Knitting Tutorial: Kitchener Stitch

I didn't learn how to do the Kitchener stitch until I began to knit socks. It's a handy little technique that's commonly used to close the toe of a sock.

The basic idea of the Kitchener stitch is that you use your yarn tail and a yarn or tapestry needle to seamlessly join/graft two rows of live stitches together. The join blends un-noticeably into knitting that is done in Stockinette stitch.

How to do the Kitchener Stitch

If you just need a quick review of the method:

1. Remember to divide your stitches evenly on two needles and place them parallel to each other.
2. Thread your yarn tail onto a yarn/tapestry needle.
3. Work across the stitches from right to left.
4. Make two set up stitches by pulling the yarn through the first stitch on the front needle as if to purl and the first stitch on the back needle as if to knit.
5. On the front needle - Pull the yarn knitwise through the first stitch dropping it off the knitting needle. Pull the yarn purlwise  through the next stitch leaving it on the knitting needle.
6. On the back needle - Pull the yarn purlwise through the first stitch dropping it off the knitting needle. Pull the yarn knitwise through the next stitch leaving it on the knitting needle.
7. Repeat steps 5-6 until all the stitches are joined and your knitting needles are empty.
8. Pull the yarn tail to the wrong side of the work and weave it in.

For a more detailed demonstration:

Thanks to Skacel for providing the Zitron Trekking XXL yarn that was used in this tutorial. This yarn is available locally at many yarn shops and online at Maker's Mercantile.

Recommended Pattern

If you like the Azalea Socks shown in the video, the pattern is available in my pattern shop.