All About Knitting
Knitting is a very enjoyable craft and can be a lifelong hobby. Many generations have enjoyed knitting and passed it along through friends, clubs, and now through virtual knitting communities on the internet. At its basic level, knitting is the process of creating a nice fabric using yarn and knitting needles to make articles of clothing and other household items. The mechanics of knitting are fairly simple once you practice them for a while. What it involves is creating a series of connected stitches in rows to make the fabric.
A close cousin of knitting is crocheting. Crocheting differs from knitting in that multiple stitches are active and in use at the same time. These active stitches are used to hold onto the needle until another loop passes through them by using a second needle. Another difference in crocheting is that crochet uses a single needle as opposed to the two or more needles that are required in knitting.
Knitted fabric can be created by hand (which is what the knitting hobbyist does) or by machine (which is how mass produced knitted items are manufactured) . Knitting by hand allows you to control the manufacturing process completely. No two hand knitted items will ever be absolutely identical. To create a long length of knitted fabric just use two straight needles. This is referred to as "flat knitting". On the other hand, if you want to make a tube, which can be made into numerous items, you would start with circular or double pointed needles. This is referred to as "circular knitting".
To create different patterns and styles in your knitting, you can use different types of knitting needles and a variety of yarns. Yarns come in a range of different colors, textures, weight and integrity.
Here's an overview of the different styles of knitting. There is weft knitting, wrap knitting, flat knitting and circular knitting.
In weft knitting, zigzag designs of yarn are found throughout the length of the fabric. This zigzag design will follow in adjacent columns instead of rows. In wrap knitting, the zigzag design is formed over the length of the cloth in adjacent rows instead of columns.
Next there is flat knitting versus circular knitting. In circular knitting you create a knitted tube. These tubes can be used to form sleeves, the body of sweaters, hats and many other items. In flat knitting, you knit rows of stitches which eventually create a long flat piece of cloth.
As you become more familiar with the craft of knitting, you will probably want to explore the different types of knitting to advance your skills and create more elaborate patterns.
