Knitting is no longer just in the realm of those with a senior citizen bus pass and a weekly retirement check. Forget demi-couture, we’re basking in the era of DIY couture. And what better way to keep yourself toasty when global warming sends us minus temperatures than a home-knitted, practically free, one-of-a-kind scarf? You could tell us that Platform doesn’t do eco-friendly but we just wouldn’t believe you.
WORDS: EMMA TWINE
YOU NEED: 2 x 4mm knitting needles and a couple of balls of double knitting wool, or any wool as thick as double knitting wool.
1. To start off you need to tie a slip knot. This can be confusing, but it’s like riding a bike once you’ve got the hang of it. First wrap the end of the wool round your index and middle fingers twice (check the picture) and pull the one nearest to your knuckles forwards under the other wool. This should create an adjustable knot, with a loop that you should feed onto one of your needles and tighten. This forms the first stitch.
2. Now you need to ‘cast on’ (knit the first row of stitches), which means you need to master the knit stitch. Again, this can seem like the most complicated thing since the first time someone told you to solve a rubix cube, but it’s pretty logical and you’ll be able to do it like clockwork once you get the basics.
Pass the second knitting needle through the slip knot. Loop the wool over the top of this needle and pull this wool though the slip knot using the tip of the needle. You now need to pass this loop back onto the original needle.
This is the basic cast-on stitch finished, so just repeat this until you’ve done as many stitches as you can be bothered/want. Keep it in mind that the finished piece will almost always be wider than the first row; you probably want around 30ish stitches for a reasonably thick scarf.
3. Once you’ve cast on as many stitches as you want, you need to get down to proper knitting. This is almost exactly the same as the casting on knit stitch, but instead of passing the finished stitch back onto the first needle you keep it on the second and then go onto the next stitch. Exciting, we know.
4. From here you can either go amateur and just repeat the knit stitch row over row, which will give you a bumpy texture which looks a bit untidy. Or, alternatively, you can do the purl stitch, which is basically the knit stitch backwards. To do the purl stitch, pass the needle from the back through to the front of the loop on the needle, pass the wool round the needle and pull it through to the back. Carry on with this until you get to the end of the row. Whichever you choose at first, your knitting will probably have more holes than Topshop’s latest ripped t-shirt, but your wares won’t always look like a bad accident in a haberdashery store.
Used row upon row, the purl and knit stitches give the same effect, but if you alternate the two you end up with one bumpy side and one smooth side. This is known as stocking stitch and is the stitch you’re most likely to find on any commercial knitted stuff, like t-shirts and socks, and it’s what you want to use on your scarf.
To get a scarf you just have to carry on knitting for ages until it’s long enough, so the skinnier the scarf the less time it will take you, obviously. Once you’re done you can burn it, knit yourself a bodysuit, or be super cool with it flung over one shoulder and brag in a raised voice about how you ‘designed it yourself’ while out on the pull. Either way, you’ll be that bit warmer and won’t have to betray MTV by switching on your central heating.
