Beginners Guide to Knitting

As I said in my first post, I was taught to knit at a fairly young age by my Oma. It was a frustrating time... I would start my project with 30 stitches on my needle. Next thing I know, a few rows later, I have 28 stitches. 5 rows after that 33. I ended up with the most uneven, wavy scarf known to man. That was then. Now I consider myself a very experienced knitter. I have yet to find a pattern I can't crack (sometimes Youtube is my best friend when I come across a stitch I'm unfamiliar with). I am here to help you, a beginner, navigate through the very confusing world or knitting. How do you know what yarn to use?

For starters, there are many different "weights" of yarn you can find in stores. I say "weights" in quotations because it isn't actually how heavy the yarn skein is. The weight indicates how thick the strand of yarn is. The confusing part about this is that there are different terms regarding yarn for different parts of the world. You need to be able to identify the differences between the terms and convert to the terms used in the pattern you are using.

So, I have my yarn... now how do I know what needles to use?

I personally do not create patterns myself. I haven't mastered that craft yet. I usually buy the weight of yarn and use the needle size the pattern suggests. However, if you don't already have a pattern, every ball of yarn you buy has a suggested "gauge".

As you can see in the picture, the gauge is always determined by a 4 inch x 4 inch (10 cm x 10 cm) square. This symbol I used for this example is for worsted weight yarn. It indicates the needles size required to achieve the proper gauge (in the middle-- 5 mm/ US 8), the number of stitches to cast on (on the bottom-- 18 stitches), and the number of rows to knit (on the right-- 24 rows).

If you wish to use smaller needles than the ones suggested, your project will be smaller and more tightly knit. If you use a larger sized needles, your project will be larger and more loosely knit.

Now that you have your yarn AND your needles picked out, you can start your project!

For your first ever project I highly recommend a straight knit project like a scarf or wash cloth. To keep things simple, stick to garter stitch (meaning you knit every row). To begin, you must cast on. It's up to you how many stitches you would like to cast on. You can just wing it, or you can use your new found knowledge about gauges to decide how many to cast on. For example, if you were to use worsted weight yarn with a US size 8 needle and wanted an 8 inch width for a scarf, you would cast on 36 stitches based on the gauge listed on the ball.

Now that that's decided, it's time to cast on!

The person in this video says that it is not a cast on method for people who are new to knitting. However, it is the most basic and most commonly used cast on method I use so I thought it would be a good place to start.

Now that you have learned to cast on, it's time to begin your garter stitch. Make sure you maintain even tension throughout to make sure your piece looks uniform.

One thing to keep in mind while knitting... COUNT. YOUR. STITCHES. EVERY. ROW (at least until you're more experienced), unless you want to end up with a crazy wavy scarf like I did.

Continue knitting in garter stitch until your desired length is reached.

Now to the cast off. Make sure you continue to maintain an even tension that isn't too tight. You want the cast off edge and the cast on edge to both have the same tension and be the same width. If this is not achieved, you will be able to see it when folded in half.

YOU DID IT!!!

You have all of the tools to complete your first project.

Keep checking back for more posts!

Happy Knitting

xo