Learning to Knit

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Over winter break I spent an entire week watching YouTube videos on repeat, trying to learn to knit. My goal was to create a square patch of knit rows, but no matter how many times I tried, I couldn’t follow any tutorials. The comment section was full of people saying they were easily able to make a row within nine minutes of practice. 1/100 comment would be from a knitter who believed these "teachers" were going about teaching the wrong way. I'll warn you now, they were right.

Recommendations v. Tutorials
The woman in the first video I watched made many recommendations that she didn’t do herself. For example, she said to use bamboo needles (which I bought) while she used fancy aluminum ones. She recommended a brightly colored yarn, but failed to mention the fact that the size of the needle you use depends on the yarn's label. The problem with her using metal needles in the tutorial, is that this allows the yarn to slip more easily. Wooden needles grip the yarn, which is why beginners should use it. She went too fast, and no matter how I many times I slowed the video and rewatched it, I was never able to knit. It was the #1 most viewed video but not the most helpful.

Unusual Methods
The second video I watched was a woman teaching her mother, and it was 50 minutes long. This one seemed more promising because she went step by step, plus her mother was a beginner too. Unfortunately her way to begin the stitch drastically differed from the first video. The first woman had me loop the yarn behind my thumb and middle finger, then under the thumb to make a loop. This woman wanted me to use my wrists and all of my fingers to start the loop, then use my other hand to close it around my needle. I did what she wanted, but it was a waste of time. She didn’t make much sense either. The third video I watched was a man, and his video was the shortest. He took the yarn and looped it in seconds, then I did. It was so easy, I couldn’t believe how overcomplicated the first teachers made the process. I’m a fast learner, so from his 6 minute video I was able to make the first loop, the base for my stitches, and one row of the stitch. The problem was then figuring out how to keep the loops going.

The Wrong Stitch for Beginners
After all this (day 1) I gave up for the night and went to bed. I practiced for hours and hours, but always got stuck on that second row. Finally, I resigned my YouTube fascination and found LoveKnitting. Their method was completely different. I was able to make one row, then two, then an entire square patch. I watched the tutorials and learned the knit stitch, the purl stitch, the stockinette stitch, and now I’m learning the seed stitch. The stitch the previous videos taught was the garter stitch, and LoveKnitting has that listed after the seed stitch. Once you learn how to knit and purl the rest is easy (at least easier than if you started with them).

The beginning was extremely irritating, but once I was able to create my flow, I sat for hours watching TV doing something productive simultaneously. I want to learn to crochet soon and make doilies and pot holders, but for now I’m going to focus on choosing a project to start and complete. How do I choose when there are hundreds of crafts to make in all the variations stitching?

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Thank you for reading, for more information check out these links, and feel free to leave a comment down below!

Helpful Hints
To learn more about how taking on a craft can help your brain read Dr. Sarah McKay's article with MindBodyGreen. Check out Loveknitting for knitting tutorials and Simple Knitting: a perfect guide for beginners.