Knitting Books With Patterns For Beginners

My grandmother did a lot of knitting.  In winter we had cute mittens with faces and long braids down the top.  I specifically remember those.  We had hand-knit sweaters with chunky cables up and down the full length.

When I began having kids myself, my Nana sent more knit goodies for the kids.  I still have those, but all the rest have vanished.  

If only my Nana were around today, I could learn so much from her!  What fun it would be to sit with her and knit up something special, with her giving me advice along the way.  Personal advice from an experienced knitter can't be beat.  

I remember trying to knit as a young girl, but it seemed way too difficult, so I gave up.  I felt the same way about playing the guitar!  Ah... youth... we quickly move onto the next thing.

For me, knitting instruction came late in life when I lived in New Hampshire and a local woman gave lessons in her home.  It was also a yarn shop which featured local hand-dyed (mostly wool) yarn.  I got far enough that I could make hats, and those are some of my favorite items to knit today.

With the basics down, I've recently decided to take up knitting again.  Although I live in a hot climate, I am determined to keep improving my knitting skills.  

Online videos can be very helpful, and there are a lot of good ones.  Unfortunately you must wade through the truly horrid ones to find them!

Books are my first choice when it comes to knitting advice these days, because most books will give instruction and patterns.  Everything is all in one place.  Find a comfortable chair to browse the pages, highlighting what catches your eye.  

The Knitting for Dummies book contains nearly everything you need to begin knitting - except the yarn  and needles!  Mine is the first version, but the one I link to below is the updated 3rd edition.  On Amazon, you can "look inside" this book and see all the information it covers.

When I first bought my Dummies book, years ago, I used it a lot to learn various stitches.  Most of the book was over my head, but now I am still learning from it - years later.  I still haven't graduated to making a sweater, but the basics for that are in this book.

From the simple and basic, to the more challenging, the Dummies book will be the perfect reference as your knitting skills progress.  And it contains patterns, how to read a chart, figuring gauge, and more important things "real" knitters use to be successful.

Lots of photos and images are included in my version, so I assume the same for the newest book.

I'll say I have mastered the art of knitting hats in the round.  Since DPN's are only used for a few rounds at the top, it's a good project for getting the hang of using multiple needles.

Socks and mittens and sleeves will require using them a lot more, so hats are a simple way to get the hang of double points.  

Wooden needles will hold the yarn better than metal, so most DPN's are made of some type of wood.  They come in various lengths and longer ones are fine for finishing up hats.

Most hats are knit from the bottom up.  The beginning row is the cast on, and that needs to look nice.  Don't skimp on that.  Use the cast-on technique suggested in the pattern.  YouTube has many videos that show various cast-ons.  Or you can check out the ones I have collected on my blog page: Methods for Casting On.

Once you reach the top of the hat, stitches will be decreased.  Multiple stitches will be worked together as one, until you get to the last few stitches which will be gathered up in a darning needle and tied off.

When there are fewer stitches to work with, double-pointed needles are needed because the circular needle will become too large.  You will knit the same way, just using smaller needles.

The video below is quite good, and to the point.  She does hold her yarn with her left hand, but overlook that and pay attention to how she uses 4 dpn's to hold the stitches and knits off using the 5th dpn.

Most knitters (beginners at least) are frightened nearly to death of DPNs (double-pointed needles).  The reason is obvious.  We have just begun to get the hang of holding two needles in our hands comfortably and now we have to hold ... how many?

DPNs come in sets of five needles, all in the same size.  You will typically use 4 or 5 at once.  Either three needles will hold stitches and you will knit with the fourth, or four needles will hold stitches and knit with the fifth.  

Problems that arise with DPNs include dropping stitches off the needles that are just sitting there waiting to be knit.  Also, all those pointy needles can really get in the way of the knitting.  For hats, they are only used for a few rows at the top, so I can handle that.  

Socks and mittens are another story.  They are too small to use anything other than DPNs unless you use the magic loop method.

In place of using all those needles, there is a method called the Magic Loop.  If you think this may be something worth learning, check out the video below which is part of a series of Magic Loop Videos.

*I don't know how to do this, so I am not advocating a beginner learn it.  It seems a bit difficult to me!