Step-by-Step Garter Stitch
- There are two ways of holding the yarn and producing a knit stitch. While each method produces the same result, different knitters prefer different methods. In English knitting, the knitter holds the left hand needle steady and the right hand releases the needle and wraps or throws the yarn over the needle before the yarn is pulled through the stitch. In continental knitting, the yarn is wrapped around the fingers of the left hand, and the right needle picks up the yarn and pulls it through the loop on the needle to form the stitch.
- Like all knitting, garter stitch begins with a row of cast on stitches. There are several possible cast ons; however, one of the most common is the long tail cast on. Make a slip knot in your yarn and place it on your knitting needle, allowing approximately 1 inch per stitch plus 12 inches before the slip knot to form a tail. Wrap the tail end of your yarn around your left thumb and the working end of your yarn around your right index finger. Use your other fingers against your palm to hold the yarn secure. Take the point of your yarn through the loop of yarn on your thumb from bottom to top, then insert into the loop of yarn on your index finger from top to bottom. Draw this strand through the loop of yarn created by the yarn tail. Repeat until the desired number of stitches is cast on.
- Insert the tip of the right needle into the first stitch on the left needle, from bottom to top. If you are working English, hold both needles in your left hand and wrap the working yarn clockwise around the right needle. Pull this stitch through the loop and slide the loop off the left needle. You will now have one stitch on the right needle. If you prefer to work in a Continental style, slide the tip of the right needle into the first stitch on the left needle, bottom to top again. Once the needle is in place, pick up the working yarn with the tip of the right needle and pull it through the loop on the left needle. Slip the stitch off the left needle. You now have a single knit stitch on the right needle working in a Continental style.
- Once you can form the knit stitch, simply keep knitting. When you reach the end of a row, turn and knit all stitches in the next row. You can count rows in garter stitch by counting each garter stitch ridge as two rows. Keep in mind that garter stitch changes significantly if you are working in the round. Knitting every row in the round produces stockinette stitch, so to produce garter stitch working in the round, you will need to purl alternate rows.
