Just Knit and Purl

Greg and I got to spend a recent evening with some lovely people the other night at what is becoming a favorite local Italian restaurant. We had an incredible meal and enjoyed getting to know our companions, not least because Greg is gifted at asking people the kinds of questions that get them talking about themselves and the things that interest them.

When asked what hobbies she enjoyed, our new friend told us about her love of sewing and spoke about making Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls over the years. She’s made a great number of them, and she told us a few stories about where some of the dolls she’s made have ended up. One was given as a gift from a Governor’s wife, if I’m remembering correctly!

The subject of knitting came up, and she mentioned that she knits, too, but she “just knits and purls.”

That’s something I hear often from knitters. It usually carries with it the idea that they don’t really know how to knit. They “just” how to do a knit stitch and a purl stitch. But as I told my new friend, from my perspective, once you know how to do those two stitches, you certainly do know how to knit! And once you have those two building blocks, you really have the foundation to do everything else.

It reminds me a little bit of one of the landmarks in each of my home-schooled children’s educational journey. Once I was confident that a child was able to read fluently, with good comprehension, I felt like we had conquered the biggest mountain we would face in their entire schooling career. At that point, they had the most important learning tool in their toolbox. They had learned how to learn, and they could build on that foundation as much as they chose.

Similarly, once I’ve taught a student to knit and to purl, I feel like they’ve mastered the hardest skills. The rest of knitting is just expanding on those skills. For example, making cables looks impressive and complicated, but it’s only a matter of rearranging the order in which you knit and purl your stitches. Lace is made by making holes on purpose (something we do on accident as we’re learning to knit!) and sometimes working two or more loops at the same time as if they were only one. But we’re still “just” knitting and purling, really.

In any case, even if a knitter “just knits and purls,” there are some really terrific patterns available online. I thought I’d collect a few of my favorites to share and then add a few more for those who might want to peek outside the “I only knit and purl” box.

Only knit and purl

These designs require nothing more than the ability to cast on, knit, purl, and bind off.

Garter Stitch Scarf or Dishcloth

Probably the easiest pattern in the world is a garter stitch scarf or dishcloth. The only stitch involved is the knit stitch. Ysolda Teague has a lovely pattern for one here.

If you don’t want to commit to a scarf, use dishcloth cotton and make a dishcloth instead.

Noro Scarf

I’ve made two of these myself and absolutely loved the process. These were the projects where I first caught the “just one more row” bug. You can find Jared Flood’s free written pattern here.

These are made in a knit one, purl one repeat that forms a ribbed pattern. The purls hide on each side so the stockinette look is the same on both sides. I love it when a scarf has a reversible pattern like that!

Jared does some stitch slipping (which is very simple to do), but it’s not necessary. You can make this scarf with or without slipping the edge stitches and it will still be gorgeous.

I love the effect of using yarns that shift colors throughout the skein in this pattern. It’s how you get these fantastic and somewhat unpredictable stripe changes and pairings through the scarf. However, I’ve seen lovely versions of this scarf done with two solid or semisolid colors as well. In fact, once Greg feels comfortable with the purl stitch (he’s almost there!) he’ll be making one of these in a chocolate brown and a frosty blue that will be really attractive.

Prayer Shawl

I wanted to be sure to include this one because my new friend mentioned it as one of the projects she is doing regularly with a group in her church.

This has become an immensely popular project. Charitable groups love it partly because it is such a simple, easily accessible project. You can get the free pattern as well as more information about the movement at their website here.

It’s an inspiring read, and points again to the value of making something beautiful for a fellow human being.

Checkerboard Dishcloth

And, of course, I’ve got my free Checkerboard Dishcloth pattern available here, too. It’s in written and charted format, with knits and purls only.

So, what if you’re ready to consider trying just a little bit beyond knits and purls?

Just a Bit Beyond Only Knit and Purl

You could consider slipping those stitches on Jared’s Noro Scarf above, or maybe one of the following projects below.

Triangle Garter Wrap

This pattern from Purl Soho is for a cozy shawl/wrap and introduces the concept of knitting into the front and the back of the same stitch. It simply means that before you complete the final step of pulling the old stitch off the needle at the end of creating your knit stitch, you leave the stitch on the needle. Then you insert your needle (right needle if that’s the one you’re using to create new stitches) into the other, back leg of the old stitch you’re already working in, and make another knit loop before finally pulling the old stitch off the needle. You end up with two new loops out of one old loop, which is also called an increase.

This shawl is constructed starting at the bottom corner of a triangle, and it widens as you go, so you need to increase the number of stitches as you make more rows. The designer placed the increases at the edges of the triangle.

The rest of the shawl is simple garter stitch, which is just the knit stitch every row.

You can practice slipping stitches on edges with this project, as well. This is a commonly used technique to make the edges smooth rather than bumpy. Many people think it gives a more finished look to a piece, but it doesn’t change the cozy factor one bit. If slipping the stitch is a bridge too far, skip that and just knit the stitch instead.

Gap-tastic Cowl

Here’s a fun one, available on Ravelry, provided by Jen Geigley.

This one’s a cowl, a circular piece of fabric you can wrap around as you wish and use as a scarf, hood, or some combination thereof when it’s freezing and there’s nasty cold stuff coming from the sky. The actual knitting is only knits and purls (done in a combination that makes “seed stitch”), but the branching out may be that this is knit in the round instead of flat.

So, after casting on the correct number of stitches, those stitches must be arranged in a circle, often on a circular needle. Then the first worked stitch goes into the first cast on stitch. (In flat knitting, the first worked stitch after casting on goes in the last cast on stitch.)

I’m looking forward to adding videos of these techniques to the ones we’ve already posted. It’s on the ever-growing to-do list! However, I do have some patterns written especially to help newer knitters take on a couple other “beyond knit and purl” techniques.

Bookmark Trio

These bookmark patterns introduce the lace techniques of yarn over and decreases, the cabling technique of rearranging stitches, and the technique of using knits and purls to create images.

I recently edited them to make them more accessible to beginning knitters who are interested in expanding their skills. I always liked using projects to teach new skills in my classes, and these bookmarks are good mini workshops in new techniques. Hopefully, they’ll be useful for knitters and for those who teach beginning knitters.

Maybe one of these will inspire you or someone you know who is ready to spend some time with some pretty yarn and knitting needles.

What are you working on today?

Happy knitting!

Kiersten J