The Knit Stitch.
Two ways of knitting it.

The KNIT STITCH is one of the two major stitches in knitting. There are two possible ways of knitting this kind of stitch.

• a classical way THROUGH THE FRONT LOOP
• less traditional way THROUGH THE BACK LOOP. Sometimes we call it "Granny's knit stitch".

What is the difference between them? Does it matter how to knit them? Let's look at the design of a loop located on the knitting needle. Each loop hanging on the needle consists of two half-loops. The one which covers the needle is a FRONT LOOP. That one which is located under the needle is a BACK loop.

The look of the knitting fabric depends whether you use front or back loop for knitting stitches. If you would like to have your stockinet fabric looking neat, you have to remember a few things.

1. BOTH knit and purl stitch have to be knitted either through their front or through their back loops.
2. As a rule, stitches being knitted through the back loop produce a better quality fabric to compare to the front loop knitted stockinette fabric.

Variant # 1. Work Through the Front Loop.

	First Row. Step 1. Drop the first loop off of the source (left) needle to the working (right) needle.
	First Row. Step 2. Yarn is on the back side of the needle. Insert the working needle, from left to right, into the first loop on the left needle. Wrap the yarn in back counterclockwise, and pool the wrap through the first loop. Drop the first loop off of the right needle.
	All next rows. Yarn is on the back side. Drop the first loop off of the left needle to right needle. Insert the working needle, from left to right, into the first loop on the left needle. Wrap the yarn in back counterclockwise, and pool the wrap through the first loop. Drop the first loop off of the right needle.

Here is a video for you to practice. A knitter uses continental style of knitting. The only difference for those who prefer to use English style will be to supply a working yarn by the right hand. All the rest is EXACTLY the same.

Variant # 2. Work Through the Back Loop.

Working a knit stitch through its back loop is presented in the table and a short video below. Practice tells us, that this method combined with a purling a purl stitch through its back loop will produce a better quality stockinette fabric than using the front loop knitted stitches.

Yarn is on the back side. Drop the first loop off of the left needle to right needle. Insert the working needle, from right to left , into the first loop on the left needle. Wrap the yarn in back counterclockwise, and pool the wrap through the first loop. Drop the first loop off of the right needle.

A library of knitting videos can be found at Needlework Video page.

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