Crafting 101

To begin, knitting is quite fun! While it looks intimidating, once you get the hang of it, it gets pretty easy. Don’t feel frustrated by it, just take it one step at a time. I was going to throw the towel in when I first began, but now, I love it!

First off, there’s two different ways of knitting - English and Continental. The English method is where you hold the yarn in your right hand and “throw” the yarn around the needle and the Continental method is where you hold the yarn in your left hand, more like if you’re crocheting. [Left: Continental; Right: English]

After taking a look at the pictures and getting a feel for how the yarn fits in your hands and how it feels comfortable, you’ll determine which is best for you. I learned to crochet first, so it’s easier to use the Continental method for me. But pick what is best for you (Any pictures you see will have me using the Continental method for my knitting.)

To begin, we need to learn to cast on. Casting on is basically looking at how many stitches you need to begin with to make whatever you are making and you have to get that number of stitches on one of your needles before you can begin to actually knit.

First, grab one of your needles and the end of your yarn. For this simple project, we are going to cast on 25 stitches. Take your yarn with one end in one hand and hold your arm out until it’s straight. Hold the yarn against your arm like you’re measuring it. A good rule of thumb is for every twenty stitches, measure out one arm length of yarn. Grab the place where the yarn meets your shoulder and add about two inches of yarn, probably to about where the yarn meets your neck. You want to make sure you have enough yarn or you’ll have to start again if you run out of a tail.

You are now going to make a slip knot to put onto your needle. To make a slip knot, lay the yarn on one of your fingers. Throw one end over the top, you should have a circle now. Grab the shorter end of the yarn and pull it through the circle until the yarn is all the way through.

	You now have a slip knot!

Now to casting on. No matter which way you are holding your yarn, this is how you do a Long Tail Cast On. Hold your needle with the slip knot in your right hand. Let the yarn hang down. Take your thumb and index finger of your left hand and with those two fingers, part the yarn. Grab the two strands of yarn with your three other fingers to hold it tight. I always use my index finger on my right hand to hold the slip knot (and later stitches) on the needle so they don’t slip off.

You should have what looks like a “Y” with your yarn and needle. There is a hole created by where your yarn crosses by your thumb. Take your needle and put it up through the hole (you’re coming up from below). Once you do that, there is a big gap in the yarn by your index finger and the fingers holding the yarn. Put your needle through that one from the front. Now there’s a hole created between your needle and your thumb. Put your needle through that hole through the top. Bow pull your thumb out and pull the yarn tight.

You’ve casted on your first stitch!

Continue with this method until you have twenty-five stitches on your needle. You will count the slip knot as one of your stitches. When you get to reading patterns, look over the pattern because some patterns will not have you counting the slip knot as a stitch. But for everything I show you this month, the slip knot counts as a stitch.

If you have questions, please post them in the comment section. I will check it throughout the day, week and month to see what you all have to say! Thanks for joing me for lesson one!

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