In which I progress to pearl stitch…
I have knitted religiously every day this week; just a little bit here and there. I read about the brain having ‘muscle memory’ and the importance of repetition when learning something new. If only knitting practice or crochet for that matter toned the physical muscles…I would be a goddess by now!
So I have knitted more squares using the ‘knit’ stitch and I have sorted out the wibbly edge. I am pleased with my tension and I am not getting a random extra stitch anymore. I can cast on and off all by myself too. I have learnt that this knit stitch is also called garter stitch and that when the fabric is separated you have an umbrella and a v underneath…but to count the stitches is tricky. I am doing 40 rows not 20 like I thought!
This is my weeks work…
On Friday evening my Mom came round with some more wine…(there is a theme here isn’t there?) and taught me how to pearl.
Now as far as I can tell this is just backward knit stitch, but I love it. It gives a flatter fabric which makes my heart flutter a little bit. I thought I would be able to make squares just from pearl stitches but Mom explained that I could not do this and would need to make squares to practice that were made up of a row of knit stitch followed by a row of pearl stitch; repeated…also known as ‘stocking stitch’.
I love that in knitting there is a term like stocking stitch or garter stitch which refers to a pattern repeat…I don’t think crochet does this so well.
Anyway, this is my first attempt at stocking stitch…can you notice the BIG whoops? Yes, I lost track of my rows and must have pearled or knitted two rows together and my flatter pearl rows jumped over to the bumpier knit side! 
Oh well! It may have been the wine.
I still can’t count the rows…it is so difficult to count the rows.
Any advice gladly welcome?
xxxxx
part 1 of my knitting adventure is just here
Crochet blog 
You’re doing fabulous! Really once you know how to do knit and purl- you’re well on your way to be able to do anything in knitting:)
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Thank you AJ…that is what Mom said to. Then she mentioned knitting on 3 and 4 needles and my head began to spin….but that could have been the wine too! 🍷 😉
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Lol-ya but all you do is knit or purl on however many needles you have:)
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You can do just purl f you want; but it ends up looking exactly like garter stitch. Why ? – because purl is the exact reverse of the knit (or what we used to call ‘plain’) stitch. I’ve been knitting for yonks; but the very thought of 3 or 4 needles makes my head spin, too ! – I use cable needles all the time, even when I don’t need to.
https://www.interweave.com/interweave-knitting-glossary/
If you come across any knitting terms you don’t know, there’s a really good source for looking ’em up. Not that you’ll need to for a while, but that kind of info will be really useful to you on your knitting journey – which, btw, is being undertaken with courage (and wine). 😀
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Oh thank you M-R for that link and the encouragement of course. I will go and check that out this morning fr sure 😘
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It’s looking great! The more you do, the more you’ll learn to ‘read’ your knitting to identify stitches and rows and where you are in your pattern. It comes with time and practise and occasional help from Google or YouTube! Keep going!
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I guess I will…I did with crochet…I am sometimes inpatient and forget how long it took for me to become proficient with the hook. I will keep at it though 😊
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Yes ! – I use the Web ALL THE TIME for knitting and crochet; whether for patterns or yarns (or occasionally notions), it’s an absolute must.
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I agree, you tube has taught me lots of crochet stitches…I’m hoping to master the bullion stitch next!
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You’re doing great, keep at it! 😊
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Thank you for cheering me on 😘
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You are doing brilliantly. Invest in a row counter which fits on your knitting needles, to count your rows.
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Ooohh…going to check this out straight away….thank you 😘
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Look at you go!! You I’ll be a master in no time:).
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haha… you reckon!
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You are doing great!! Once you master the purl stitch you will literally be able to do all kinds of different stitches!! The seed stitch is one of my personal favorites. Soon you will be knitting in the round and cabling in no time!
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Oh the thought of being able to all you suggests makes me feel so excited…I just need to do a little bit each day 😊
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You are doing great! I can see a great difference in your first piece to your most current. You are going to be doing all sorts of fancy stitching in no time. And I agree that knitting and crocheting should definitely be a form of exercise with great results ;).
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Ginny, it should be an olympic sport!!! Thanks for your encouragement 😊
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Your doing good! Buy some cotton yarn and those squares can become dishcloths! Then you’ll have something to use that you knit!
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ooh…that is a good idea…thank you
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you really can see your progress in the garter stitch samples! Well done you! The reason you can’t do all pearl (well you can, obviously, you can do anything you want!) is that it’ll look the same as garter stitch, but it’s a bit more time consuming than all knit stitches.
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Aha, yes it’s quicker to knit than to purl. I’m currently getting to grips with stocking stitch 😊
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Counting rows definitely is something that can be difficult to get the hang of, some of those stitches hide on us. I’ve found it easiest to count the knit side of the work. The knit stitches create this beautiful ‘V’ that is much easier to see and count. I usually use a knitting needle as a pointer of sorts and count each ‘V’ in the row. I hope this helps a bit!
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Aha, yes this helps thank you x
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