Knitting Stitches

VARIATIONS OF KNITTING STITCHES

But it's important, if you are going to be doing any amount of knitting for charity, to know a bit more than that about knitting stitches. In addition to the knit and purl knitting stitches, it's a good idea to know these variations:

1. Cable stitches - cable knitting stitches are done by sliding a number of stitches (usually 2, 3, or 4) onto a separate cable needle, knitting the next 2, 3, or 4 stitches normally, and then retrieving and knitting the stitches that were set aside on the cable needle. Having this skill enables a knitter to create any number of complex 'semi-circle' or 'twisted' patterns on a knitted item - a LOT of variety is possible!

2. Some knitting stitches are done into the 'back of the stitch', which means exactly that. It gives the knitted surface a bit of 'texture' from twisted knitting stitches.

MORE COMPLEX KNITTING STITCHES

3. 'Yarn 'round - or over - the needle' (YON) - this knitting stitch involves knitting the stitch as usual, but then wrapping the yarn around the needle one more time (or sometimes 2 or 3 more times, depending on the final effect you want) before picking up the next stitch.

4. The two most common knitting stitches are garter stitch - simply knitting every row - and stockinette stitch, which is knitting one row, purling the next, and then repeating that two row pattern of knitting stitches.

5. Rib stitch - there are many rib knitting stitches, but the most common ones are k1, p1 or k2, p2 across the row. Rib knitting stitches allow the knitted item to stretch like an accordion, and then bounce back into shape.

If you master these five variations of knitting stitches, you can knit quite literally thousands of things!