Beginner's Guide: How to Start Your Knitting Journey

Knitting is a very theoretic hobby. The rhythm, the colours, the textures and the joy of seeing something you make progress, the only word I can think to describe all of t

his is positivity.

However, that can not always be said for the start of the knitting journey…..

Knitting is very fiddly, holding a needle in each hand, keeping yarn tension, moving the yarn from front to back, picking up stitches and one of the most frustrating things…..counting….stitches….. But, if you can get past all that, it is well worth it!

So where should you start? I often get told; ‘I have no clue where to begin’ or ‘what is the best way to learn?’, and my answer is always the same. Start by getting some cheap 4mm needles and if you can’t get someone to teach you one-to-one, then YouTube is the next best thing.

Let’s talk about the absolute basics; needles and yarn.

4mm needles are the best starting points, they are a good thickness, and I would say they are the average needle size for most garment projects. Now let’s talk length. Knitting needles come in different sizes of diameter but also length. This is because you could have a project that requires 10’s of stitches and some that require hundreds! Don’t jump the gun and get the longest ones possible, they are more fiddly and you will just hit them on the table or yourself. I would recommend 25cm length.

Now lets talk about material! (We haven’t even go to yarn yet, bet you didn’t think there would be this much to consider!) Well the good news is I haven’t got much to say about needle materials. They are available in may different materials including plastics, metals and timbers. Choose what you like! What feels better for you but if you are absolutely unsure, then go for the cheapest! If you stick with the skill, you will develop a taste for a specific brand or material for needles. I always favoured metal and then moved to plastic because I loved the colour but I hated how they felt, so now I switch from metal to bamboo. So as I said, start cheap and then build up later.

Time for the best bit…YARN!!!!! YOUR YARN STASH WILL GROW SO QUICKLY!!!!! Every time you go out you and see some, you will not be able to resist the urge to buy it, even if you have no clue what you will use it for. It is pretty, it is squishy and you will want it! Yarn is made up from nearly everything, acrylic (plastic), wool, bamboo, linen, nylon, recycled fibres, cotton, the list is positively endless. They all have their own great attributes but the best starting point is acrylic.

Acrylic is soft, has great optical qualities and best of all; it is cheap and can be tumble dried. The first thing I ever knit my little boy before he arrived was a cashmere jacket, you can already guess where I am going with this right? I spent over £30 on 150grams of cashmere yarn and it somehow ended up in the wash basket and shrunk. It now lives on a teddy bear.

I’m not saying you should stay away from cashmere, of course you can use it if you can look after it (I still can’t keep houseplants a live so I am not entirely surprised about my washing mishap) but start with something easy to use. You might not like knitting, don’t invest all your money in something you are unsure of in the beginning. I use Paintbox yarns which can be purchased from LoveCrafts or Stylecraft yarns which can be purchased from most UK based yarn stores. The difference in price compared to the cashmere you might be wondering? £27. You can pick up a 100gram ball of acrylic for £2.99. With that 100gram ball you could make yourself a headband, bandana, hat, fingerless gloves/mittens, so there is plenty that could keep you busy.

Now, lets talk about how to start. There are so many books and websites out there that can help you including my own knitting pattern cough cough but I will always advocate YouTube for learning new skills. Here is where I would love to say that I have my own YouTube channel (which I do) that can teach you all of these beginner stages (which I do not). I personally don’t see the point in reinventing the wheel and there are so many amazing teachers out there who have created easy to follow tutorials which I have linked below. That Crafty Stitch - YouTube  The Crafty Stitch is highly worth watching, their videos are clear, well recorded and simple to follow. One day I might have my own but until then, these will do nicely.

Finally. As I said previously, knitting is fiddly and the beginning is the hardest part but once you learn how to cast on, everything else will fall into place but you will have a moment where you want to throw your needles (which you might do) and just simply give up because ‘it is not for you’ which, lets be honest, is complete nonsense if you don’t sit and give it a proper go, so please do. Take a break if you are getting annoyed by all means but don’t just quit! Climb over that wall of defeat to the other side of knitting positivity! ( I feel like this could be a T-shirt design..)

So to summarise:

·        Get some cheap 4mm needles, 25cm in length

·        Start with acrylic yarn

·        Don’t give up straight away! Knitting is fiddly but it is worth it, you just have to give it a proper go and not just 10 minutes of your time!