Knitting by Heather Flitton

Casting On

The first step in knitting is casting on.  Make a slip knot and place it on one needle. Put the needle with the loop on it in your left hand, grasping it between the thumb and forefinger of your left hand as you might hold a pencil for writing, but with the tip up. The yarn from your ball will be IN BACK and on the bottom of the left needle; the tail will be coming off the front on the bottom. Pick up and hold other needle in your right hand, as you would hold a pencil, but with the tip pointed up.  Insert right needle into front and the right needle will be under the left needle. 

Holding the yarn with your right hand and keeping the needles in your left, bring the strand of yarn underneath the right needle. Wrap the strand around the tip of the right needle, starting underneath from the right, going around the back to the left and bringing the yarn up over the needle to the right so that the yarn is wrapped in a clockwise motion (the direction that the hands on the clock move). The strand of yarn will be on your right when you have finished.

Pull the yarn with your right pointer finger to tighten it so that it is not loose on the needle. Keeping the yarn wrapped on the right needle, pull the tip of the right needle towards you, out from below the left needle and up through the center of the stitch on the left needle. Then slide the tip of the right needle so that it is now on top of the left needle and the yarn that is wrapped around it has been pulled through the stitch that is on the left needle. When you are finished, the tips of your needles will be crossed with the tip of the right needle on top and the left one below. There is a loop on the right needle that has been pulled up through the stitch. Now you have one loop on each needle with the right needle resting on top of the left needle. Elongate the pulled-through loop on the right needle by pulling it gently. This will soon be your second cast-on stitch.

Transfer the new cast-on stitch from the right needle to the left needle by inserting the tip of the left needle into the loop of the stitch that you have just created on the right needle and slipping the stitch from the right needle to the left needle.  Repeat process until you have the desired amount of stitches.

The Purl Stitch

Our next step is the purl stitch.  To make a purl stitch, you do all the same steps as you do to make a knit stitch except with slightly different motions. Hold the needles as if to knit -- the needle with the stitches is in your left hand and the empty needle is in your right hand. . Place the yarn from the existing piece and the ball IN FRONT of the left needle. Insert the right needle towards you through the first stitch on the left needle (right to left, from the back to the front). The right needle will be on top of the left needle and pointing towards you (downward.)

Loop the yarn from the left needle around the tip of the right needle from the front around the back in a downward counter-clockwise motion (the motion that is opposite the direction that the hands of the clock move).  To make sure you don't lose the loop, place your right thumb over the yarn on the right needle so it won't come loose when you move the needle. Slide the tip of the right needle and the yarn on it through the center of the stitch on the left needle, moving it away from you.  With the tip of the right needle, pull the new loop off the tip of the left needle.

Repeat this process until you have purled all the stitches.  The stitches will look like pointed waves or triangles when finished.

Theatre Applications

There are many applications for knitting in a theatrical setting.  The most common one would be to create a prop that would go by a couch, a rocking chair, or other piece of furniture.  To do this, you would be a basket that fit the time period of the play.  Fill it will balls of yarn that are pale or natural colors (such as white, tan, and gray).  Use one ball of yarn to make a small swatch using the knit and/or purl stitches.  Leave the needles in your work and place those in the basket as well.  This creates an easy prop that looks authentic and can easily be picked up and worked on by the actor in the show.

Doilies are always great for Victorian plays.

Knitted bandages look great on stage if doing a play that involves battle or hospital scenes.

Knitted trim can be used to put on pillows, table clothes, or clothing.  Knitted trim can also be glued onto books, lamps, or walls then painted to create different textures.

Knitted socks and slippers look great on stage.

Remember that poor people never had doilies or other lace pieces because they didn’t have the time to make decorative pieces.  They made practical articles of clothing like socks, slippers, and washcloths.  The rich used doilies and lace to show their economic status. 

The Knit Stitch

Our next step is the knit stitch, also known as the garter stitch.  hold the needle with the cast-on stitches on it in your left hand so that the first stitch is approximately one inch [2.5 cm] from the top of the needle. Loop the yarn that goes from the bottom of the first stitch to ball over the top of the forefinger of your right hand and hold the empty needle in your right hand.  Now do the same process as if you were casting on except when it comes time to put the loop over the left needle, simply remove the loop with the right needle transferring it to the right needle.  Repeat this process until you have knit all of your stitches.  These stitches look like waves when finished.