For the absolute beginner

This page is meant to guide the absolute beginner around my blog.

If you're one, most posts that are useful to you were written when I started the blog, but that is not always true.

Notions

If you've never knitted this post recommends the knitting supplies you'll need in order to start. As most of my posts, this one is very verbose, so here is the low-down: all you need to buy for now is one skein of yarn and a pair of knitting needles. But there is more: when it comes to yarn there is tones of choices and many of them are not appropriate to learn with. What you want is a yarn that is easy to handle and has what is called good stitch definition, that means that it is easy to distinguish the stitches you've knitted. For these reasons, the best yarn to buy should have the following qualities:

• weight: worsted or similar. This refers to the thickness of the yarn, and you can find this information on the yarn label. This should look similar to the image on the right. See the reference to medium in the upper left corner? That means this is a worsted weight yarn (or similar).

• light coloured, not true white, but, as a rule of thumb, the lighter the colour of the yarn, the easier it should be to distinguish stitches.
• simple construction: avoid anything fancy like multi-coloured or tweedy yarn and absolutely forget about novelty or bouclé.
• material: wool is easier to knit with than, for example, cotton, linen, or silk. Absolutely avoid mohair or similar yarn. I recommend 100% wool, but that is only my personal preference.

Once you've chosen the yarn, it's very easy to choose the needles. Look at the yarn label and check what size it's best for that specific yarn. See the symbol next to the "medium" one? Yes, the one with a pair of crossed knitting needles, it says 5mm above them and 8US under. Both of these refer to the recommended needle size to go with this yarn. In Europe, needles are labelled by their diameter in mm, in the US there is a convention. The 8US size has a diameter of 5mm and that is the preferred size for worsted yarn. The size is the most important thing to consider, but there is still a large amount of choice available, here is a brief description to guide you:

• circular or straight: either, but I think circular ones are easier to use.
• materials: plastic, metal, wood, bamboo,...? The differences between them are minor and it's really a matter of personal taste which ones you will come to prefer. Any is good to start, but I'd recommend wood to make your choice easier.

The basic stitches

I learned the basics from knittinghelp.com. I'm sure there are better video lessons out there, but these ones are very good. In this post I describe the 3 introduction videos in detail. Here is the low-down of what you need to learn:

1. cast-on: this is the way you put your stitches on the needle in order to begin knitting. The most useful cast-on method and the one you should learn to begin with is called long-tail cast-on.
2. knit stitch: there are two basic stitches in knitting and the knit stitch is the easiest and fastest to execute and therefore the most used. It's the first stitch you should learn.
3. purl stitch: this is the other basic stitch you must learn. It's harder to learn and execute than the knit stitch, so make sure you've mastered the latter before attempting the former. Some people knit an entire scarf using only knit stitches without learning to purl, but I do not recommend this.
4. Bind-off: also known as cast off. If you simply drop stitches from the needle, they'll come undone and all your hard work will be lost. In order to avoid this, stitches must be "locked" before you can free them. This is normally done at the end of the project and is what is called binding off or finishing the edge.

Your first project

Here I wrote a very lengthy post on how to choose your first project. The important point is that if you do not make a few mistakes that are easy to avoid (read the aforementioned post to learn more), you'll be able to wear your first project with pride.

My personal recommendation for a first project is still the Learn-to-knit scarf, but if you find the recipe I give in that post overwhelming here is a simpler version (I changed the pattern a bit, namely by adding a garter stitch band in rows 21 to 30, which is optional):

Yarn: light coloured, worsted weight, 100% wool.
Needles: 5mm, US8.
Abbreviations:
st(s): stitch(es)
k: knit
p: purl
k1: 1 knit st
p1: 1 purl st
to end: work as described until you reach the end of the current row, then turn to work next row.
Pattern:

1. Cast-on 50 sts.
2. Rows 1 to 10 (garter stitch): k to end.
3. Rows 11 to 20 (stockinette stitch):
   on odd rows: p to end.
   on even rows: k to end.
4. Rows 21 to 30 (garter stitch the hard way, only recommended to practice the purl stitch): p to end.
5. Rows 31 to 40 (seed stitch): * k1, p1, repeat from * to end.
6. Continue repeating these 40 rows until you have the desired length. You can stop any time, no need to end in row 40. A good length for a scarf is 150cm (60in). If you'd prefer to knit a short cowl, instead of a long scarf, stop at about 60cm (23in).
7. Bind-off and weave in any ends. If you've knitted a short cowl, leave a long end and use it sew the cast-on and bind-off together before weaving it in.