Put down your forks. I’m making ribs but not the kind you eat. For the first time, I finally have managed to knit what is called “ribbing,” where you alternate between knit and purl stitch. Above is some photographic evidence!
I can’t tell you how hard this has been for me to get my brain to tell my hands to do this! In fact, years ago when I tried to take some knitting classes, the instructor actually started with this, alternating between these two stitches, and it really turned me off to knitting because it was so freaking hard and I could not visually tell the difference between the two stitches.
Since discovering Knitfreedom.com, I have finally been making some knitting progress. They are still baby steps, but Liat’s instructions and videos are so amazing. I’m working through her Intermediate Scarves & Stitches ebook now, and that is what finally made the whole knit/purl/knit/purl thing click for me. Being able to finally do this is a huge step because basically knitting is made up of pretty much these two stitches. So unless you can go back and forth between them, you are super limited in what you can make.
Now I’m starting the scarf project she has in the ebook, which I know will probably take me forever because I’m incredibly slow, but I just have to keep telling myself that it is all part of the process. Yeah for me!
June 23, 2012 at 2:27 pm
But you do amazing crochet, so don’t be hard on yourself. I can knit, but can’t crochet, at least not to knowing what dumb hole the hook goes into. This looks great btw..
June 23, 2012 at 2:28 pm
But I think if the instructor originally just had you learn one stitch.. master that one and then go to the next one, it might have been easier. That’s how I taught the high school kids last year and it seemed to work.
June 23, 2012 at 2:45 pm
Exactly, that is how Liat does it in her ebooks. First she shows knit & has you make a scarf just with that stitch. Then she shows purl & you practice that on a swatch. Then you move onto alternating. Of course, I had no idea when the other lady tried to teach me that her method was crazy. I just assumed it was me.
Thanks for the kudos on the crochet. I’m making some progress there too as far as doing more complex projects, but that’s my comfort zone.
June 24, 2012 at 9:47 am
I’m a big fan of the rib stitch, I’m currently pattern testing a beanie hat that uses it.
You did a beautiful job so congrats. When I learned knitting at eight that was thirty-three years ago that was how I learned, combining the two was a bit too complicated for my brain to wrap around, and so my first projects were just using the knit stitch, and my next projects I just used the purl stitch, afterwards I didn’t have any issues.
It’s how I taught my eight-year old daughter too. I told her once she has the basics ironed out, the rest won’t be as confusing, since the majority of stitches are just using the knit and purl pattern. Soon, my daughter will be learning how to make cables.
June 24, 2012 at 2:15 pm
Thanks for the encouragement Opal!