I am a very amateur knitter, still very much in the scarf stage. My grandma was an accomplished knitter (I have scarves and blankets she created years ago), so I decided I needed to know how to knit as a way to connect to her creatively. I love its meditative quality and the fact that I can carry it with me anywhere. Once I learn how to purl, I'm going to try to knit a nifty purse.
Getting Started: There are oodles of knitting books and websites available for anyone wanting to take up knitting. I have learned a couple of things from books, but I have found it easiest to learn something new when someone shows me how to do it. Start asking around to see if anyone you know is a knitter (you may be surprised how quickly you find someone) and check out your local community college and adult education programs for classes. Form a weekly wine tasting/knitting group!
Yarn. One of my favorite things about knitting is all the colors, textures and options with yarns. An artist's dream.
Knitting Needles. I've tried bamboo and aluminum and the bamboo are a little easier to work with.
There are many resources below, but I want to make special mention of Stitch & Bitch by Debbie Stoller. Just reading her introduction inspired me to learn to knit and made me feel like I was honoring all of womanhood by taking it up. She is also quite hilarious and a totally hip chick. If you are undecided about giving it a go, read this book.
This is pretty much all you need to get going on a scarf. If you start to get into it more, there are all kinds of other accessories you can learn about and try - different size needles, different yarns, bags, accessories to make hats and a lot of other goodies I'm sure I don't know about.
this could be nice to my closet....
Posted by: realestateglendaleca | April 19, 2007 at 10:27 PM
try http://www.knittinghelp.com.
Posted by: kristen | October 17, 2006 at 03:15 AM
knitting seems to be quite the fad lately...
happy knitting!
Posted by: la vie en rose | October 16, 2006 at 02:45 PM
I just learned to knit a couple weeks ago while my grandmother was in the hospital for 2 weeks. A lovely lady who saw me struggling to cast on showed me how to do it. I was zipping right along with my scarf, but have done very little since I returned home. I'll have to pull it back out and start it again while I'm watching tv.
I love crochetting. All the fancy stitches get met, but it's great fun. :)
Posted by: tali | October 16, 2006 at 11:17 AM
I've got three scarves in my closet that were people's first practice scarves. I love every one.
Posted by: Popeye | October 15, 2006 at 03:49 PM
Once upon a time I was so very excited to learn to knit... I was in Encino several years back and the lady teaching me was so psycho-impatient! When I couldn't get the stitch flow right, she grabbed my hands and pulled it away! Then my extremely sweet mother-in-law rained down on LA just like Mary Poppins appearing out of nowhere- all the way from Ukraine!- and she was so lovely, tried to teach me how to knit, but my brain would have nothing of it. And yet every time I see spools of yarn and photos like you have on this post, and I want to try again!
Posted by: Alexandra | October 13, 2006 at 08:16 PM