Doing the twist!
Everyone has to start somewhere
The first garment I knitted was a simple stocking stitch tunic with drop shoulders. It was a very straightforward design. Most of you have probably made something similar – or maybe not since this was in the 1980s. Although I unravelled the tunic many years ago, I still have the pattern from Woman’s Own magazine. You can see the photo from the pattern below.
I was very pleased with my new tunic, but eventually, I realised that something was not quite right with the stitches. They looked something like the stitches in the sample below.
However, they should have looked like the stitches below.
I had knitted twisted stitches instead of untwisted ones. There is more than one way of forming twisted stitches, but without the actual garment to look at, I cannot be exactly sure how I did so.
How to knit untwisted and twisted stitches
In this post I shall explain how to knit untwisted and twisted stitches for those who knit both left- and right-handed. You may want to read about how your stitches sit first.
Whether a stitch is twisted or not is determined by where you insert the knitting needle.
Knitting right-handed with the leading leg at the front
Just to recap, if your stitches move from the left to right needle you knit right-handed.
For now, I’m going to assume that the leading leg of each stitch is at the front of the needle.
When you insert the needle into the front of a stitch, the leading (right) leg moves away from the lagging (left) leg opening up the new stitch so it is untwisted. This is normal for Western-style knitters.
When you insert the needle into the back of a stitch, the leading (right) leg moves in front of the lagging (left) leg closing up the new stitch so that it is twisted. This is normal for Eastern-style knitters.
Knitting left-handed with the leading leg at the front
In comparison, if your stitches move from the right to left needle you knit left-handed. Again I’m going to assume that the leading leg of each stitch is at the front of the needle.
When you insert the needle into the front of a stitch, the leading (left) leg moves away from the lagging (right) leg opening up the new stitch so it is not twisted.
When you insert the needle into the back of a stitch, the leading (left) leg moves in front of the lagging (right) leg closing up the new stitch so it is twisted. You’ll notice that the stitch twists in the opposite direction to the twisted stitch made by someone knitting right-handed; it is a mirror image.
Knitting right-handed with the leading leg at the back
Now let’s look at what happens when the leading leg of each stitch is at the back of the needle.
When you insert the needle into the front of the stitch, the leading (right) leg moves behind the lagging (left) leg closing up the new stitch so it is twisted.
When you insert the needle into the back of the stitch, the leading (right) leg moves away from the lagging (left) leg opening up the new stitch so it is not twisted. This is normal for Combination-style knitters.
Most of us, when we are learning to knit, will have come across a stitch that sits ‘backwards’ on a needle. And we usually work out that if we knit that stitch normally, i.e. into the front of the stitch, then the new stitch will be twisted, whereas if we insert the needle into the back of the ‘backwards’ stitch, the resulting stitch will be untwisted.
Knitting left-handed with the leading leg at the back
Similarly for knitting left-handed, when the needle is inserted into the front of the stitch, the leading (left) leg moves behind the lagging (right) leg closing up the new stitch so it is twisted.
And when the needle is inserted into the back of the stitch, the leading (left) leg moves away from the lagging (right) leg opening up the new stitch so it is not twisted.
Pulling it all together
Whether a stitch is twisted or not is determined by where you insert the knitting needle.
| Leading leg of old stitch | Insertion of needle | New stitch |
| Front | Front | Untwisted |
| Front | Back | Twisted |
| Back | Front | Twisted |
| Back | Back | Untwisted |
I think you’ve completely left out Eastern style knitters. I knit through the back loop but produce untwisted fabric because of the purl.
Hi Krista,
Well the focus of this post is untwisted and twisted stitches, so I referred to Combination, Eastern and Western styles briefly, saving the details for future posts.
When you take into account the different combinations of working into the back or front of a knit or purl stitch along with wrapping the yarn clockwise or anticlockwise, there are actually eight different ways of working stocking stitch for knitters who work right-handed. Four of them produce untwisted stitches and four twisted stitches.
Can you give me a bit more detail? When you are about to knit is the leading leg in front of or behind the needle? You’ve already said you knit through the back loop. Which way do you wrap the yarn round the needle when making knit stitches? When you are about to purl, is the leading leg in front of or behind the needle? Do you purl through the front or back loop? Which way do you wrap the yarn when making purl stitches? Would love to know!
Ok, knitting = leading leg behind the needle & the yarn wraps clockwise around the needle
purling = the leading leg is still behind the needle & I insert from left to right, wrap yarn clockwise.
Krista, thank you for your reply – it is so interesting finding out about all the different ways in which people knit – and there’s certainly more ways than you can find in knitting books. From your description I think you do what is known as Eastern Uncrossed style. There are quite a few references to this style on the internet, e.g. Cloopco blog written by Maja (http://cloopco.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/eastern-uncrossed-knitting-knits-and.html). She has some great photos and video clips showing how she knits. The only thing that confuses me is that you say you wrap the yarn clockwise, when anticlockwise is needed so the leading leg sits behind the needle. Or do you knit left-handed? Maja, who knits right-handed, states that she wraps the yarn clockwise, although her photos clearly show she is wrapping anticlockwise. I’m asking about because this is not the first time I’ve seen the anticlockwise called clockwise on blogs. I always refer to the view looking towards the point from the non-pointed end of the needle. I’d love it if you could throw some light on this for me!
I picture the clock as face up with the tip of my before coming up, like a sun dial.
Thank you for that clarification. All my references to clockwise/ anticlockwise are with the needle tip pointing away from me, as happens when I knit. So when you refer to “clockwise”, I would refer to “anticlockwise”. I think I need to make this absolutely clear in my blog posts, so I don’t confuse anyone!
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