How to get started with knitting

Knitting.  What does that make you think of?  Little old ladies sitting in rocking chairs?  Your elderly relatives gossiping and knitting at family reunions? Itchy, unfashionable sweaters that you received for Christmas?

Well if you haven’t heard, knitting is making a comeback, and there are lots of updated patterns and designs out there for inspiration.

I started knitting about 6 months ago because it’s a classic vintage skill (ok, and I have a scarf addiction.   And what could be better than an unlimited supply of one-of-a-kind scarves?!)  After a couple weeks of really slow-going and lumpy, holey scarves, I finally figured it out.  So if this is something you’ve been wanting to try, hang in there!

Don’t think you’ll be knitting to save money though.  This surprised me.  I assumed it would be a lot cheaper to knit myself than buying knit things in the shops.  But really, in a time when you can buy a $15 sweater made in a factory in china — you can’t really get much cheaper than that.  (This is a ethical tangent for another time, but should we really be buying clothes that can be produced that cheaply??)  After your first few balls of cheap acrylic yarn to learn on, you’ll find that nice yarns can get much more pricey … especially if you want 100% wool, alpaca, or even cashmere.  Someday I’ll venture into the even MORE vintage savoir faire’y world of hand-spun yarns (would love to try this as a project myself!).  If you really get serious about knitting, start looking online for yarn sales.  I’ve found some great deals online at a quarter of the price of retail.  In the UK, Kemps Wool Shop is one I like for deals.

But back to how to learn to knit!

What you need:

• A cheap ball of acrylic yarn in a color you like
• A pair of straight knitting needles, mid-sized (maybe 6mm/US size 10)
• (optional but recommended) a knitting friend to help you

The very best way to learn to knit is to have a knitting friend show you.  So, if you want to learn, let me know!

If you don’t know any knitting friends, you can meet some in your local area.  Ravelry is an online community for knitters.  I was skeptical but it’s amazing!  Once you know how to knit, it’s a great resource for free patterns, and seeing what other people are knitting using your same yarns.  But for beginners, Ravelry has lots of group listings around the world.  There are tons of knitting groups in London, and I even found one who meet weekly at a pub in my neighborhood!   So, if you don’t have a knitting friend, try to attend a knitting group for a few weeks, and someone there will be happy to show you how to get started.  (And if you join Ravelry, please friend me, I’m VintageAmanda)

Also for beginners, check out YouTube, which has a good selection of How To Knit videos.  I still use these a lot when I’m knitting at home and get stuck on a new stitch.

And finally, it’s worthwhile picking up a knitting book.  The book I learned from is Stitch N’ Bitch which has an extensive overview of how to knit, purl and problem solve, and then has lots of patterns for slightly alternative knitters (legwarmers! knitted bikinis! sweaters with skull and crossbones on the sleeves!)

My new obsession is digging out the vintage patterns on Ravelry – I’m currently working on this 1930′s sweater , joined a Vintage knits group, and love this Flickr set of vintage knitting patterns.

Have you tried knitting? How did you learn? What’s your favorite project?