Hi I’m Christina. I would like to make scarfs and little blankets for my children. I would like to know how to start. I have needles and yarn but don’t know what to do next.:shrug:
New Knitter
You’ve come to the right place! And you’ve got all you need to start. Do you see at the top of this page, there’s a tab that says, “view videos”? Click on that, and then scroll down to “cast on”. Just start with that. I’d try to cast on 20 sts (by the way, in what’s called Long Tail Cast On, the very first stitch makes 2 sts, but past that, you’re casting on 1 at a time). Take it off your needles, pull it out, and do that again. I’d do a few times until you feel comfortable with it. Then go to the knit stitch. Knit all 20 sts on your needle, and then turn it around and do that again. You can make an entire scarf or doll blanket or whatever you want that way. Just get used to the knit st. Then, go to the video about purl st. Just practice that for a while. Now, you’re pretty good to go for many, many things, as least anything shaped like a square or rectangle. When the piece is as long as you want it to be, then you need to watch the “casting off” video. When you want to get a little more advanced, then learn increases and decreases, also in videos on here. Everything in knitting is then based on those 6 things: casting on, knitting, purling, increases, decreases, and casting off. Just take you time and take it once step at a time. You’ll notice that the videos often give 2 options, Continental or English. English is “thrown” knitting, and it’s just a different way of moving the yarn. Both styles have their fans. You get the same results, just in a different method. Try both and see what you like. And when you have questions, come on back-- people here are very patient and helpful!
What she said. And welcome to KH! 
Just to clarify the knitting styles a little more –
English style is holding the yarn in your right hand and not all of us actually use as awkward a motion as is shown in the video. Continental is holding the yarn in your left hand and may right handed knitters use this method. So practice one or the other or even both and see which feels more comfortable for you to use.
Amen to that! I can knit both ways and do so depending what it is. When I knit english with the yarn in my right hand I wrap it just like I do continental and the motion is pretty fluid and fast. Do what feels most comfortable for you.
if you get a little more advanced and want to start doing dishcloths and stuff combining knit and purl stitch i think anyone here would recomend you join Ravelry. It’s free and they have thousands of patterns at every level.
I think everyone before me has given the best advice, but I just want to welcome you to our forum!
And a great blanket for the kids is the LOG CABIN blanket!
It is all garter stitch, and it is all in one piece! No seaming!
No patches! No squares to sew together!
Here is a free PDF for a Moderne Log Cabin Baby Blanket!
And here is a free PDF for a Moderne Full Size Log Cabin blanket!
Christina -
I’m a 64 year old guy who has always loved hand-knitted garments but unfortunately, every female I’ve ever known seemed to be a lousy knitter or couldn’t knit at all.
I’m now retired and damn them all, I say, so I’ve taught myself to knit. First attempts are a bit “rough” (to say the least), but the lesson I’ve learned is just to practice, practice, practice.
And, I hasten to add, this is a great web site to learn from.
One question though - anyone know of any videos showing how to “knit one stitch below”???
PeterC.
Welcome to the forum Christina and Peter C! This is a very friendly place to learn.
Hi, my name is John and I have been crochetting for about 18 years and just started to knit. I can cast on, knit, purl, and have done cable patterns and binding for practice. One thing, is the first stich and last stich on the needle going to be loose compared to the other stiches? Also, I’m doing a sweater, I’ve casted on 67 st and have done about 6 inches of work. I’m using size 8 needle as instruced and my stiches are tight but not to tight. How can I make the transition from left needle to right needle more easier?
It’s common, especially when learning, for the end sts to be a bit loose. One way to minimize that is to work your first st, pull the yarn a bit, which takes up the slack in the last st on the previous row. Then knit the next couple sts (not all of them) a little tighter. Those tighter sts will be able to take up the excess yarn that happens from one stitch to another across the row. You should be able to see a difference after a few rows. When you seam the sweater, the loose sts are likely to be noticeable, so you don’t need to start over.
I experienced the same but learned on this site that a simple way around the problem is to simply slip every first stitch over to the new needle when beginning a new row. Don’t knit it. Make sure that when you slip the stitch over, you position the yarn as knit or purl as stipulated in the pattern. You’ll find that the edging becomes much neater. Once you get up a bit of practice, you can start to “pull on the yarn a bit” to tighten everything up and to make it look even neater.
There’s a short vid. on this site to show you how it’s done.
Peter C.
Welcome to the group! I read all the advice and all I can say is use whichever you feel comfortable doing. I was taught both by my mother eons ago. Slipping stitches gives a nice edge for seaming but with practice the making of your end stitches will get better mine did.