Crafty Belles

Knitting is a versatile activity in itself. I am sure that by now you have mastered the two basic stitches: the knit and the purl. The next logical step is to move on to some more complex stitches so bring variety into your knitting fabrics. To knit the same stitch repeatedly, project after project, can make the whole exercise painfully dull. Therefore, it is important that you try out other stitches and master them so you can use a lot more variety in your knitting. You can find instructions for other stitches in magazines and on the internet. However, I am going to give you my list of the most popular types of stitches in knitting so get you started!

Garter Stitch:
A garter stitch creates the most basic knitting pattern of all. With every row as a knit, the garter stitch leaves the fabric looking identical on both sides. Used in basic designs like scarves, the garter stitch is also popularly known as “Knit Every Row”. The stitch is probably the easiest and therefore ideal for beginners.

Knit Two Together
As the name suggests, you are knitting two stitches together. It is the same as the knit stitch except you are picking two stitches instead of one as in the case of a regular knit stitch. The easiest way of decreasing stitches, it helps you give shape to any fabric. To make the decrease even, since this stitch will slant to the right, you can add slip knits to balance out the decrease by adding a left slant.

Stockinette Stitch
Wonder how people get that braided look in their knitted fabric? This stitch is your answer to that. The stockinette is a basic stitch that involves one row of knit stitches and the next row of purl stitches. This alternate combination gives your fabric the “braided” look. Another option is a reverse stockinette stitch. As is obvious by the name, the first row in the stitch is purled and the second is knitted. This stitch is also popularly known as “knit one row purl one row” and ‘stocking stitch’.

Yarn Over
The yarn over is the exact opposite of the Knit two together. Like a knit two together can help you decrease stitches and narrow your fabric, the yarn over can increase stitches to broaden it. Creating a hole in the knitting, this stitch is popularly used with the knit two together as well. To use a yarn over, just loop the yarn over the right needle counterclockwise before you proceed with the stitch as you normally would. This creates an extra stitch in the row that you can knit as a normal stitch when you get to the next row.