how to knit, basically,

this is the advice i gave to a non knitter about how to knit - I'll do this better another time with diagrams and things, but for now....

I was like the anti knitter for a long time, I couldn't get it, no matter who tried to teach me and then another knitter explained it in terms I could get behind and from then on it was easy

you have to remember you're not adjusting fabric, you're making it, and you're doing this not by weaving, which is one over one under, but my making loops, then you feed the loops through the ones, that's what the needles are for, to open up the loops
you can make two basic stitches, if the loop is facing you it's a purl stitch and if it's away from you it's a knit stitch

now comes the tricky bit
the story of a particularly cunning fox
in through the rabbit hole, around the big tree, out through the rabbit hole and off goes she
what they dont' tell you is that the fox knocks on the back door.

what knitting is is a series of interlocked loops - think chain mail (it's made the same way the only difference is that those circles are complete where in knitting it's one great thread)
so you have two edges (these are called the posts) one going up the front of the needle and one going down the back, to go in the back door with the fox you go in behind the first loop on the front of the needle. (in through the bunny hole)
To do this you push the needle through, then taking the loose yarn you make a wrap around the needle (around the big tree)
now carefully pull the new loop you've just made through the old loop (out through the bunny hole) and push the old loop off the needle. (and off goes she)
that's a stitch.
to do a purl you go in through the back of the needle.
if you see the abbreviation tbl you then go in through the front door.

to cast on you just don't pull the old stitch off, you put it back on the needle
to cast off you just pull the last stitch you completed over the new one

but for the first couple of rows I can assure you you'll be sat going "in through the bunny hole, around the big tree, out through the bunny hole and off goes she" with every stitch
it does help