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Slipknot, Casting On and Knit Methods Slipknot, Casting On and Knit Methods From "Knitty Gritty" episode DKNG-101

	Getting started (to see a step-by-step demo, click on the video link below) ...
	Media Cast On; Continental; Throwing: Watch the Video

After you've chosen your yarn, needles and project, the very first thing you have to do is cast on. And the first step in casting on is to make a slipknot to attach the yarn to the needle.

Before you get started, here are a couple more knitting terms you'll run into in this episode. When we refer to the tail, we mean the loose end of the yarn; the term working yarn refers to the end that's still attached to the ball (i.e., the part of the yarn you're working with). Don't worry -- as you get used to the terms, you'll find that they become second nature to you!

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Slipknot
1. With the tail of the yarn (about 18" long) in your palm, wrap the working yarn around your index and middle fingers, laying the working yarn over the tail to form an X (figure A).

2. Spread your fingers slightly and push the working yarn through your fingers from the back of your hand (figure B).

Figure A

Figure B

3. Pull this loop up while holding the tail end to form a knot (figure C).

4. Place loop onto the knitting needle and pull working yarn to adjust tension (figure D). The loop should be snug against the needle but still loose enough that you can slide it up and down the needle. This counts as your first stitch.

Figure C

Figure D

Long-Tail Cast-On
1. Begin by making a slipknot, using a long tail. One or two yards will be sufficient for most projects.

2. Hold the needle with the slipknot in your right hand. Place the tail over your left thumb and the working yarn over your index finger. Turn your hand and the needle to a vertical position, catching the yarn in your palm with your remaining fingers.

3. Insert the needle upward into the front of the loop on your thumb.

4. Catch the working yarn on your index finger by moving the needle over the yarn.

5. Press the needle downward through the loop on your thumb.

6. Remove your thumb from the loop and adjust the tension of the resulting stitch by pulling on the needle gently while repositioning your thumb under the tail end of the yarn.

7. Repeat until you have the desired number of stitches.

Knit Stitch: Continental Method
This knitting method is generally easier for left-handed knitters since the left hand holds the yarn.

1. Hold the needle with the cast-on stitches in your left hand, cast-on edge facing down. Ignoring the tail, bring the working yarn under the needle and to the back, over your left index finger, and in your palm against the needle (or around your little finger) for tension.

2. Insert the right needle into the first stitch from front to back. Catch the working yarn by moving the right needle over and behind it.

3. Pull the working yarn through the stitch to the front, forming a new stitch on the right needle and slipping the stitch off the left needle.

• Here's a little rhyme that Vicki Square uses when she's teaching children this method:

In through the front door --
Round to the back --
Peek out the window --
There comes Jack!

Knit Stitch: Thrown Method
This method accomplishes the same thing as the Continental method, but the working yarn is in your right hand. It's a slower method of knitting, however, as you will actually have to let go of the right needle each time you make a stitch. To achieve tension, you may have to wrap the yarn around the little finger and then over the index finger of the right hand. You may need to experiment a bit until it feels right.

1. Insert the point of the right needle into the first stitch on the left needle, as in the Continental method; then let go of the right needle and wrap the yarn around the point of the left needle.

2. Leverage the yarn through to the front and bring the stitch off the end of the left needle.

3. Continue until all stitches have been knitted from the left to the right needle.

Next: Drop Stitches and Binding Off

RESOURCES :

The Knitter's Companion
By Vicki Square
Interweave Press, Inc.
1996
For this and other titles by Vicki Square, click on the link(s) below:
Interweave Press Inc.
Website: www.interweave.com

GUESTS :

Vicki Square
Knitting expert and author