How to Knit the Garter Stitch

Knitting, to borrow a line from author Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, is the craft of making fabric with two sticks and some string. The string is more likely to be a yarn, and the two sticks come in many forms. Once you've mastered casting on and learned the knit stitch, one of the two basic stitches of knitting, you can learn the first pattern: the garter stitch.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 1 skein worsted weight yarn
• 1 pair single-pointed needles, size U.S. 7 or 6

1. Cast on 20 stitches.

2. Grasp the needle with stitches in your left hand with the tip pointed to the right. Take the yarn strand that's coming from the ball (the working yarn), not the tail left from casting on.

3. Hold your left hand with your palm facing you and bring the working yarn up over your little finger from between the little finger and the ring finger, then down on the outside edge of the pinkie. Wrap the yarn behind the ring finger, up and over the middle finger, and loop it around the index finger. Now place your last three fingers at the back of the needle, keeping the yarn wrapped and your thumb on the front of the needle, and extend your index finger out so that the yarn goes straight from the needle and over the top of the index finger, making sure you're holding it taut.

4. Practice Step 3 several times until it feels comfortable. This is the Continental method of knitting, with the yarn held in your left hand. Once you've used it for awhile, you won't want to go back to the American method, where you hold the yarn in the right hand. The Continental method gives you a smoother technique and will make you a faster knitter.

5. Insert the empty or working needle, held in your right hand, through the first stitch from the front (under the loop) to the back, above the working yarn. Tip the working needle over and under the yarn, making a loop on the working needle. Keeping the loop in place with your right index finger, pull the working needle back to the front and slide the top stitch off the left needle. You should now have one stitch on the working needle, and 19 remaining on the left needle.

6. Repeat Step 5 until all the stitches are on the right needle. Turn the work, and knit another row with the Continental method. Knit each row, creating the garter stitch pattern, until your work is the length you want. When your work is the length you want it, it's time to bind off.

7. Bind off by knitting two stitches, then using the tip of the left needle to lift the first stitch on the right needle up and over the second stitch and off the needle. Knit another stitch onto the right needle, and again lift the stitch farthest to the right up and over the new stitch and off the needle. Repeat until you have only one stitch left, then cut a tail from the working yarn and pull it through the last stitch.

Tips & Warnings

• Starting with worsted weight or heavier yarn makes it easier to learn knitting, and also helps you finish your first project more quickly than if you were using a lighter weight yarn.
• Notice that the Continental method requires fewer movements. You're not wrapping yarn around the right needle with your hand, but with the needle itself. With practice, you should find it more ergonomic than the American method, and your speed will increase. You can see it in action on YouTube (see Resources below).

Resources

• Watch the Continental method.