where you pull the loop you have just created (same as step 6 of cast on). You will notice that we are working on 8 stitches on this example.

Step 2: Whilst pulling the loop, pull the remaining half of the stitch on needle one towards the end of the needle

Step 3: Keep pulling the stitch until you reach the end of needle one

Step 4: Pull the stitch off the end of the needle and pull the yarn tail to tighten the stitch. You have knit one stitch

Step 5: You can now move onto the next stitch on needle one and repeat the steps above.

Cast off

Once you have completed your project, you will need to cast off. Cast off is not the same as decreasing stitches, although both reduce the number of stitches that remain on your needle at any one time. Casting off gives a neat and straight edge to finish off a project and prevent it from unravelling and undoing all your hard work.

Step 1: Knit your project (we have knit 5 rows here of 8 stitches)

Step 3: Take the first stitch and insert needle one into it, you are going to bring it to the end of needle two

Step 4: Keep taking stitch one to the end of needle two, stretching it as you go

Step 5: Take the first stitch up and over the second and over the end of needle two.

Step 6: You now can see 6 stitches on needle one and 1 stitch on needle two (7 in total) You have decreased one stitch.

Step 7: Repeat the decreasing action, by knitting one more stitch onto needle two and passing the first stitch over the top of it, the same way as earlier step, until you reach the last remaining stitch.

Step 8: Take the stitch off your needle and open up the stitch to make it larger, cut the yarn from the wool ball.

Step 9: Take the cut end of yarn and pass it through the opened stitch.

Step 10: Pull the yarn tail and close up the stitch. You have finished your project.

All done

Now you have the basics you can start to really have fun with it. Try casting on 20 stitches and knitting row after row of the knit stitch. Once you get to around 30 rows cast off. Repeat for 16 blocks (8 in one colour and 8 in another) and then sew them together to form a blanket

Once you get the hang of it, you are well away to start creating your own blankets or even a scarf or hat. If you would like to try your hand at a hat, see our free pattern download on the sistersthatstitch.co.uk website. Happy knitting!