I've been toying with the idea of doing knitting tutorials on Steemit for awhile now, and this morning a vision for them finally came together: Knit With Me, a series of posts showing off different techniques in knitting which will leave you prepared to create your own masterpieces!
I'll present a simple project in each post that you can follow along with at home, learning different aspects of knitting at your own pace. The first project series will be washcloths, as they are quick to knit up and employ all the basic techniques of a larger project. Today's project of a Seed Stitch Washcloth will highlight: cast on, knit, purl, and cast off.
Note: If you'd rather make a dishcloth, simply cast on 2-3 times the number of stitches to make a wider towel and knit extra rows until you get the size you like.
Second Note: These should be knit up in nice absorbent cotton yarn. As I only have wool in my stash at the moment, that's what I'll be using in my example.
Seed Stitch Washcloth
Seed Stitch is an effect created by combining knit and purl stitches side-by-side, so that every knit stitch is flanked by a purl stitch to each side, and each purl by knit stitches to either side. Before we dive into Seed Stitch, however, we must first Cast on.
Step 1: Knitted Cast-On
Begin by casting on 26 stitches as shown in the video (if you have your own preferred cast-on method, feel free to use it!)
Note: Don't cast on the stitches too tightly. I still tend to do this and it makes knitting the first row a real pain, as you have to shove the needle into a tight cast-on stitch. You'll see my struggles in the second video.
Step 2: Work the Body of the Washcloth:
Row 1: [Knit 1, Purl 1] repeat to end of row
Row 2: [Purl 1, Knit 1] repeat to end of row
Repeat rows 1&2 until the cloth reaches the desired length. See Step 3 for finishing instructions
Step 3: Knitted Bind-Off
Follow the bind-off shown in the above video until you only have 1 stitch left on your needle. Cut the yarn, leaving 3-4 inches, pass end of yarn through loop and tighten.
Thanks for reading my first ever Knit With Me post! If you have any questions or anything is unclear, please leave a comment below and I'll do my best to sort it out for you. Anything that made it difficult for you to follow along? Let me know and I'll start brainstorming ways to improve for the future. If you found this post helpful and worthy of your time, you can always show your support with a comment, upvote, or resteem. Until next time: Happy Knitting!