Okay all you knitters!! I am taking a beginning knitting course and I have a question. When you make your slipknot and attach it to your needle, and then cast on your stitches and begin your knitting stitches....well, do you knit the slipknot?? Or do you not knit it and simply push it off the needle and ignore it and have it dangle the whole rest of the project? If you don't knit it and it's supposed to dangle, doesn't the slipknot come undone and then the whole thing starts to unravel? Thanks!!

By Kate on Monday, February 21, 2005 - 05:31 pm:

No knitters here? I'm still clueless...

By My2cuties on Monday, February 21, 2005 - 06:19 pm:

this site may be helpful sorry I have no knitting experience.

CLick on knitting instruction directory and it may help out... HTH

By Jennln on Monday, February 21, 2005 - 07:29 pm:

Knit it in (count it as a stitch)

By Eve on Tuesday, February 22, 2005 - 07:41 am:

Oh Kate! I'm jealous! I would love to learn to knit!

By Kate on Tuesday, February 22, 2005 - 09:50 am:

Oh no!! I already let it dangle!! What do I do now?? So normally you knit it in and count it?? Does that mean when it says 'cast on four stitches' you really only cast on THREE, because your slipknot counts as one??

Thanks for the link, Candis!! I'm bookmarking it for future reference!! It's a great site!

By Hol on Wednesday, February 23, 2005 - 12:41 am:

Hi Kate! I've been knitting for 42 years, so I know a fair amount about it. I am knitting my little granddaughter's christening dress right now.

To answer your question: Yes, you DO knit the slip knot. You count it as one of the cast on stitches. Example: If it says "cast on 70 stitches", you make your slip knot, then cast on 69 more. When you go to knit the first row, you knit all 70 stitches.

If you let the slip knot dangle, you may have to rip it all out and start again. I KNOW...that's not what you wanted to hear. Otherwise it will ravel. If you have really done a lot, and don't want to rip it out, you might be able to slip a darning needle into it, threaded with the same yarn, and weave it into the cast on row. Make sure that you knot it tightly and securely. Since it is probably in an area that will be a seam (if it is a sweater, or the like), it won't show. However, you will be one stitch short through the whole piece. This could be a problem if you are working in a pattern that requires an even number of stitches.

Hope this helps.Feel free to ask anytime.

By Kate on Wednesday, February 23, 2005 - 09:16 am:

Thanks, Hol! After reading this I managed to take the two ends of the slipknot and knot them around the edge of the project. We're only making a 'diagonal dishcloth' (who KNITS dishcloths?!?!) so basically I'm making a square and I have promised it to my daughter for her dollhouse to be used as a rug. I was up to 41 rows when I read this and that is HUGE for me!! I had already started over after 12 rows so considering I need it done (90) rows by Saturday morning I thought I'd better improvise.

I don't know how you do it!! My fingertips are soooo sore!! And it's so tedious and takes sooo long!!

I do have another question....knitting needles are only one foot long at most....how do you knit things wider than one foot, like blankets? My guess is that you knit several stitches and then push them off the right hand needle and let them dangle, knit some more, push them off, etc. until you've knitted them all from the left needle and part of it is on the right needle and part is dangling. Then I assume you switch hands and start knitting like normal again, only you need to keep replacing the 'loops' onto the left needle as you go along?? Do you stick a whole bunch of loops on at once or do you merely pick up one loop at a time? Or am I COMPLETELY off base here?

Thanks for your help!!

By Trina~moderator on Wednesday, February 23, 2005 - 09:40 am:

My mom is a knitter and I used to knit, but haven't since having kids. LOL! You can use circular knitting needles to knit blankets. An example here:

Circular Knitting Needles