Kitchener’s Stitch
Needle
1 will be front needle and Needle 2 will be back needle.
First,
prepare for Kitchener’s stitch by sliding tapestry needle purlwise into first
stitch on needle 1 then knitwise into first stitch on needle two. Be careful to keep the working yarn from
sneaking up over the needles as you work. Now we begin.
Insert
tapestry needle knitwise into first stitch on Needle 1 and push it off Needle 1
then insert tapestry needle into second stitch purlwise.
Now
insert tapestry needle into first stitch purlwise on Needle 2 and push it off
Needle 2 then into second stitch purlwise.
Let’s
go back to needle 1 and insert tapestry needle knitwise into stitch 2 and push
it off needle 1 then purlwise into stitch 3. Now needle 2’s turn. Insert
tapestry needle purlwise into stitch 2 and push it off needle 2 then knitwise
into stitch 3.
See the pattern? For stockinette stitch there’s an easy
mantra I recite, “knit off purl then purl off knit”. It’s technically knitwise
and purlwise but saying “knit off purl
then purl off knit” kept it straight for me. The closest needle, Needle 1
will always be knit off purl and the
farthest needle, Needle 2, will always be purl
off knit for stockinette stitch joins.
