Learning How to Knit

A few of us (Rebecca, Cristina and I) from the local moms group took a knitting class at a local shop here. The class was held on the past 2 Saturdays for 2 hours each. We all really enjoyed the class and really liked our teacher. She taught us the basics (knitting and purling) using circular bamboo needles and the pattern for a scarf. The circular needles are good to learn on because you can push your work off the needle and onto the connecting cord. This allows you to take a break without the risk of your work slipping off the end of the needle and getting messed up (since as a beginner you probably wouldn't know how to fix it) or you can more easily count how many rows you've knit if you've lost track.

I found knitting to be awkward and tricky at first and nothing like I thought it would be (though I didn't really know what to expect since I'd never seen anyone knitting up close before). Somehow during the first class, I was adding an extra stitch for each row so my scarf was getting wider. That explained why I was the last one finished with the 1st section. The instructor taught me how to drop a stitch on each row to correct my mistake so that was good to know. She also said it's common for beginner's to knit too tightly and that is certainly the case for me. I don't have a problem stitching loosely when purling though, just when knitting. Since we were using fat bamboo needles and bulky wool, it made it more awkward to make the stitches when things were too tight.

We were supposed to finish our scarf before the 2nd class a week later so she could teach us how to "bind off" and weave in the ends to finish it. I kept messing up when I got back into it at home a day or two after class. I ended up unraveling the whole thing and starting over because something was way out of whack (what appeared to be a missed loop a few rows back and something else in another part) and I wasn't sure how to fix it nicely. It was late in the evening and I didn't want to wait until the next day to go by the shop for help, plus I wanted to start fresh to get rid of the messed up section where some rows were wider because of the extra stitches. I looked in the knitting book I got for Christmas (that I hadn't ever used before) and online to remind me how to "cast on" to start over. This time, I was careful and didn't add any extra stitches. I learned a lot through my mistakes and something clicked by the time I finally got to the 3rd section (where it changed from stockinette stitching back to garter stitching). I totally understood the importance of having the yarn in back for knitting and in front for purling, as well as how to recognize some things with the work that was already done.

The shop is offering a hat knitting class during the next 2 Saturdays but I'm not taking it because I will be out of town one week. That's another reason she gave us circular needles to learn with because you use them to knit hats, which is a common 2nd project. I will try to take the hat class next time they offer it.

Anyway, I didn't finish my scarf by the next class but I was able to practice binding off anyway and the instructor unravelled that part for me afterwards. I will post a picture of the finished product (hopefully soon).