Knitting Stitches

By Pam Grushkin
Pam Grushkin

Pam Grushkin learned to knit at a young age from her mother. First as a passion and lifeline, knitting is now her chosen career. Grushkin has been teaching knitting to people of all ages for four years both at yarn stores and independently. Knitting is not only her hobby and job, but it also represents being part of a greater community of people who share in their joy of yarn, fiber, color, creating and people. Knitting (and crocheting) is a wonderful hobby that enables people to be creative, meditative in a craft and productive in a unique way. In today's fast paced lifestyle, it's a way to slow down and relax.

Knitting stitches fall under two categories of either a knit stitch or a purl stitch. See different knitting stitches with tips from a knitting teacher in this free video on yarn crafts.

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Video transcription

All knitting is made up of two stitches, you've got the knit stitch and the purl stitch. We started out with the knit stitch, and we learned the garter stitch, which is knitting every row. And that creates all these ridges, on both sides and it looks the same. The purl stitch gives you this bumpy texture, which mirrors this. But actually in between you can see, there's the flat stitches of the knit, because the purl stitch is actually the opposite or the back side of the knit, so it looks the same. The purl stitch enables us to make ribbing's that gives us elasticity, creates different looks. You can do a knit 1, purl 1, you can do a knit 2, purl 1, you can also do combinations. For instance here you've got seed stitch, which is a combination of knits and purls on the front, and that borders that. And you can see how when you do stockinette, which is knit a row, purl a row, and you put a boarder around it, it lyes flat. And if you do stockinette on its own, where you're knitting a row, purling a row, it's going to curl up.