There are a great many resources available for knitters of all levels of skill. This blog is by no means exhaustive, but it will give you a good introduction to what is available.
Julia's Preemie Hat WIP
However, if you are a new knitter, there is no resource that will help you if you aren’t willing to sit down and tinker away with yarn and needles for a while. You have to go into this with a spirit of adventure, prepared to make things that are lumpy, strange, and possibly useless. Be prepared to fail. Be pleased when you don’t.
Most knitters are fairly friendly, egalitarian types, more inclined to tell you all about their failures than to brag about their achievements. They won’t make fun of you if you have trouble holding your needles, or if you can’t remember the difference between knit and purl, or if your work in progress looks like a cat shroud. They might laugh at you because you remind them of themselves, but they will not mock you. Most knitters are quick with a kind word, some helpful frogging[1] and a vote of confidence in your ability to learn. A word of caution: there are some snobby knitters out there. The type of people who only knit with cashmere[2] or qivut[3] or alpaca[4] (when they’re slumming) on Addi turbo needles,[5] and who sniff at you no matter what you do. “You use a pattern? Oh, I never use a pattern! I design all of my own sweaters, and all of my designs are based on ancient Celtic runes!”[6] These people are to be avoided by everyone on general principle, but by the beginner, for two specific reasons: 1) they will only discourage you and 2) they won’t help you learn.
If you are new to knitting, or returning after a previous attempt that did not take, here is my advice.
Choose a small project and make it for yourself. A garter stitch scarf is a good place to begin. Once you finish your first project, either make another scarf, or move on other something else. It’s more important in the beginning that you learn how to hold the needles in a way that is comfortable for you and that will allow you to make good, consistent stitches. If the first scarf or tea cozy or whatever first project you complete goes well, make it again. You will be surprised how much easier it is a second time.
In the beginning, choose projects that will allow you to build on your skills.
Jaunty red mittens
Once you have the basic stitches down, then you will move on to learning how to cast on and join for knitting in the round, increase and decrease stitches, how to do “yarn overs” if you want to make a lace pattern, or cables, if you want to make a cable, or how to carry several strands of yarn and knit in several different colors, if you want to do color work.
For example, after you finish a garter stitch scarf, try making a tube scarf, or a hat. With the scarf, you will have learned how to cast on stitches, knit, purl, and cast off. With the tube scarf, you will learn how to cast on and join for knitting in the round. With a hat, you will do all of that, only you will also decrease stitches as you get to the crown. After a few hats, try tea cozies, fingerless mittens, mittens, drawstring bags (great gifts items), socks, vests, ponchos, sweaters. Baby things are good to knit because they’re small, but you do need to know how to cast on, increase, decrease, and cast off for baby sweaters.
Detail of Karen's felted bag
Remember, if you get into trouble with the later projects, you can always go back and make something that is more within your reach and try again later.
General Supplies
If you are a new knitter, you will want to have the following items on hand, in addition to yarn and needles:
- Small scissors
- Measuring tape
- Stitch markers
- Tapestry needle
- Gauge measure
- Crochet hook
All of these things can be acquired in a Michael’s, A.C. Moore, or your LYS.[7] If you want to knit cables, then you will want a cable needle, or a short double-pointed needle.
I am not going to write a lengthy treatise on selecting the right yarn for a project, or gauge, finishing techniques, or whathaveyou. There are lots of good introductory books with useful pictures that will explain all of this to you better than I can. Click here to go to the Resources page.
Samantha Khosla
Knitting Terriers Group Coordinator
aka Your Fearless Leader
[1] “Frogging” is what you do when you make a mistake and you have to take the work off the needles, pull the stitches out, and put the stitches back on the needle to correct the mistake. It’s a painful thing to rip out your progress when you are first knitting, but remember Penelope did it every night for 20 years while Odysseus moseyed on back home. It won’t kill you.
[2] Made from goats
[3] Made from musk ox
[4] Made from alpaca
[5] Expensive circular needles made of nickel-plated brass.
[6] Loosely based on an actual, unpleasant conversation I had with a knitter with a repulsive personality several years ago.
[7] Local yarn store
