A Taste of Knitting

The absolute minimum you need in order to start knitting. Part of a series.

I think most people know what knitting is, but, hey, I’m going to describe it anyway. Knitting is a craft where you use a pair of knitting needles to turn yarn into cloth items such as scarves, beanies, mittens, socks, sweaters and so forth. Knitted cloth is best suited for items which you want to be stretchy, so it is especially good for clothing. Knitting with straight needles creates flat panels. To knit in the round requires another type of knitting needle, choosing from “circular” needles, “interchangeable” needles, or “double pointed” needles.

Mind you, needle-knitting is not the only way to knit (there are other tools that can create knitting) but it is the most well-known. I’ll cover other forms of knitting in the future.

What You Need For Knitting

1. One pair of (straight) needles
2. One pair of scissors.
3. One ball of yarn.
4. One yarn needle.

While circular or interchangeable needles may seem more value-for-money, since one can knit both flat and in the round with them, I don’t recommend them for beginners. It is easier to learn on straight needles. I tried learning on interchangeable needles, and they drove me bonkers.

As with crochet, if you want to work with more than one thickness of yarn, you’ll need more than one size of needles. But you can buy those later, if you just want to give yourself a taste of knitting before you decide whether to continue with it or not.

A “yarn needle” is used for weaving in the loose ends of yarn you get at the start and end of your knitted piece (and also sometimes in the middle). Also known as a “tapestry needle”, it has an eye large enough to thread your yarn through. What you do is thread the yarn-end through the needle’s eye, then you use the needle to drag that yarn-end through the body of the work in order to hide it.

Where To Start

I recommend “Very Pink Knits” as a good YouTube channel for learning knitting.

What To Make First

Probably a small scarf; a flat panel, no increases, no decreases, very straightforward. And also useful.