non-mystery KAL: Knitting through the back of the loop and twisted stitches

It did occur to me after a comment left by a lovely knitter that some newer knitters may not have knit through the back of the loop before. You may even find it a daunting option. 

It's really not. In fact, it is super dooper easy, no more difficult than knitting in fact!

The best way to illustrate this is with a couple of photos.

This first photo is just to give you a visual of a normal knit stitch. Notice how your needle is going through the front of the stitch.

A knit stitch.

You'll notice that each little stitch on the needle has two legs. One that sits over the front of the needle and one that sits over the back.  When the stitch is correctly positioned on the needle the right leg will be the one at the front. You can almost flatten the stitch and see how it's going to form the shape of the V when it's knit.

Knitting through the back of the loop ~ often abbreviated as ktbl

When you knit through the back of the loop you simply knit through that back leg. It's really no more difficult than a knit stitch.

When you knit through the back of the loop it twists the stitch by bringing the left leg forward. This is what closes up the hole left by the yarn over. 

This is a really useful technique to know. If you come across a stitch on your needle which has somehow got twisted and has its left leg forward you can knit it through the back of the loop and untwist it. There's no need for jigging it back and forward between needles to get it to sit right before knitting. 

So how do you identify a twisted stitch?
A twisted stitch will have the right leg behind the needle. It will also twist as you try to knit it. A normal knit stitch will be open to you knitting it, but a twisted stitch will cross its legs as if to say no. 

A twisted stitch attempting to look all innocent. Just wait until you try and knit it though!

The best way to identify a twisted stitch is by feel as they do look quite innocent and innocuous when sitting on the needle. As your knitting experience grows so does your feel for what you're knitting. You can feel when something is not quite right. You'll feel that that twisted stitch is a bit tighter to knit  and not quite right.

Go with that intuition, it's all good!

Today's yarn: White Gum Wool in Gum Grey.
Knit on Addi Turbo needles.