Tips For Knitting Beginners 
Extra Knitting Help

This tips for knitting beginners page is an extra page dedicated to the absolute beginner knitter.

Here you'll find a few extra beginner knitting tips just for you when you start knitting your first row of stitches.

Tips For Knitting Looser stitches
Avoiding Tight Stitches

One very common complaint that new knitters have is that their stitches are just getting too tight.  There can be a few reasons for this.

Tip 1:  Make sure to avoid knitting on the very tip of the knitting needle.

Tips for knitting

See how it's thinner at the tip?  When you try to push the stitch passed the tapered part the stitch will be very tight.

Be sure to push that right needle through the next stitch passed the tapered part of the needle and onto the wider part like the picture below.

Tips for knitting

That way the stitch will fit nicely on the needle and it loosens the stitch a bit too

Knitting Stitches Still Tight?

Tip 2:  Try adjusting your tension.  First of all, if you're wrapping the yarn around your fingers unwrap it and just let the yarn hang freely.  

When you need it gently wrap the yarn around the needle and then drop it again.  

Tip 3:  Try to relax your grip when you are holding your knitting needles.  

You want to hold your needles almost similar to the tension you use when you hold a pencil, maybe a tiny bit looser.

Tip 4:  If you are using wood or bamboo knitting needles you may want to try metal or plastic needles instead.  

Plastic and metal knitting needles tend to be more slippery and allow the yarn to move a lot easier along the needle.

You Put Your Knitting Down...

In the middle of a row and when you picked it up again....

EEK!

Now you feel lost, which way is the right way.  Where do you start to continue knitting?

Tip 5:  Remember - the working yarn is always attached to the last stitch you worked and the needle with the working yarn goes in your right hand when you start knitting again. 

Tips For Knitting - Finishing Your First Row

You just finished knitting your first row and when you begin the next row that first stitch seems really loose and you want to tighten it up a bit.

Tip 6:  Avoid placing the yarn over the top of the knitting needle like in this photo. 

Tips for knitting

When you pull it that way it causes the stitch below to come up over the needle making it look like there are two stitches instead of one.

This can cause you to knit the loops separately and you'll end up adding an unwanted stitch to your knitting so......

Always make sure that if you do tug on the yarn, tug on it to bring it down towards you like in this photo.  

Tips for knitting

Dont worry if it seems loose. It'll all tighten up as you continue on knitting.

Tips for Knitting and Purling

Tip: 7  Make sure that your working yarn Is behind both needles when you are knitting a knit stitch.

If you knit a stitch with the yarn in front you will accidentally add another stitch to your knitting and it will create an obvious hole in your knitting. 

Note:  When the yarn is in front and you knit the next stitch, it is called a yarn over.  It creates a hole and it's a one stitch increase. 

Tip 8:  Make sure your working yarn is in the front of your knitting when you purl stitches.

If you try to purl and the yarn is in the back, honestly (I tried this to see) it will feel very awkward to purl the next stitch.  

So if it feels funny stop and have a look at your knitting to see why.

I hope these tips for knitting helped you get through your first few rows. 

Keep practicing, it does get easier.


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