*I'm moving over to Lunarpages hosting so until further notice all comments have been disabled. If you need to get into contact with me, please email me at rileyhater2003@gmail.com and I'll respond as soon as possible. Until everything is done I'll be posting updates on my tumblr: babblative.tumblr.com.

Beginning Knitting Feb 8, 17:24

and

I first started knitting when I was younger, about 9 or 10 years old. After knitting a rather shoddy length of what I called a scarf (it had a few inches of garter stitch, a few inches of purl stitch and a lot of stockinette stitch) I cast it aside and didn’t pick up a needle and yarn for nearly a decade. A little over a year ago I started crocheting without any interest in starting knitting. After I became frustrated with the limitations of crocheting I started knitting again, and my first few projects were pretty lulzy. In fact, most of my projects still end up pretty lulzy. But I thought I’d share with you a few tips on how to pick up knitting.

Knitting is very therapeutic and calming. There’s something for everyone out there, I personally detest most knitted clothing, but I love knitted accessories (scarves, hats, gloves, mittens, socks, etc.,). It’s probably best to remember that not everyone makes knitted toilet paper cozies, there are truly some beautiful designs out there that anyone can make. It’s easy to pick up, after all it’s only two basic stitches that have some variations on them, so anyone can do it.

First things first, work with a cheap yarn (but not too cheap). I like Bernat yarns, Paton yarns are also good, they’re relatively inexpensive and unlike Red Heart yarn, they don’t suck. Caron’s Simply Soft yarn is also inexpensive and it feels really nice on the ball (I’m eyeing some in watermelon, heh). I say don’t bother with yarn like Red Heart because it’s hell to work with. Anything that’s itchy, gross and hard to knit with (like Red Heart) isn’t going to make you want to knit more. I used Bernat Satin Solids on a scarf recently and it was all right, even though I didn’t really like it. Always, always use a nice DK, Sport or Worsted Weight yarn. Never use anything that is furry, nubbly, prickly or just weird looking. The bumps, nubs, crinkles and floaty bits will make it harder to see the yarn and you’ll wind up getting frustrated and making mistakes because you can’t see the loops. Thin yarn is a no-go too. Lace weight yarns, while pretty, probably aren’t a good idea for a first-timers project. Once you understand how it works and you can pretty much just knit basic garter or stockinette without looking at the needles, then you can graduate to a different type of yarn.

If you’re just starting out then you want to pick something simple to work on. A scarf is probably your best option because it’s a fairly short number of stitches to work across and depending on the pattern, you’ll probably see results fairly quickly. If you’re the impatient type then try a bulkier yarn, remember to stay away from novelty yarn! Bulky yarn on larger needles will knit up faster than a finer yarn on small needles, the results will probably not be as appealing because you’re limited to something fairly simple when you use bulky wool. Anything like lace or chunky cables is probably out (depends on the yarn, though). Don’t choose something that requires you cast on 500 stitches and has a complex pattern, you’ll probably lose interest when you have to work through all those stitches.

One Row Handspun Scarf – This is a very simple pattern and only requires only that you know how to knit into the back of a stitch. It’s ideal for a beginner because there is only one row, no complicated pattern repeat to learn. It’s really only knitting and purling.

Tapestry Scarf and Cream of Spinach – The Tapestry scarf is similar to the Cream of Spinach scarf I just completed, but the double decrease is different and the pattern is repeated twice instead of three times. The pattern repeat on both scarves is fairly simple and only requires that you know how to increase and decrease.

The increases are simple yarn overs (at the bottom) and double decrease. A double decrease is simply two decreases worked one after the other. In this case you slip a stitch (just insert the needle into the stitch, knitwise unless otherwise specified, pull the stitch off the left needle and onto the right without knitting or purling it) knit 2 together then passing the slipped stitch over. Simply insert your needle into the stitch you slipped and pull it over the one you just knitted and off the needle. It isn’t as complicated as it sounds, knitting two stitches together is exactly like knitting one stitch, only you insert the needle into two stitches at the same time. Slipping and passing over slipped stitches is also easy, easier than knitting because you’re only pulling stitches off the needle (no need to bring the yarn around and over the needle).

Go Diagonal! Scarf – I’ve finished two of these in Moda Dea’s Cutesie and I’m nearly finished my third. The pattern is simply a garter stitch with an increase and decrease every other row. The increase is just a knit into the front and back of loop (on that site it’s called a “Bar Increase”) and the decrease is just knit 2 together. I like this pattern because I don’t even have to look at the needles while I’m knitting it, perfect for watching television.

To keep track of your pattern repeats a row just use stitch markers. Figure out the number of stitches required for each repeat and place stitch markers in between each row. For example, this scarf pattern has a multiple of 8 + 1 stitches on the right side rows, and a multiple of 10 + 1 on the wrong side, and the pattern is repeated 3 times. So, place a stitch marker every 8 stitches and instead of finding out that you’re missing a few stitches at the end of a row, you can find out in the exact pattern repeat, it’s helpful for when you don’t want to have to rip out a few rows just because you don’t know where the mistake happened. Confused by all that? Don’t be. Just count the number of stitches needed for each pattern repeat: k2, yo, k5, k3tog, k5, yo, k2 is a multiple of 15 + 2. So you’d place the stitch markers every 15 stitches. Note that when you’re calculating how many stitches you need from a multiple that you disregard the “+ x” until the very end. In the above example, if I wanted something wide enough for a scarf I’d cast on two repeats, or 30 stitches, and add 2 for a grand total of 32 stitches on the needle. Just pay attention to the first number and add on the last number after you’ve cast on the number you need.

Likewise keeping track of your rows can be difficult if you just keep a tally in your head. Either invest in a row counter, they’re under five dollars at Walmart or Zellers, or keep a piece of paper and a pencil handy to write down the row number as you finish it. If you’re working from a chart then just put a mark next to each row as you finish it (I’d recommend you scan or photocopy your charts and blow them up so you can see them easily, also so you don’t have to write things down in the book/magazine).

Happy knitting! And don’t forget that you needn’t use Fun Fur in every project. Think of my eyes!

|