Let’s say you’re down to your last $10 of disposable income. I mean, there’s money lying around, but a girl’s gotta eat and fuel up the hoopty, so you’re scraping together a little cash and want to pick up a new skill (Circular needles +3 ?).
My best advise is this:
Pick a basic scarf pattern as a goal. Goals make learning easier, because it’s not just theory; you have something to apply these skills towards.Knitting Pattern Central has tons of free patterns, as does my personal favorite Knitty (the patterns at Knitty can look intimidating at first). Or, just decide to do a plain garter stitch scarf (all knitting, no purling.. which you will soon understand).
Then, go grab yourself a pair of straight knitting needles – a US 7 or US 8, as you’ll get the most mileage out of those. Get about 250 yards of worsted weight yarn – you can go über cheap and get yourself a skein of Red Heart acrylic or Caron’s Simply Soft, or get crazy and grab some seriously nice wool from one of many yarn purveyors online or in-town. But, since we’ve started with the assumption that the cash, she is not a-flowin’, let’s grab a skein (or, as you may know it right now a thingy) or cheap acrylic from your local WalMart or Hobby Lobby. OK, you’ve now probably spent less than $10, so grab a comfy seat near your computer and get ready.
Hit up one of the places I learned from: KnittingHelp.Com. The videos on this site are, IMO, at a perfect pace to watch without feeling like you’re being treated as an idiot. Go straight to the Getting started section, which will teach you the 3 basic things you need to know to make yourself a garter stitch scarf: casting on, knitting, and casting off (or binding off). And….. cast on!
After you’ve done this, you will come to know the joy of stabbing polymer string with cheap aluminum needles. Mmmm… Is fun, yes-no? Now you are ready for the crazy: learning to purl! Again, find ourself a simple pattern, maybe a dishcloth in some cheap-o cotton for like a $1.
That’s it! That’s all I can do is pass on the knowledge I have garnered. If you find as I did, that these basic skills just don’t cut it, grab yourself a pattern you really want (my first remotely “complicated” item was to learn to knit in the round, so I made this Silk Garden beanie) and make yourself go! It becomes increasingly easier to add new things like, increasing, decreasing, yarn overs… suddenly, you’re ready for ribbing and lace! (Well, lace drives me crazy, but you get the picture). Even the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step… step towards those needles, grab a cup of coffee and get to it! When you’re ready for advice on yarn substitution, books, or more, you just let me know! You’ll find me at my desk, needles at the ready. Now, I have some crown decreases on a hat to finish, so get to it!
