by Cindy Hartzell

Created on: March 12, 2008

Absolute Beginners guide to Knitting

It is actually quite easy to get started with knitting, and without spending a fortune on tools and materials! There is an abundance of sources for free knitting instruction, advice and patterns too. Rather than teach you the specific techniques, this knitting primer will help you understand what knitting is all about. So, the sources provided at the end of this article will be ones where you can learn specific knitting techniques and stitches.

Knitting can be done on looms, machines and/or needles. There are large commercial companies that use all three to produce popular clothing articles, such as T-shirts. There are crafters and cottage industries that also employ smaller scales looms and knitting machines as well. However, most hand knitters use needles, as compared to crochet, which is done with one crochet hook.

Knitting needles are made from a variety of materials and there are circular knitting needles, double pointed needles; and plenty of variations, such as bamboo, plastic and glass. Knitting needles suitable for beginners look like giant straight pins or nails. They come in a variety of sizes form very small (size 0) to very large (size 50). It is best size to start with a size 8 (US), made from any material that feels comfortable in your hands.

There are variations in knitting instructions for patterns written in the US compared to Europe. Likewise, knitting needles are sized differently too. Those size eight needles are equal to size six in the UK, or 5 mm elsewhere. Most needle manufactures mark their needles with both the US size and the metric equivalent.

Knitting yarns come in a variety of colors, materials, sizes, textures, weights and plies. Ply indicates how many actual strands of yarn are twisted together to form the yarn. Multiple ply yarn is more durable and stronger than single ply yarn. Beginners should choose a plain 4 ply worsted weight yarn for the first project (completed on those size 8 needles!). Although many knitters recommend using a light color of yarn, dark colors are also fine for those first projects. The importance of color selection becomes quite clear when a beginner is struggling to see if stitches are being formed correctly.

Beginners can save money on knitting supplies by checking thrift stores, yard sales and flea markets. Most craft stores regularly feature yarns on sale and offer discount coupons. Most yarn and craft stores offer yarn at clearance prices when they reset their shelves and displays, usually in the fall and spring. Internet companies offer specials too; just do a web search!

OK! Now you know what to use and where to get what you need, but how do you knit?

Check out the following sites for great free patterns, tutorials, videos and diagrams that will show you how to knit:

http://knitting.about.com/
http://www.knittinghe lp.com/
http://www.learntoknit.com/
http://learntoknit .lionbrand.com/

Also, don't forget to check out all the great knitting articles here at Helium!

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