Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Learning to knit is easy! As with anything, you learn the basics, get the right tools, and practice! And why not with an easy knit? For example, a scarf, a stylized dishcloth... or a project that turns you on!
Once you know how to cast on, how to knit purl and purl stitches and how to increase and decrease your stitches, you can do anything! Our biggest obstacle... is ourselves. So, let's settle down, relax, and don't forget the tea, a good coffee or even a small vino!
Always keep in mind that knitting is the yoga of the soul. Just as in yoga, with its many patterns and exercises, in knitting there are many stitches. However, you learn them as you go along. You practice them, you miss them... and you start again! In knitting, this practice is called unravelling. When I started, I knitted and unknitted almost equally. After a few years, I still unravel! It's part of knitting... like the patterns or movements in yoga!
Materials required to learn to knit
Having the right tools to learn to knit is a must! Here is what you will need:
DK size wool
A DK size wool contains on average between 205 and 245 metres/100 grams per skein (for hand-dyed wools). For commercial wools, sold in supermarkets, we talk about size 3-4.
There are several types of wools or compounds, but what I recommend is wool, not acrylic. You can find more affordable commercial wools at your local wool shop that are not hand-dyed, a little less expensive. If you are just starting to learn to knit, a commercial wool is excellent. Compared to acrylic, your knitting will last over time and you will enjoy knitting!
4 mm circular needle
There are two types of needles: straight needles and circular needles. Needles can be made of wood, stainless steel or plastic.
Personally, I recommend learning to knit with circular needles, because with this type of needle you can knit 99% of the patterns that exist today. The needles are bound with a plastic, nylon or steel cable covered with rubber. You will find several brands of needles on the market... but you guessed it, my favourites are the Chiaogoo brand. I knit with the interchangeable metal Chiaogoo, but I use the nylon cables (in the stainless steel kit, the cables are steel with a rubber membrane) and the bamboo (wooden) spin kit, which comes with nylon threads that are much softer, in my opinion. You can buy them in kits or individually.
If you want to enjoy knitting, it is essential to buy quality needles!
The basics of easy knitting!
Let's start learning!
Mounting meshes
There are several types of knitting, but let's start simple. Here is 1 tutorial for knitting:
- Long tail cast-on
To get started with this assembly technique, watch the video below to learn a little trick to measure the amount of wire you need to have for our assembly:
Meshsizes in the right places
Backstitch
Increasing mesh size
Knit the pier on the wrong side
Decreasingmesh size
Fold down the stitches
First easy knitting project
Flat : scarf, tea towel, sweet Valentine, dragonfly washcloth, blanket (ALTADENA green) (Available on Ravelry)
Round : Baby hat, sugar plum cowl,
Where to find free and paid patterns?
Visit the Ravelry website: it's the reference!
In the next article, we will discuss samples and Ravelry!
