The easiest way to learn to knit is to find someone who is a good knitter and ask her (or maybe him) to teach you. Looking at pictures in a book or following a video just does not work as well as having someone who is willing to put their hands on top of yours and show you how to make those stitches.
My spouse is amazed that what he calls two sticks and string can be turned into a garment, albeit, occasionally that garment is less than perfect. Luckily, however, once you are comfortable with knitting you will have no qualms about taking the stitches off the needles, tearing it all out back to the mistake and rectify what went wrong.
Once you have the basics of the knit stitch down try to make a simple scarf using only the knit stitch. Next step is to learn the pearl stitch and knit up a scarf by doing knit on one row and pearl on the next, this is called the stockinette stitch.
Now you are ready to learn to increase and decrease. While decrease is pretty easy, increase can be somewhat more intimidating. I suggest you leave this for the last of these 4 simple lessons.
Just knowing how to do these 4 things can lead you into a wide range of knitting experiences and out of the world of scarves. There are baby sweater patterns that are kimono style and extremely easy to make that will let you practice your skills. There is no lack of hospitals and charities always looking for baby clothes so you should be able to find a home for them. Check with your local homeless shelter, hospital or check out Knitting for Charity for a very large list of children around the world you can benefit from your new fun hobby.
Margaret Phillips is a freelance java developer and anavid life long knitter. She can be contacted viaher MySpace Page
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