Learn to knit this weekend: casting on, knit stitch, purl stitch

Knitting looks intimidating because both hands are busy. In practice you only ever do two things, knit and purl, and even purl is optional at first. Here's the weekend plan.

Saturday morning: casting on

Use the long-tail cast on. Leave a tail about three times the width you want, make a slip knot on the needle, and then use thumb and forefinger to make each new loop. Cast on 20 stitches. If this method fights you, the knitted cast on is slower but conceptually simpler: knit into the first stitch and put the new loop back on the left needle.

Saturday afternoon: the knit stitch

1. Hold the needle with stitches in your left hand, empty needle in your right.
2. In: push the right needle into the first stitch from front to back, so it sits behind the left needle.
3. Around: wrap the yarn anticlockwise around the right needle.
4. Through: draw the right needle back towards you, bringing the wrap through the stitch.
5. Off: slide the old stitch off the left needle.

Say "in, around, through, off" out loud. Everyone does. Knit every row and you're making garter stitch, which is squishy, reversible and doesn't curl.

Sunday: the purl stitch

Purl is the knit stitch from the other side. Yarn held in front, needle goes in from back to front (right to left), wrap anticlockwise, bring it through backwards, slide off. Alternate a knit row and a purl row and you get stocking stitch: smooth V's on one side, bumps on the other.

Casting off

Knit two stitches. Lift the first over the second and off the needle. Knit one more, repeat. When one stitch remains, cut the yarn and pull it through.

The mistakes everyone makes

• Extra stitches appearing: the yarn went over the needle at the start of a row. Always check the yarn hangs down, not over.
• A hole: a dropped stitch. Catch it with a crochet hook and ladder it back up.
• Ridiculously tight: you're pulling after every stitch. Trust the needle to hold the size.
• Which row am I on? In stocking stitch, if the smooth side faces you, it's a knit row.

By Sunday night you'll have a garter-stitch square. Sew two together, stuff it, and you have a cushion or a cat toy. Then it's time for [ribbing and your first hat](/craft/knitting).

#basics #beginner #cast-on #guide #how-to