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K Is For… Knitting! Again!

A Catherine Noon

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I know I did knitting today on the main blog, too, but it bears repeating.  ~grin~  Besides, what if you don’t, yet, knit?  How do you go from string to art?  It’s like anything else.  Practice.

Okay, so how do you know what to practice?

Well, there are plenty of books and websites out there purporting to be able to teach you how to knit.  If you’re reading this and nodding along, chances are that you’ve glanced at them and they meant about as much to you as they did to me – which means, nothing.  Zilch, zip, nada.  I tried to learn to knit from books for almost ten years.  I just couldn’t make sense of the stuff on the page as it related to the stuff in my hands.

If this is you, then I have two solutions for you:

First, find a teacher.  Local yarn shops and big-box stores like Michaels and JoAnns offer classes, as do park districts, senior centers, and adult learning centers.  There are Meetup groups, and knitters even put themselves out on sites like Craig’s List.  Don’t overlook your local university – fashion design programs feature knitting, because the designers need to know how to work with knit fabric.  I met my first teacher through my local yarn shop, and she is an adjunct professor at not one but two local universities.

Second, look online.  YouTube has a wealth of videos on how to do anything from cast on (which is how you get the yarn onto the needle so you can start knitting with it) to complicated stitch patterns, decreases, increases, lace, cables, and all the other foreign-sounding words that are the stock-in-trade of the knitter’s craft.

If you haven’t discovered it yet, Craftsy is a ton of fun to poke around.  They’ve even got a bunch of free classes, so you can see how you like the learning platform.  Their basics series are good, solid grounding in whatever craft you select; they’ve got a ton of intermediate (skill building) and advanced classes for you more experienced knitters out there.  You can select classes and add them to your wish-list, and keep your eyes peeled for their sales.  Might be just as addictive as doing the craft itself!

What about you, Dear Reader?
What suggestions do you have for folks who want to begin a new craft?

Comments

K Is For… Knitting! Again! — 6 Comments

  2. I learnt to knit as a child but it didn\’t progress fast enough so I changed my allegiance to crochet, and I haven\’t really revisited knitting. It\’s a pity because the patterns are better on the whole.

    • Hi, Sheila! Thanks for stopping by.

      There is a growing movement within crochet to have more couture and varied patterns. Both Interweave and Vogue have published magazines, though your blog identifies U.K. so you might prefer to look to XRX Publications. They don\’t appear to have crochet yet, but I didn\’t look very deeply and they might within their community. Their magazine\’s site is here: https://www.knittinguniverse.com/k117.

      Vogue does it as a special annual edition, but they have some really gorgeous stuff (American styling): http://www.vogueknitting.com/magazine/crochet_issue.aspx

      Interweave Crochet is available and is also lovely; they do have an electronic version if overseas shipping makes it prohibitive. Here\’s the link for their crochet community: https://www.interweave.com/crochet/

      Also, Ravelry\’s crochet community is huge, and composed of what I think of as traditionalists (who make afghans and things) and modern \”hookers\” who are more into the craft mafia vibe. There\’s also a sub-group that do Tunisian crochet, also known as afghan stitch (though from what I\’ve read that was mostly here in the States that it was called that). You might check there for connections and certainly for patterns.

      Happy blogging!

  3. Hello there.
    Someone taught me how to crochet & I taught myself how to knit. There are actually youtube videos that take you step by step from how to knot your slip stitch, to knitting your first stitch and so on. Hand-knitted/crochet items are such lovely gifts to give. I like the colour of your yarn!
    Thanks for sharing.

    Entrepreneurial Goddess

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