Learning To Knit

Learning to knit is no different from learning any other new skill. It requires equal amounts of patience, confidence and trying out new techniques.

Isabell Buenz, who is an artist normally working with paper & sculpture wrote to us recently:

“After years of not touching a single thread of wool or knitting needles I started again last winter. There is something very satisfying about the growing rows and seeing it all evolve.”

Knitting is so much more than the sum of it’s parts.

We have to have needles, some kind of yarn and a knowledge of casting on, casting off and basic stitches like knit & purl which create fabric from yarn.

Beyond that possibilities are endless.

We can explore the myriad of possibilities that yarn offers us to create increasingly more complicated designs, starting with simple but effective.

FINDING A HELPING HAND

It is possible to teach yourself knitting, but so much easier to learn from a friend or to borrow someone else’s laid-back Granny/Grandpa, Auntie/Uncle if you don’t have one of your own to show you the basics.

I believe you will save yourself a lot of tears, swearing and ripping out and throwing unfinished projects into the back of cupboards

LOCAL KNITTING GROUPS

Try entering “ Knitting Groups + (your area)” into Google for a very long list of local knitting and “Stitch and Bitch” groups, where you can meet like minded people and have a laugh as well as learn a thing or two.

LOCAL YARN STORES

Check out the local yarn stores in your area. They often have knitting classes and groups that meet to support each other.
on our RESOURCES page we have a growing list of recommended suppliers and stores.

RAVELRY.COM

Another great source of information, inspiration and contact with other knitters is RAVELRY. You have to wait a few days to be accepted to join, but it is well worth it… …

MY EXPERIENCE

I was fortunate enough to have my own Granny to show me the basics and to go to a primary school in Scotland where we learned to knit whether we wanted to or not.

When I learned to spin some 30 years later (talk about tears and swearing) I went back to first principles to combine my knitting knowledge with my wondrous new handspun yarns and realised that I could control my results and adapt and invent my own patterns.

One result of this is the Arran Measurement System

To help you practise basic techniques, here are a few simple patterns which you can download free and information on basic stitches and techniques.

Have fun & let us know how you get on! Better still, send us a photo and we’ll put it on the website to inspire others!

FREE KNITTING PATTERNS

FEATURED STITCHES AND TECHNIQUES