HELP BEGINNER KNITTER

mamsmith25 · 03-28-2010, 02:15 PM

Ok, I am a very beginner knitter, but I have been knitting for a couple years. My problem is that I taught myself how to knit, and now I am all confused, my knitting looks nothing like any of the pictures... the closest I could find was a picture from spikey67 and it was just a little bit, my knitting looks like a swirly line! I don't know what I am doing wrong. Also, I never even knew there was such a thing as purling really until recently. I have no idea how to use it! Do you do a whole row as knitting and one as purling? Or one stitch knitting, one purling? I thought I was confident in my knitting, and now my whole world has turned upside down! Also, I have a very poor and inefficient way of knitting, the closest that it comes to is English style, but basically I stabilize one needle and then work around that, rather than moving both. I have watched many videos here, and I feel like if i were to knit like that, I would feel very out of control, and drop many stitches. SOMEONE HELP ME!!!!

Jan in CA · 03-28-2010, 07:33 PM

It's not uncommon to hold the needles like that especially if you use long needles.

At the top of the page are videos. There is a section on knitting and purling plus the tips section has one on 'demo of a small project' that might be helpful, too.

If you need still pictures rather than video try these. They sometimes include a video, but if you scroll down you can see the still photos.
http://www.knitpicks.com/tutorials/E...L10010101.html

Stockinette stitch is knit a whole row, turn then purl a whole row.

Ribbing is doing a combination of knits and purls in the same row. Like knit 2, purl 2, k2, p2, etc...

mamsmith25 · 03-28-2010, 07:40 PM

Ok, i figured out that my knitting looks like that under the "purl" section of the links you sent me. I didn't think I was purling at all though, What I do looks exactly like that of a knit stitch, and the purl stitch seems very foreign to me right now, how could I have ended up with what looks like a purl stitch with knitting? Is this possible? Thank you so much Jan!!!

suzeeq · 03-28-2010, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Ok, i figured out that my knitting looks like that under the "purl" section of the links you sent me. I didn't think I was purling at all though, What I do looks exactly like that of a knit stitch, and the purl stitch seems very foreign to me right now, how could I have ended up with what looks like a purl stitch with knitting? Is this possible? Thank you so much Jan!!!

This confuses a lot of new knitters. A knit stitch looks like a purl on the back, a purl looks like a knit on the back. They're really the same stitch, you just do them differently. So when you knit every stitch on every row you get garter stitch, which shows the purl bumps mostly, but if you stretch it lengthwise, you'll see the V knit stitches. If you want stockinette which is what most sweaters look like, you knit one row, then purl the next and alternate them.

mamsmith25 · 03-28-2010, 07:45 PM

What does knitting into the back leg mean?

suzeeq · 03-28-2010, 07:51 PM

Hi, I rewrote my post, so people coming later won't know I asked about it.... lol

A stitch has two legs, one over the front, and one over the back. Normally you knit into the front leg, but sometimes people knit into the back leg, which twists the stitch. I wasn't sure if that's what you meant by 'swirly' sts or not.

You're not doing anything wrong, just making garter stitch where the purl bumps are more prominent, so it can look like purl sts on both sides, though you can also purl all your sts and still get garter stitch too. When you do stockinette, you get purl sts on one side and knit sts on the other.

mamsmith25 · 03-28-2010, 07:51 PM

Originally Posted by suzeeq

This confuses a lot of new knitters. A knit stitch looks like a purl on the back, a purl looks like a knit on the back. They're really the same stitch, you just do them differently. So when you knit every stitch on every row you get garter stitch, which shows the purl bumps mostly, but if you stretch it lengthwise, you'll see the V knit stitches. If you want stockinette which is what most sweaters look like, you knit one row, then purl the next and alternate them.

I stretched it out, and I did see the v-knit!! However, on both sides in looks like the purl, maybe I am just under/over thinking this, but if you purl to counter-act the knit (since its on the other side) if I am just knitting, wouldn't one side look different? they both look exactly the same to me. : ( Thank you for all your help so far!!

mamsmith25 · 03-28-2010, 07:54 PM

Ok, this is becoming so much clearer!!! So is a garter stitch the way it looks, or the way it is produced?

suzeeq · 03-28-2010, 08:04 PM

Yes! Garter, stockinette, rib... are all the names of the st patterns that result when you do specific combinations of stitches. Garter stitch is produced when you knit or purl all the rows. Stockinette is made when you alternate a knit row with a purl row and ribbing is knits and purls on the same row - k2, p2, or k2, p3, or k1, p1. Seed st also has knits and purls on the same row, but in a different combination. There's videos of these 4 st patterns on the Tips page.

I think you're getting it.

mamsmith25 · 03-28-2010, 10:46 PM

Thank you guys sooo much!!! I really do think I'm getting it! Now I am going to look into crochet so I don't teach myself weird! Are there any good websites or videos like this site that could teach me properly THANKS!!!