admire it .At the moment I’m still figuring out the basics, like choosing the right yarn and needles, reading simple patterns, and keeping my stitches even. I’d really appreciate any advice for a complete beginner, along with recommendations for easy first projects or helpful resources.I’m looking forward to learning from all of you and hopefully improving with practice. Thanks in advance for any tips or encouragement!
Many people start with cotton yarn and make dishcloths. They’re a great way to practice different stitches and keeping your count even, and even if they come out a bit wonky, they’ll still clean the dishes! Light colors, so you can see what you’re doing, and worsted weight with size 7 or 8 needles are good places to start.
There are tons of free patterns out there. Here’s one to get you started:
If I had to do over my learning, I’d pick a yarn that I’m excited about from the store, preferably light colored and thick to make things easier to see, I’d get a pair of needles that work for it, and I’d make a swatch Swatches are great for learning on, and most projects will require a swatch first anyways since you take measurements on it before casting on for the project itself. And swatching properly is among the basics imo…
That being said, I think the washcloths are a great idea, they’re basically swatches with a function beyond just information
Are there any project that you think you’ll want to make?
Hi! and welcome to KH. We love newbies. What are you interested in? My first real project was a hooded cardigan for my grandson. In fact, he asked me to make him one and at the time I crocheted. The yarn he picked wasn’t so very crochet compatible. To make it I had to learn to do more than make basic knits and purls and rows of garter stitch or plain stockinette. It was my learning project and he did wear it to stay warm in their chilly house. You don’t have to dive off the deep end like some of us but knowing what you’re working toward can help.
I got your pm that you’re confused about the KH site. I think asking questions on the forum will get you better results than a private conversation. What specifically or generally do you need help with? You know how to post and start a thread. From there the rest should prove not too challenging. This is one of the most intuitive sites I use.
Aha! Now we know you need needles. I started with straight needles I found at Walmart. My suggestions: Look at the yarns in the store you have available, find a smooth acrylic yarn you like and look at the the label to see what size needles it recommends. You can then go over to the needles and find some, either straight or circular, to go with it. Circulars are handy since you can knit flat with them or knit a tube in the round. Buying a set the size recommended will work but you might find you’d like another set a size larger or smaller too. Worsted weight yarn is generally suggested as good for learning the basics.
What country are you in? Things like yarn weight and needle sizes vary. I’m in the US so typically use US sizing and yarn weight, yards and inches. I have to look up metric equivalents most of the time.
As far as needles go, you have a lot of choice. Straight ones are the ones that are sold in pairs with one end pointy and one end with a stopper. They’re usually long because the size of what you can knit on them is limited by their length. I don’t have any of those because you can only knit flat with them, storing them sounds annoying to me and handling them looks uncomfortable. Flat knitting is when you knit one row, then turn the needles around and knit the next row in the opposite direction, so basically knitting in a zigzag. I like to be able to knit circular too, which is when you knit a tube, always from the same side, in a spiral. For that, you have circular needles that have a pair of short tips connected with a wire. They can be fixed, or they can be interchangeable, when the tips can be screwed on and off the wire so you can change out the tips if you need a different size of needles, or change the wire if you need a different length. I love those and have mostly that because it’s very versatile, easy to store in a pencil case, and I can knit both flat and circular. Some people don’t like having to deal with the wire and dislike them for that (and to be fair, there are different qualities of wire too. I’d recommend something with no coil memory so that it’s not too fussy). Then you also have double pointed needles, which are sold in packs of 5 needles with both tips pointy. These you can also knit both flat and circular on them, but I think they are best for small circular projects. I like using them when my project goes under a certain diameter. Technically you could knit larger things with them by adding more needles, but that would probably just be a hassle
For the materials, those made of wood will grip the yarn while metallic ones will let it slide. I personally prefer metal because I knit very tight so grippy needles would make it much harder, and in the long run slippery needles are more comfortable on the hands, but for learning I think wood is a good choice for a first ever pair because you’re gonna be going slowly and might need to take the time to look at the stitches to study them, count them etc., so something grippy will help in the beginning… You also have plastic/coated metal, and with that it probably depends a lot on the models. My double pointed ones are like that and they are very grippy (which is desirable in the case of double pointed)
And you’re also going to need at least one yarn needle or tapestry needle for weaving the ends, scissors to cut the yarn, and some stitch markers can be very useful too although you can use yarn scraps to achieve a lot of similar things, it’s just fussier. Some people recommend a yarn bowl too, to put the yarn skein in, I just recommend learning to pull from the center of the skein instead (but you can also use an actual bowl from the kitchen or any other container with a size that feels appropriate)
Best to start with size 8 straight needles, inexpensive, and start with a colorful acrylic yarn. I was a knitting teacher for a few years, and starting out with inexpensive acrylic yarn and some needles under 7 dollars a pair, works best for the beginning. YouTube has several beginner knitting tutorials. If you become confused, look for another video, not all knitting vids are made by someone you can learn from. Let me ask you, do you know how to cast on yet? If so, have you learned the knit stitch, and the purl stitch? Can you cast on?
My grandson is a sergeant in the Army. So I suggest worsted weight yarn in a solid color and size 8 and/or 9 needles for getting started. Acrylic yarn is usually a lot less expensive than wool or other natural fibers. Cotton can be hard to work with.
I prefer knitting with circular needles (even if you aren’t knitting in the round) because I think they are easier to handle, size 7 and 8 are staples sizes for worsted weight yarns. The reason to knit dish clothes first is as said above, you can learn different stitches and practice knitting evenly, but also because it’s a small object and you get the excitement of finishing an object sooner ;).
knitting and i
Swatches are great for learning on, and most projects will require a swatch first anyways since you take measurements on it before casting on for the project itself. And swatching properly is among the basics imo…
newbies. What are you interested in? My first real project was a hooded cardigan for my grandson. In fact, he asked me to make him one and at the time I crocheted. The yarn he picked wasn’t so very crochet compatible. To make it I had to learn to do more than make basic knits and purls and rows of garter stitch or plain stockinette. It was my learning project and he did wear it to stay warm in their chilly house. You don’t have to dive off the deep end like some of us but knowing what you’re working toward can help.
