How to Knit

Sarah Ramming, managing editor

Knitting has, for the longest time, been seen as something your grandma did while sitting in a rocking chair watching television. Nowadays, more people are discovering the pure joy of knitting, whether it be making garments, scarves, or even blankets. 

Although I am not a professional knitter, I consider myself good enough to teach others the basics. The first thing I taught everyone who wanted to learn was how to cast on. Casting on is how you start and, in my opinion, is the most difficult part of learning how to knit. I find that the best way to teach other people is to demonstrate it yourself. I grabbed an extra pair of needles and yarn and went around to everyone to teach everyone solo.  

To cast on, make a slip knot and attach it to one of the needles. Hold the needle with the knot on it in your dominant hand (for me, my right). There should be two strands of yarn making up the slip knot. The yarn attached to the yarn ball is called the “working yarn” and the one not attached is called the “tail”. Wrap the working yarn around your thumb, keeping the side of the yarn attached to the yarn ball over your palm. Wrap the tail over your pointer finger, under your middle finger, then over both your ring and pinky finger. With the needle in your right hand (the one with the knot), put it under the loop on your thumb, under the pointer finger loop, and back through the thumb loop. Pull to tighten the stitch around the needle and repeat! That’s all there is to cast on.  

The next step to learning to knit is learning how to do the most basic stitch- the Knit Stitch. To start the stitch, hold the needle with your cast on stitches in your left hand. With your right, pick up your other needle. Hold the working yarn wrapped around your pointer finger to increase tension. Put the needle in your right hand under and through the first stitch on the other one. Wrap the working yarn through the center of the two needles, then push the right needle over the working yarn and then down, under the stitch, and pull it off the left needle. That is the knit stitch! Repeat for as long as you want the piece to be. 

To finish the project, you have to cast or bind off. Get to the end of a row and knit the first two stitches. Pull the first stitch you knitted over the second and off the needle. Knit the next stitch and repeat until all stitches are off. You can either weave in the leftover yarn with a tapestry needle or just knot it. And that’s all. Knitting is basically just repeating patterns and going over and under. It’s great to keep your hands busy and you can make so many useful and beautiful creations. Good Luck!

Student Interviews:

What was your original impression of knitting?

What was the most difficult part of learning to knit?

Now that you know how to knit, will you continue to do so and what do you want to make?

Rania Suleiman:

Originally, I thought knitting was difficult, and it took years of dedication or hands-on teaching to learn. My grandma knits so I just assumed that knitting was a hobby for older people.

I think the hardest part was that I kept getting my fingers all tangled up in the yarn, but after some practice it got easier.

I will continue to knit, since it is wintertime, I am going to make a beanie and maybe a scarf.

Addison Pendegraft:

At first, I thought that knitting was some mysterious, mystical skill that people somehow acquired when their hair got gray enough. I didn’t really understand the complexity or joy of knitting at all. But after trying it out, it has been really fun.

The most difficult part of learning was probably my lack of confidence in the technique, so it was hard to get into a steady rhythm without needing to slow down or double check.

I will totally continue to knit after this; it was so much fun! I think I’d like to make a silly hat or maybe a blanket.

MC Savage:

I thought that it would be hard to pick up but it was something fun that I was willing to learn.

For me the most difficult part was learning how to hold my hands the right way to actually knit and not just make knots.

Yes I think I will continue because its a fun thing to do with your hands, and I will probably just stick to the basics and try to make a scarf.