Knitting basics 1 - Garter stitch earwarmer part 2

On Wednesday we began our first knitting lesson with casting on, how to knit, how to make an increase, and some pattern abbreviations. Today let’s finish off our project with two types of decrease stitch, and how to bind off. First let’s recap our pattern:

We should now be at the start of the decrease section, the first line of which reads “Row 1:k1, sl1k1psso, k until last 3 sts, k2tog, k1“. Remember that k1 means knit a stitch – so we knit the first stitch. The second instruction looks like complete gobbledegook – ‘sl1k1psso‘.  Well, it stands for ‘slip 1, knit 1, pass slipped stitch over’, and is one kind of left-leaning decrease – or reducing the stitch count by one. There isn’t really any such thing as an invisible decrease, you can generally see one stitch slightly raised above the other, and right- or left-leaning refers to which direction that top stitch is pointing. This isn’t all that important right now, but it can help make lace patterns, for example, and really affect the look of a piece if it has lots of decreases. Anyway, how to do it? The first instruction is ‘slip one’ – in other words, instead of knitting the next stitch, just slide it from the left to the right needle. Knit the next stitch. Pick up the slipped stitch with the tip of the left needle, pass it over the stitch you just knitted and off the needle, so the knitted stitch passes through the slipped stitch. OK! Now we can knit the rest of the row, until there are 3 stitches remaining on the left needle. Next we need to ‘k2tog’, or knit 2 together. This one is fairly self-explanatory – insert the tip of the needle into the next 2 stitches and knit them as if they were one (k2tog is a right-leaning decrease, in case you were wondering) You should now be able to finish the pattern! The final part is binding off, sometimes abbreviated to ‘bo’ or ‘b/o’ – or, confusingly, ‘co’ for ‘cast off’. As with most things, there are several ways to do this, but this method of binding off is the most useful. Knit the first two stitches. Lift the first stitch over the second and off the needle. Knit the next stitch, and again pass the first stitch on the needle over the new one. Continue along the row until you have one stitch left. Cut the yarn and pass the loose end through the last stitch, pulling it tight. To finish off, add ties to the ends – you could sew on ribbon, if you like. I cut 6 lengths of yarn, pushed them through the ends of the knitted piece and braided them. Add any decorative elements you like – buttons, pompoms, crochet flowers – or leave plain. Congratulations, you just knitted your first finished object! In our next knitting posts, we’ll be making a cosy for an iphone, camera or other gadget, and learning about the purl stitch, cables, and how to calculate and adjust gauge.

If you really can’t wait that long, I suggest this ebook – Knitting Essentials, a comprehensive guide to machine and hand-knitting for beginners.

You may also like:

1. Knitting basics 1 – cosy garter-stitch earwarmer
2. Knitting basics 2 – learn to purl, illusion knit bag
3. Magic loop knitting – cabled shrug