Sunday, February 12, 2012

Help For Determining Knitting Patterns For Learners

By Hank Roach


Knitting is a great hobby to have. It helps to relieve stress, gives you something to concentrate on and makes useful gifts. Once you have gotten past the very basic stitches, you can find knitting patterns to use for beginners which will help you make gifts. Something like a scarf is fairly easy to knit and is great to make for yourself or for others to use as a quick and homemade gift. Homemade gifts always are more heartfelt and thoughtful than store bought ones.

It is important to note that not all knitting patterns are created equal. There are ones of various skill level from easy beginner to hard advanced ones. If you are just starting out, it is important not to jump right into an advanced or even an intermediate one. You should only try ones that are right for your current abilities so you can become familair with the knitting needle.

If you choose a pattern with advanced or difficult stitches, two things will likely happen. First, the knitter will likely make repeated mistakes, which means the project will come out wrong or perhaps not at all. The other thing that can happen is that it will frustrate the knitter, which means they may quit trying to learn how to knit.

The way to make sure you don't quit as a beginner is to only use knitting patterns that are in line with your actual abilities. Look through craft or knitter's magazines and find some that specifically say easy or beginner level. Likewise, looking through craft or knitter's books will yield the same results. They usually carry this information at the top of the project page or in a small sidebar.

Looking on the Internet will also yield a wealth of projects that are perfect for beginners. There are a vast array of websites and blogs that have these projects on them. They are usually marked in some way with the level needed to make them so you can determine if it is right for you.

In the rare event that there is no skill level marked for the project, you can use your intuition to determine if it is right for you. First, look closely at the stitches required for completion. Do these sound like stitches that you have used before, or are good at? Also look at the yarn number, which should be 3-4. Anything more would be too thick for most beginners and could unravel, causing a botched project.

Also look to see if the pattern is for an item that is very fitted. Fitted items require exact measurements which can be difficult for someone new. Instead make sure it is for something that will be fine if it fits loose. A scarf is a good example of this type of project.

Once you have located good beginner knitting patterns to start, all you need to do is print them out or make a copy. Print them from the Internet, since this is easier than reading from a screen. Make a copy from a book or magazine and begin knitting. It is fine to make mistakes, so don't beat yourself up over this. Just keep trying and you will eventually succeed.




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