Always
insert the empty needle for the left side of the stitch to be knit. Never
do you knit in the back loop, always into the side of the stitch facing
you.
Many
self-taught knitters will wrap the yarn around the needle in the wrong
direction. Make sure you are not doing this. The yarn is wrapped from
underneath to over the tip of the needle, this is – from right to left to
right.
Hold
your hands close to where you are working, not clear down near the knobs
of the needles. Do not hold the needles like a pencil. Perch up on top of
the needles.
Try to
get a little tug against the yarn (tension); not too much, however, or it
will be difficult to knit the next row in your knitting patterns.
Try to
slide the needles as you knit. Your knitting will be smoother and you will
knit faster. When doing step three (slid up), make a point of sliding
clear up on top of the full needle and then do step four (slide off). This
will make you knit up on the fat part of the needles. If you should be
knitting on the very tips, the stitches would be difficult to knit the
next row.
When
drawing the loop through, be sure you are coming through the loop with
just one thread and not pulling through the back half of the same stitch
along with the regular loop. This is one way you might get extra stitches
and holes in your knitting pattern.
Make
sure the yarn is on the back side of work.
Turn
work around to knit the second row. Your full needle in your Left Hand and
empty needle in your Right Hand. Before beginning to knit the second row
of your knitting pattern, examine the first stitch on the full needle. You
will see that the first stitch has a big loop hanging right below the
needle. Sometimes this big loop is larger than other times, but it is
always there. Do not name the mistake of knitting in the big loop, thinking
it is a dropped stitch. Knit only the stitches that are over the needle.
Pull the big loop down and out of the way and start knitting the second
row of your knitting pattern. If you should pull the loose yarn to the
back side of work over the top of the needle, you would make the big loop
into two stitches. Do not do this. So hold the big loop down then get yarn
in back of work to knit the first stitch. The big loop has to be there
because you must have stretch everywhere in knitting and so the big loop
gives you the stretch you need on the edges.
Do not
attempt to purl until you are knitting very well, or you may become
confused. Learn one step thoroughly before you start to master the next
step.
