I'm not quite sure why knitting has gained a bad reputation as the boring past-time of crazy grandmothers, but it's probably because every grandchild, at one time or another, has received the heartfelt gift of a too-small knitted orange and green button-up sweater with squirrels on the front and buttons shaped like acorns. I believe that knitting is the soul of creativity trapped in a squirrel-sweater's body! Once you know the basics of knitting, you can knit up a whole beautiful personalized world.
In this guide you'll learn how to knit a scarf, which is a great project for a beginner. A girl can never have too many scarves, and neither can her mom, her dad, her best friend or her dog.
-- martina
So Here's the Deal...
When you really break it down, knitting is just the process of tying yarn into a bunch of knots using two needles. So all you need is yarn
and knitting needles.
YARN is measured according to "weight," which describes its thickness, and ranges from thin "fingering" weight to thick "bulky" weight. If you want to make a warm winter scarf, it makes sense to use a thick bulky weight--if you were knitting a baby blanket, you'd probably use a delicate fingering weight. The term "ply" refers to the number of strands that are twisted together to form the yarn.
"Fiber content" tells you what the yarn is made of. It can be made of natural fibers, synthetic fibers or a mixture of the two. Natural yarns, such as wool or cashmere, are more expensive. Not only are synthetic yarns cheaper, they're a safer way to go if you are making a gift for someone because many people can't handle the itch of wool. Information about the weight, ply and fiber content of a yarn is listed on its label. Sometimes labels also have free knitting patterns printed on the back. Bonus.
KNITTING NEEDLES are your tools of the trade--they come in pairs. I have a beautiful pair of needles that belonged to my great- grandmother and were handmade from the bone of her first child! (Okay, I'm lying--they're made from some kind of animal bone.) Today, needles are made out of aluminum, plastic or wood. The most common type is the straight knitting needle, which has a point at one end for maneuvering the yarn, and a knob of some sort at the other end to keep yarn from slipping off the needle.
Needles come in sizes based on their thickness from size 0 to 15, and there are even larger sizes for crazy special thick needle projects. When you become a more advanced knitter, as I know you will, you'll probably use both circular and double-pointed knitting needles as well as the straight ones. These are used for projects like socks that are knitted in a tube and have no seam, or for very large projects like afghans or sweaters.
