Welcome to the world of knitting!

Knitting is so much more than just a way to make something. You’ll soon discover that the process of knitting is relaxing and even therapeutic. The rhythmic and repetitive motion is very calming and restful. Many knitters look forward to their quiet time with needles and yarn as the best part of their day.

Let’s get started!

Basic Knitting

Knitting is a versatile, easily transportable craft because the tools and materials are so simple; to get started you really only need yarn and knitting needles. The process of making a basic knit item is quite simple. In its most fundamental form, knitting requires only three steps: casting on, knitting, and binding off. You’ll find that learning these three steps is easy. Then, by simply changing the needle size, yarn, or yarn combinations, you can achieve a variety of knitted fabrics suitable for different projects.

Texture

The primary means of creating texture in knitting is combining knit stitches with purl stitches. Once you’ve mastered purling, a huge variety of stitches will open up for you. In this chapter you’ll learn just a few: stockinette stitch, reverse stockinette stitch, seed stitch, and rib.

Shaping

One of the reasons knitting is so versatile is that it’s easy to shape an item by either increasing or decreasing the number of stitches. In this section you will learn different methods for increasing and decreasing, the effect and appearance of each method, and which methods to use for different situations.

Knitting in the Round

One of the knitting world’s most handy tools is the circular needle, which is two short needles that are connected with a cable. You’ve already learned how to use a circular needle to knit a project that has too many stitches to fit on a single-pointed needle. In this section, you’ll learn how to use a circular needle to make a cylindrical item. In addition, you will find information for knitting with double-pointed needles to shape the crown of a hat and as a substitute for circular needles.

Putting It Together

By this point you’ve become a confident knitter who can make scarves, shawls, hats, and more. But what if you want to make something that is the combination of more than one piece? This chapter will teach you how to add a band of knitting to an existing item by picking up stitches. You’ll also learn how join two pieces of knitting with a seam.