Knit? Purl? A Guide To Basic Knitting Stitches
When you learn to knit, you will need to learn many different knitting stitches. Along with needing to know how to get the stitches onto the needle in the first place (casting on) and how to get them off again (casting off) there are several basic knitting stitches.
Taking A Look At Knitting Stitches
Of course, the first knitting stitch you would need to know is the knit stitch. It is the foundation for all the other stitches. You can see this stitch formed by watching another knitter, or an online video of knitting stitches. It isn't difficult to do - except for the first several times you do it! After that, the hands learn the rhythm of knitting and it gets much easier. You can tell they are knit stitches if they look like a bunch of "V"s stacked up on top of each other. It is made by passing the yarn through from below the stitch before it.
Purling is like knitting in reverse. It is still adding stitches and moving forward on the row, but you are making the stitch into the front of the stitch on the needle instead of the back of it. The result is a different looking stitch than when all the stitches are knit stitches. Purling is usually the second stitch learned by beginning knitters. To look at knitting, a row that is purled looks like a wavy line going across the row. This stitch is made by passing the yarn through from above the stitch before it. Watch someone do it in front of you, or online, to see how it differs from a knit stitch.
What Pattern Is That?
If a fabric is made with only knitting stitches, it will be the stockinette stitch. If only purl stitches are used, it will be called the reverse stockinette stitch. These look similar.
If the knitter alternates between knit and purl stitches in some sort of pattern, the resulting fabric will be a ribbed fabric, with long lines of each type of stitch. This fabric is very stretchy.
If the knitter instead alternates by knitting a row of knit then a row of purl, the fabric will be the garter stitch. It is called that because it is very stretchy - ideal for garters.
If the knitter does a few stitches of knit and a few of purl, they can have a checkerboard result. These are various patterns, but the smallest - one knit, one purl, alternating in both across and the row above and below - is called the seed stitch.
While there are many variations of knitting stitches, the basic building blocks of knitting are knit and purl stitches. Once one knows how to do them, one can do a lot!
