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Fun, easy patterns for all seasons!
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Friday, February 18, 2011

Knitting and Purling Patterns

Basic knitting patterns are comprised of knitting and purling. Stockinette stitch is the most common stitch there is. I guarantee that you have a sweater in your closet right now that is composed of stockinette stitch. If you study it for a moment you can determine the knit side (likely the outside) and the purl side (likely the inside.)  When you knit a stitch, you see a small "v" on the front and a "bump" on the back. The front is known as the KNIT SIDE, and the back is known as the PURL SIDE.  Subsequently, when you purl on one side, a knit stitch appears on the reverse side. 

How do you do the stockinette stitch?  
Knit the first row; Purl the second row and repeat.  Work is turned between rows. The above photo shows the progression of these stitches beginning at the bottom and going up. The second section is seed stitch.

Seed stitch is a nubby texture and happens to be my favorite. To do the seed stitch you simply K1, P1, and repeat. On the next row, you K1, P1 and repeat. You will be knitting the purl side of the stitches, and purling the knit side of the stitches. It is easy to follow because you will see that if you come to a V you will purl it, and if you come to a bump, you will knit it. The third section is garter stitch.

Garter stitch is when each and every row is knitted. No purls allowed! This gives a stripey texture to your knitting, as you can see the Vs AND the bumps in rows. You are seeing both the front of the knit stitches and the back of the knit stitches. The fourth section is ribbing.

Ribbing is accomplished the same as in seed stitch for the first row: K1, P1 and repeat. However, for the second row, the pattern is P1, K1 and repeat. In this case you are purling the purl stitches, and knitting the knit stitches. When you come to a v, knit it, and when you come to a bump, purl it. This creates a vertical stripe effect and is often used on the cuffs of socks, sweaters and mittens because it has a lovely stretchy quality. After the ribbing, I did several more rows of stockinette and then some seed stitch again. These progress left to right in the photo below.

I hope this information has been helpful and that you will soon give knitting a try! Check out my YouTube videos on how to knit for specific instructions on this swatch.

2 comments:

Willow River Piecemakers said...

youtube....linky, linky please!

Nutmeg Quilts said...

Okay, here they come, three posts in a row!