Give wrong information while the friend sits knitting inside (8)
I believe the answer is:
misstate
'give wrong information while the' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'friend sits knitting inside' is the wordplay.
'friend' becomes 'mate' (mate is a kind of friend).
'knitting' indicates anagramming the letters.
'inside' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'sits' anagrammed gives 'isst'.
'mate' going around 'isst' is 'MISSTATE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for misstate that I've seen before include "Give inaccurate info" , "Mast site (anag.)" , "Inaccurately report" , "Put incorrectly" , "Declare wrongly" .)