I’m all set. I finally found where I put my “Stitch ‘N Bitch” book – right on the bookcase where I could easily find it, and then couldn’t find it for 2 weeks. (It was by the CDs, the only book there, and sort of hidden behind the side of the bookcase, and Mike couldn’t find it either when I enlisted his help.)
While my SnB book was missing, I found a copy of “Knit Wit” at the store and picked it up – only to discover that it focuses on the Throw Method. Great. Conflicting instructions. Oh well, everyone says to try both and one will just feel more “right” than the other. Plus there are some cute patterns in the Knit Wit book.
I have knitting needles. They were on sale at Hobby Lobby this week for 40% off, so I have needles in aluminum, plastic and bamboo. May as well cover all my bases, right? Especially at 40% off! I picked up both a size 10 US and a size 8 US, just to have a little variety.
I have yarn. Nice, basic, worsted weight yarn. Nothing fancy about it at all – it’s the cheap stuff ($1.99 for a giant skien, on sale) so that when I screw things up and just want to pitch them I don’t have to feel bad about it.
I have three episodes of Knitty Gritty saved on the TiVo. Their first episode goes over, slowly and clearly, how to do the basic knit stitch. They even have the KnittyCam, where they show the work from the angle of the knitter – which was a huge help. It was good to be able to see it from that view, see how it works up. They had the author of “The Knitter’s Companion” on the show giving instructions, and I found that book on clearance at Hobby Lobby, so I picked up a copy.
Yep, I think I’m all set. I’m ready to knit.
But just to be safe, last but not least, I found a book on clearance that has complete details on how to convert a knitting pattern to a crochet pattern! (Called “From Needles to Hook: Complete Guide to Converting Knit Patterns to Crochet“) So if I never learn to knit, I can still make cute stuff! Because somewhere deep down I’m convinced I’ll never be able to knit. I really, really, really want to know how to knit, but will I be able to? Not so sure. I’m going to give it a try though, and I hope I can do it!
11 replies on “I’m Ready!”
i’ll be interested to see how it goes for you – i’ve been thinking about trying knitting for a while now!
I taught myself using the knitwit book. Basically because I thought the instructions were more concise. Also the fact that I could stand the book up next to me was a big help. 🙂
I just tried to teach myself with the needles, and I did ‘ok’ .. but it was just to hard for me. So I bought a crochet hook and that is really easy.. only thing is that my mom said I’m doing a knit stich with it. It looks pretty, so I guess that matters. LOL
I was convinced I couldn’t knit but after a few frustrating attempts I finally picked it up. I bet you’ll be knitting and purling in no time! The problem I have now is the courage to try something more complex than a scarf!
I’ve been crocheting since I was something like eight years old, so I had a rough time with knitting the first time around. It was just … different. And the yarn was slippery, and there were no hooks to keep it on the needles and … So I gave up, convinced that I just couldn’t knit. But a few years later, I decided to try again, with bigger needles and a different book (one written for children), and suddenly, within minutes, I was knitting! The moral of the story: Perservere!
When I first decided to learn, I got frustrated and put the needles up for a month (or three). When I finally pulled them back out, it all just clicked.
It sounds like you have a good base to start from.
Here is a great site for help with knitting. I love it and it helped me LOADS when I needed it. knitting help
Best of luck on learning to knit! Sure you can do it – Texans are smart.
Oh! I love “Stitch ‘n Bitch”! It’s a great book! 🙂
I, too, have long known how to crochet. This fall I decided to take the plunge and learn how to knit. Now, I haven’t mastered more than that stitch yet, but I’ve been able to make some nifty scarves. 🙂
Check out http://www.stitchguide.com. Dell recommended it to me and it really helped! I was able to find written instructions and video clips on how to do different stitches.
Good luck!
WooHoo! Christine is taking up knitting! 😀
Finally smething I can help YOU with! LOL Just give me a holler anytime if you get stuck on something. There are a gazillion resources available on the Net for knitting, one of them is my “other” site, Yarnaholic Confessions. (yes, that was shameless self-promotion…)
Oh wow, that’s cool! My sister in law got me inspired to knit after she got the stitch n bitch book. I got a book on how to knit but couldn’t figure it out, had to have a friend show me how. I screw it up, I totally stink at it. But it’s fun, and I hope to get better at it. 🙂