Big learning day

#1

I am a brand new knitter and after learning the knit stitch and attempting (and failing) to make a scarf I decided to do some practice. I know the scarf requires a purl stitch and some k1p1, so I started a swatch and did some knits and for the first time purls. I also attempted to k1p1 without looking up how to and made a mess if things so after looking it up I did a new swatch doing k1p1 and it went great!

I feel great and I also feel like this scarf is even closer to being possible than I thought!

Sorry for the rambling,
Cheers!

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#2

That’s great! These are big accomplishments and soon you’ll be reaping the rewards for sticking with it through learning how to knit and purl.

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#3

Making a mess or being totally flummoxed is often the beginning of understanding or so I tell myself. I’m glad you were able to figure it out. With knits and purls you are on your way!

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#4

Don’t be sorry for rambling or I will have to make a lot of apologies! Ha ha!

Knitting and purling is all there is. All knitting is a combination of those stitches, sometimes knit, sometimes purl, sometimes knit 2 together, sometimes slip as though to knit without knitting, sometimes slip a purl, and sometimes knit into the same stitch twice, or knit into the stitch below, or purl through the back loop. It’s all knits and purls. Even fancy cables are only slipping stitches onto a different needle and working a few stitches off your main needle before then working those on the cable needle.

Once you have knits and purls all the rest is deciphering patterns to do those knits and purls in the right places.

Swatches and samples are very much under rated and often skipped, but ever so useful. They help us to practise a stitch pattern and make things the right size.

Congrats on all your new skills.
And we will help with the scarf row by row if needed all the way to the cast off.

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#5

I have knit for decades and still make simple mistakes! Only last night I had to pull back a shawl after many rows because I had picked up the stitches at the beginning from the wrong side!!
When you get more adventurous, YouTube is fantastic and then save useful clips or other online tips to a Pinterest board - you’ll come back to them time and time again!!
I also highly recommend Patty Lyons. She does ‘how to’ articles in the site Modern Daily Knitting and they’re worth their weight in gold!!

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#6

I couldn’t agree more. I think that working through the messed means you’ve fully dedicated to whatever it is you’re trying to accomplish, so when you figure it out it turns into a big light bulb moment.

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#7

I’ll have to check out those articles, thanks for the recommendation. As for videos I usually go with the youtuber knit with Hannah. She is where I first had my break through with how to knit and I like how her videos are succinct. I like the idea of saving them to pintrest but I’ll probably just start a YouTube playlist. I’m not a big fan on pintrest it confuses me lol :laughing:

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#8

Uh oh! (Me looking nervously around to see if anyone is looking at me?) 🫢

I sometimes swatch. But I do hat and scarves mostly so measuring gauge is not often needed.

I am old enough to remember when sewing samplers, needle work samplers, and such were framed and displayed on walls.

I have often thought I should make my own knitting samplers as a visual references for my later years.

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#9

LOVE looking up “how to” on youtube before I start, especially if it is something unfamiliar! Stay with it and you will be answering question here yourself in no time :slight_smile:

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#11

I have a Patty Lyons book on my wishlist at the moment.

When I first started knitting someone said about lifelines. I like to knit lace patterns and shawls, so this was a genius tip.

I started putting in lifelines and my first big lace shawl project I needed one. I only needed to go back a couple of rows and I was so grateful. I just wish I could remember who said it to me/where I read it to thank them.

How to youtubes are excellent. My knitty friends and I have a little whatsapp group where we share ones we find useful and often we refer back to them.

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#12

I can also recommend following Patty Lyons on Instagram! She sometimes posts short ‘how to’ videos that are excerpts from longer, paid for courses, and as such, are not available on you tube. You can save them in Instagram to make retrieval easier! Her book is masterful, and you can find a large proportion of it on the MDK website under the ‘Ask Patty’ heading. Always fantastic tips! Happy new year.!

#13

Is that the knitting bag of tricks book?

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#14

Yes. I have that and a shawls book on my wishlist.

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#15

I managed to find an ebook copy on an app called Hoopla. It’s a digital book lending app run by my local library group.

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#16

Just bought it! It’s sold out in a lot of places so found it and thought I’d better grab it while I can!
Not that I need that much encouragement, I love knitting books…

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#17

Quite the collection you got :star_struck:

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#18

I just can’t help myself :rofl:

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