Hello everyone and welcome to Love & Crochet's third post in the Learn to Knit from Beginner to Advanced series! Your first project is coming to an end and you'll learn how to really finish it off in this post. We also have a fun idea for a way you can turn your plain knitted square into something beautiful.
Before we get into the post, we have a super quick message for you. We use third-party cookies to display relevant advertisements on this page, and present affiliate links directed to products that we know and love. As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases from Amazon.com and other shopping platforms. This helps us provide free articles and other quality content. Any purchases made from these advertisements will support us, at no additional cost to you! Thank you for being here and enjoy the article!
Materials
Head to Part 1 for a quick overview of what you need to knit and a concise review of why we selected the specific products pictured below. We highly recommend that you purchase these materials! Just click on the links below to buy them immediately, or head over to Part 1 of The Learn to Knit Beginner Stitch Series to learn more.
Amazon links for the knitting needles, scissors, yarn, and embroidery needles ⬇
Joann Links for the knitting needles and yarn ⬇
I hope you will consider buying anything through the links above, as any purchase made from the links of these tried-and-true products will support Love & Crochet at no extra cost to you!
With the wrap-up of our short list of materials, let's get into the real meat of this post.
How to Cast Off
1. Position your hands
Your grip on the needles and yarn is going to be the same as it was while knitting the garter stitch. The picture below is a good refresher just in case you forgot.
2. Knit two stitches
Below are a few snapshots of what it looks like to create a knit stitch. Refer back to part 2 of the series for detailed instructions about knitting the garter stitch.
When you finish your second stitch, this is what your work should look like:
3. Pull the first loop on the right needle over the second loop on the same needle
Watch the video below to see this step in action. You can also use the left needle to lift the bottom loop over the top loop if that's easier than using your fingertips.
4. Knit another stitch, pull the bottom loop over the top loop (on the right needle), and repeat until the end of the row
Here is a video example of what knitting your next cast-off and every one after that should look like:
5. Fasten off
Fastening off is as simple as snipping the yarn, pulling out the final stitch of your piece, and sliding the yarn tail through that loop. The pair of photos and the video below are great visuals to guide you in this step.
My Singer Scissors in action ^
Fastening off ^
6. Hide the remaining yarn tails
Using the long embroidery needles I recommended above and the photos below, you will for sure get a smooth finish on your first piece!
Not sure what to do with your very first little square? Well, we have a fun little idea for you! It's Valentine's Day, so why not pack some love into this little square by embroidering a small heart into the center? The photo below shows how we did this. Use it as a template to guide you through this easy finishing touch.
Thank you for being here and congrats on reaching the end of this tutorial! I hope you'll stay with us and continue to learn how to knit using the rest of the blog posts in this series. Head over to the next part, How to Knit the Purl Stitch, right now. If you have any questions feel free to contact me via the comments down below or email: sarah@loveandcrochet.com. Until next time!
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