How to Hold Knitting Needles

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Christine Pichini from Expert Village, and today I'm going to teach you some basic knitting techniques. Before we start, we need to learn how to hold the knitting needles correctly. So, we're going to start first without any yarn or any knitting, just so we can show you the best way to hold them. Now, a lot of people when they start, start clutching the needles like this. That's not a good way to go, because you're going to need to have some mobility in your hands to work with the needles. So just take the right needle first, just lay it in your hands across your fingers like that. Touch your thumb on top of the first finger, very lightly, and just get the feel of them just rolling between your fingers. Then turn your hand over. This loose grip with the thumb and the forefinger, and these fingers free, is going to be your basic grip. My forefinger, while I'm knitting, tends to move between here and here as I'm working. And it's the same thing with the left needle. Take the needle, have it rest across your fingers, loosely touch your thumb to your forefinger, turn the needle over, and that's your grip. So again, the grip is simple. Lay the needle over your fingers. Most of the action is between your thumb and your forefinger. So lay it against your fingers. Take your thumb, touch it lightly to the forefinger, turn your hand over, that's your right-hand grip. And it's the same for the left hand. Lay the needle across your fingers, take your thumb, touch lightly on the forefinger, holding the needle between the thumb and the forefinger. Turn it over, and there's your grip. Now remember, you're not clutching really tightly. You're loosely holding the needles, so there's some mobility."