Kitchener Stitch – Simplified

How to work the Kitchener stitch for seamless grafting in just 2 steps.

Kitchener stitch method for grafting is used in so many patterns. I’m a cuff-down sock knitter so every pair of socks I knit use this method. Bags, scrunchies, scarves… the list is long for the use and need for a virtually invisible seamless join.

My first few times working kitchener stitch, I was glued to a guide telling me all the steps. I found my old kitchener-step-guides, one has 5 steps and the other has 8! It’s no wonder I was staring at the steps and focused.

I do like a good, focused knit. Something that grabs my attention like a good book. Grafting shouldn’t be like that though. Grafting should be a technique we can memorize and just do as needed. Nevermind that my grafting comes out much nicer when I focus on my stitches rather than ‘what the heck do I do next.’

Basic Set-Up

Hold the needles in your left hand with the tail end on the back needle. Thread a yarn needle (or tapestry needle) with the tail of the working yarn. The threaded needle is your ‘working’ needle, the knitting needles are just holding the stitches.

The Simple 2 Step Kitchener

1. Front Needle: Knit-Remove, Purl-Snug
2. Back Needle: Purl-Remove, Knit-Snug

Step 1: Remove the first stitch of the front needle knit-wise, then slide through the next stitch purl-wise and pull tail snug.

Step 2: Remove the first stitch of the back needle purl-wise, then slide through the next stitch knit-wise and pull tail snug.

Pro Tip

• Snug after each step, pull down on the knitted fabric and either forward or backward with the tail. You can see the seam as it forms and can control how loose or tight you want it to be.
• Easy trick to memorizing the 2 steps – don’t we all say in conversation “knits and purls” more often than we say “purls and knits”? I don’t know why, but it’s how it usually sits in my head. Maybe because most of us learn the knit before the purl? Mysteries abound… It’s easy to remember I’m removing the first stitch and keeping the second. Then just remember front needle starts with knit-wise then purl-wise, and the back needle is reversed.

Magical Rhythm

That’s it! The Kitchener method with only 2 easy steps. It’s easy to get in the rhythm of it and the result is a magical, invisible seam. I love this technique, it looks like the stitches just keep going as if there was never a join. Super neat and super tidy, that’s what I like. Plus, it’s really fun and takes less time than you’d think.

Try it out on a pair of Socks, like these patterns here… or maybe on a Squishy Scrunchie, pattern found here.