I started knitting at the age of fourteen in the early eighties, I was self taught by getting a book from the library, (before the World Wide Web) back then Mohair yarn/wool was in fashion. Unfortunately I can't remember the book, but I remember learning how to cast on using the thumb method and how to knit the following stitches. In my opinion these stitches are the building blocks of knitting, and by mastering these you can make many garments including blankets, scarfs ,sweaters, cardigans, toys etc.
1. Knit Stitch
2. Purl stitch
3. Rib Stitch
4. Garter stitch
5. Stocking Stitch
By learning the Knit and Purl stitches first, the Rib, Garter and Stocking stitches can be mastered.
Starting with the thumb cast on, this is how I do it , this is how I taught myself however there is the needle cast on method.
Cast on thumb method
Once you have mastered casting on we can move on to the knit stitch. This is abbreviated to 'K' on knitting patterns.
Moving onto the purl stitch. This is abbreviated to 'P' on knitting patterns.
Next we have the Rib stitch also known as Knit 1 Purl 1. This is abbreviated to 'K1P1' on knitting patterns.
Moving on to the Garter stitch, this is shown on patterns as 'every row a knit'.
And finally the the stocking stitch , abbreviated as 'SS' on knitting patterns.
Like I mentioned at the start of this blog post the above stitches are the building block stitches of knitting, once mastered you can move onto various other stitches including Moss stitch cabling etc.
Regards
Donna@Miss Lavenders