How to Knit Left Handed

Left Handed Knitting

First of all you need two knitting needles, chop sticks, pencils, of even small dowels if you are going to attempt to learn to knit. Then you are going to need some kind of yarn to work with. It can be thick or thin but it needs to be more than sewing thread weight. These are the basic utensils of the craft. Second you need to know that Knitting is only two simple stitches. There is a knit stitch and a purl stitch. Now that seems easy enough, doesn't it?. To start learning to knit you need to take your yarn and make a loop in it.

Since most folks are right handed, we will start there and give different directions for the left handed knitters. I'm unusual, in that I'm ambidextrous, so it doesn't matter to me which hand I use. This may help a lot of you that are lefties.

Take one of the needles and place it in your right hand. Place the loop on that needle and pull the yarn in, until it is loosely secure. Tie a knot under it. This is to insure it is not going to slip, or if it does you will still have a loop to work on. Do NOT make this real tight or you will have trouble knitting in it on the next row.

Now lay the yarn attached to the long end of the thread, (not the tail close to the knot,)on your left hand across your palm. Lift up you index finger (that is the first finger), so the part of the yarn attached to the knot sort of wraps around you finger.

Turn this finger over, so the bottom of your finger is not in line with the needle in your right hand.. You will notice you have a loop on your finger, at this point. Now, slip the needle into that loop from the right side, removing your finger. You now have two loops on your needle. Do NOT tight the loop up tight, but leave it loosely secure as before on the first loop. Repeat this procedure for until you have ten more loops on your needle. (This procedure is a form of "casting on" used to teach the blind and children to start to knit.)