How to Choose a Hobby
Welcome to our latest blog on ‘How to Become a Knitter for Beginners’.
New year’s resolutions… each year many of us promise ourselves that we are going to travel more, get in shape or pick up a new hobby.
Now that 2020 is behind us and 2021 promises to be significantly more enjoyable, has there ever been a better time to finally follow through with one of your resolutions?
Whilst travelling sounds appealing and getting in shape might seem like a great idea now, it’s almost certain that the gym equipment will start gathering dust after just three uses and travelling is very expensive.
Hobbies on the other hand… hobbies can be practiced from the comfort of your own home, hobbies are proven to improve your wellbeing, and hobbies are going to give you an immense sense of pride.
Firstly, the question of course is which hobby to choose. As King Cole is a manufacturer of knitting yarns and patterns, our opinion may be slightly biased, but we will try to offer a balanced opinion:
- Pottery. EW! That sounds messy. It’s really just playing with mud.
- Painting. Great idea, but you have to buy so many things; easel, paint, brushes…
- Gardening. More mud play and very weather dependent.
- Knitting. Wow! Excellent Idea. No mud involved and cheap as chips!
Certainly, we all agree that knitting is the superior hobby, (crochet is cool too!). How do we begin? Well to get cracking on your first ever project all you need is:
- Knitting Needles
- Knitting Yarn
You can find your local stockist using our stockist finder: Find a Stockist
Now that we have everything we need let’s jump in and find out how to become a knitter.
Choosing knitting yarn for beginners
In this section we will select a yarn. We know what you’re thinking, “How do I choose a yarn out of all these fantastic King Cole ranges?”. Don’t worry, we’re here to help.
- For a quick-knit project we recommend our Big Value Chunky. It’s lovely and affordable whilst being easy to work with.
- Those who want to blow away their friends with an ‘oh my gosh that’s amazing, how on earth did you learn so quickly?’ project why not try Fjord DK.
- Lastly, for a purist project, have a look at our Merino Blend DK because wool is King!
Which Knitting Needles should I use?
Now that you’ve found your favourite King Cole yarn it’s time to match up the needles – and what’s this? A video tutorial on which needles work best with which yarn! Cor Flip that’s handy!
Just in case there was too much information there, here is a diagram.
To make everything user friendly we’ve put together this conversion chart if you’re from outside of the UK.
How to Cast On And Knit Stocking Stitch For Beginners
Okey dokey, it’s time for the fun part! This is where we learn how to become a knitter.
We are going to learn to the basics. It’s time to find out how to start your project. We call this Casting On (to your needles), followed by the knit stitch and the purl stitch.
Here is another super video to make it even easier for you. Joanne has a very calm, soothing voice which will help keep the frustration at bay.
Join us next week to learn how to create a garter stitch!
Written By Roland Parker