Kids' Knitting - The Knit Stitch

Lesson 5: Make the Knit Stitch

Once your cast on stitches are in your left hand, you will be set up to make the next row in your knitting project and to learn your next skill: the knit stitch.

The knit stitch is a way to loop yarn around knitting needles to make fabric out of yarn. In this kids’ knitting lesson, you’ll learn how to make the knit stitch so you can make your first knitting project.

A knit stitch is the most used skill in knitting and all the projects in the Kids’ Knitting Guide are made of knit stitches.

Hands holding yarn to demonstrate making the knit stitch.

Below are both video and written tutorials to help you learn how to make the knit stitch.

Working on the Beginner Coaster? You can check your pattern here.

Checking the coaster pattern, our next instruction says: “Rows 2 – 18: Knit 10. (10 stitches) Turn.” This means we will be knitting every stitch in every row of the project. First, we will learn to make a knit stitch, then practice by repeating it until the project is ready to come off your needles.

Kids’ Video Guide: How to Make the Knit Stitch

Knit Stitch (Kids’ Knitting Lesson)

Kids’ Picture Guide: How to Make the Knit Stitch

Step 1: Hold Yarn and Needles

Keep holding the needle with stitches in your left hand. Drape the yarn that connects the project to the ball over your pointer finger and under your middle, ring, and pinkie fingers. Hold the empty needle tip in your right hand.

Knitting held in the left hand while the working yarn is draped over the pointer finger and the empty needle is held in the right hand.

Step 2: Poke

Poke the right-hand needle tip into the front side of the first loop on your left-hand needle.

Right knitting needle inserted into the front of the first stitch on the left needle to begin a knit stitch.

Step 3: Grab

Bring the needle tip over the yarn that rests in front of your pointer finger, then grab that yarn with the right-hand needle tip.

Right needle wrapping the yarn and grabbing it to pull through the stitch.

Step 4: Pull

Pull the yarn and needle tip through the loop on the left-hand needle. You should now have a loop on the right-hand needle.

New loop pulled through the stitch so a loop forms on the right knitting needle.

Step 5: Slide

Slide the first loop off the left-hand needle. The new loop on the right-hand needle is your first finished knit stitch.

Old stitch sliding off the left needle, leaving the new knit stitch on the right needle.

Now that you’ve made your first knit stitch in your coaster, you can use the skills you have learned to finish your project. To finish the row, knit 9 more stitches in the same way. When you come to the end of the row, turn your work and start knitting the next row. Once you have knit 18 rows, your project will measure about 4 inches long. Then, you can take the project off the needles by “binding off.”

Up Next

Binding off: how to take your stitches off the needles. Go to Kids’ Lesson 6 to continue.

Start Lesson 6: Bind Off (coming soon)

Knitted fabric on circular needles showing stitches ready to be bound off in the next lesson.

Return to the Kids’ Knitting Guide.

Kids’ Knitting – The Knit Stitch