Part III: The lovely and versatile Knit Stitch

There are two essential stitches that make up almost everything you'll do knitting-wise. You'll skip, slip, twist, pass over, decrease, increase, yarn over, or make, but you'll do all of those things with the two basic binary babies: the knit stitch and the purl stitch.

These stitches are two sides of the same coin. How you work them (along with yarn type and needle size) determines what the fabric looks and feels like. There are a bazillion textures possible, which is what makes knitting interesting and relevant.  There are still many, many new ways to be inventive. And that's not even bringing color into the picture.

The basic stitch looks like this.

It has a loop at the top and two prongs that face outward at the bottom, like an omega symbol. What you need to understand are how the stitches interlock, and how that changes the look and feel of the fabric. If the top of the loop is facing to the back, tucked under the "V" shape created by the stitch above it, it's a knit stitch. If the top of the loop (called the purl bar) is facing to the front, it's a purl stitch. But here's the coin part. Turn the fabric around and the roles are reversed; because the front is now the back, and vice versa.

To start out, we'll work what is known as the garter stitch. The term "stitch" when it's not applied to an individual knit or purl loop is actually a pattern of stitches that create a certain texture. Garter stitch is very simple. Just knit all stitches, every row. But because you have to turn your work (straight work is done back and forth), the purl bumps are visible every other row. From either the front or back of the fabric, the knit stitches recede. So it becomes a reversible fabric. From the side, it's an extended zig zag shape. This will make more sense once you've actually done some of it. We'll go for it one stitch at a time.

And here's where I was tricksy, tricksy hobbit. To knit a stitch is almost identical to the cast-on we learned previously, which is called "knitting on" for reasons which will become obvious. You simply repeat steps 1-4 of the knitted-on cast-on stitch, but instead of inserting your left needle into the right hand stitch at step 5, you have only to slip the loop you just worked as well as the original stitch off the left needle.  The new stitch stays on the right needle, the original stitch falling in line directly beneath it, becoming part of the fabric. Repeat until you get to the end of the row. All of the work will now be on the right needle. Haha! You didn't know I'd actually taught you to knit already, did you?

Once you complete a working (in this case, not set-up*) row, you'll turn your work on the right needle (literally turn it 180°) and start on a new row from the other side. Your right needle becomes your left needle. What was the front of your work is now temporarily the back. But don't worry, up is still up and down is still down.

*A note about the knitted cast-on: there is no need to turn your work at the end of the cast-on row. Simply start knitting, working the stitches right to left from the left needle. Most cast-ons however, you will turn your work at the end of the cast-on row. 

The knit stitch works like this:

Step 1.  Insert right needle into first loop on left needle, make an X with your needles, right needle behind the left needle.

Step 2.  Wrap yarn behind right needle and come in left to right between both needles.

Step 3.  Pull new stitch through the original stitch with right needle.

Step 4.  Pop new stitch off of left needle, taking the original stitch with it.  The old one will lie directly underneath the new stitch.

Repeat until all work is on right needle.

Turn work and begin a new row.   

This is the basic anatomy of the garter stitch:

And now here is me knitting the knit stitch into a garter stitch sample in video form.





Terms you should know as they relate to knitting:

Working row: the row of work currently on the needles.
Knit stitch: top of loop facing to the back, tucked under the "V" shape created by the stitch above it.
Purl stitch: top of loop (called the purl bar) facing front.
Garter stitch: a pattern of stitches and distinctly textured fabric created when you knit all stitches of all rows.
Purl bar: the top of the loop.  Usually seen when on the side of work facing the knitter, or visible on the right side of a finished garment or project.
Cast-on edge: bottom edge of knitting created during casting-on.  Appearance and elasticity vary with each cast-on method. 
Knitted cast-on: a cast-on technique nearly identical to the knit stitch.  Creates a neat edge with a good amount of elasticity for general use.
Straight work: worked on straight needles with one point each, back and forth.
swatch:  sample of fabric, mostly used for measuring or visualizing