I thought I
would start off talking about something that has held my passion for the last
13 years; Knitting! I picked up a set of
knitting needles for the first time when I was visiting a sorority sister down
in Illinois. We were looking for
something to do so we went to a local knitting store, picked up a pair of
needles, and I foolishly picked up two skeins of the craziest novelty yarn (It
was a lace weight yarn that had tufts of fleece, cute and fluffy on the knitted
sample that was next to it, but nearly impossible to knit as a beginner). After our purchase we placed a call to our
friend who could knit, and decided that a lesson over the phone about how to “cast
on” sounded perfectly reasonable. From
the speaker phone came “wrap the yarn around your finger so that it looks like
the number 4 and then place it on the right hand needle . . . . . does that
make sense?”, followed by our response, “ yes I think we’ve got it”. Who were we kidding, we didn’t have it. We
looked at each other with the wide eyed glare of confusion/embarrassment mixed
with some laughter. Here’s what I did
leave the weekend with, a good memory with a dear friend, a pair of knitting
needles, and the desire to learn how to knit.
If you want to learn how to knit here’s how I would start:
- Pick up the book Knitting for Dummies (https://www.amazon.com/Knitting-Dummies-Pam-Allen-2007-01-02/dp/B01LP4ADHO/ref=pd_sbs_14_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=QACP1HW6A47TPRT774Y6)There are great tips on any number of things you will encounter in knitting patterns, and I look back to it as a reference from time to time.
- Find a local knitting store that offers a wide array of classes, and take one. There are things that people that have been knitting for a while can teach you, not only about how to knit, but also how to correct mistakes which is priceless
- Start off with a worsted weight yarn, preferably something not too expensive. It will be easier to see your stiches, and if you make a mistake and have to scrap your pattern you will not have wasted money on a pricy yarn
- There are many options for needles out there, but I find that knitting on bamboo lends to far fewer dropped stiches and they’re “green”.
- Have the shop owner recommend a good basic pattern book. Not all patterns are written the same, and it’s good to start out with a pattern that you know you can successfully finish without pulling your hair out. After all it should be fun.
- YouTube has plenty of posted tutorials, so if you run across something in a pattern that says “ knit a horizontal button hole” , you can search for a tutorial that will show you how to do just that
- This should have been listed as the first thing on the list, but have a sense of humor about it. You will make plenty of mistakes in the beginning, but over time you will see your progress with each pattern
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