Forums » Art & Creativity » Sanne's knitting thread (Image heavy)

I have been trying to teach myself to knit with Youtube videos lol. So far I have only learned how to put the yarn on the needle...

I hope to be able to do blankets and stuffed animals at some point.

Do any of you have pointers or advice for learning?

I'm getting no where fast. I ended up going to do the pants then come back to the actual doll and now I'm working on the hair. That's only a fourth of the way done with hair alone T^T. I managed to cut my thumb as well somehow on the same hand so yeah... really hard to crochet with cuts on both my pointer finger and thumb.

For stuffed animals I would recommend crochet as opposed to knitting them. I find that to be easier, especially if you go with the style of amigurumi which is basically a continuous circle pattern.

For blankets though, it's good to stick with knitting, I think. But, everyone has their own preferences and learning styles! So practice and see what you like best. You might end up liking a knitting method over crochet for your stuffed animals.

Best bet is to start with blankets! I have a tonnnnnnnn of YouTube videos that teach you how to knit and I have a lot of pointers to give (because once I start doing something, I try everything and go nuts with researching ).

Plushies are relatively easy to knit. Crochet just has more patterns. Knitting requires you to sew more, which a lot of people hate, so there are less patterns for knitting plushies. But what you can crochet can also be knitted on two needles!

I'm still in bed with a busted back but once I free up some time and get on my computer, I'll compile a list of what I found the most useful videos.

OKAY. Now that I'm all drugged up and ready to go, let's start.

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Cast on:
I'm going to assume you already know how to cast on (get the yarn on the needles so you can knit your first row) based on your comment, but just in case, this one is by far the easiest cast on I know of. It's not very stretchy, it's super basic.

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Knit stitch:
After you cast on, the first stitch you need to learn is the knit stitch. It's the simple, plain stitch that if you do it every row on every stitch, you get the so called garter stitch. I strongly recommend just knitting a few pieces in garter stitch before you do anything else. I made about a dozen garter stitch patches just to get a feeling for knitting. Also, not having the pressure of having to 'do it right' the first time is of great help!

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Bind off:
When you're done with your patch, you need to bind off your patch. There are many different types of bind offs, but this one is super basic. It's NOT stretchy, so you don't use it to bind off socks or anything that needs to be stretchy, but again, just like the cast on, for something basic like a blanket this will be perfect.

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Weaving in ends:
The ending of the bind-off tutorial mentions to weave in the ends. I strongly recommend you learn how to do this as early as possible. A good weave in will not come undone (due to the way it's woven into the fabric) but can be a bit tricky to get the hang of. Again, test patches will be wonderful for this. Using bulkier yarn and bigger needles will make this significantly easier to accomplish!

I recommend NOT tying knots into your work, especially for things like blankets and scarves. With plushies, where you tie up on the inside that gets stuffed and won't show, knots don't matter that much, but they can be unsightly on projects where both sides show. If you make things like dishcloths, you can get away with tying knots (especially if they go into the laundry machine), but it's a good practice to weave in wherever you can anyway.

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Annnnd that's it for a basic patch! You can technically make a whole blanket with just this technique, although you'd probably have to make different patches and sew them together. Keep in mind that you need to practice techniques and get comfortable with your tension before you take on big projects. A lot in knitting is learned from making mistakes and being able to read your work to fix mistakes. This takes time and practice. It took me a year of fiddling around with it to be able to say I can knit most of the basic accessories (hats, socks, scarves) and stuffed toys, and even now I'm fully prepared to mess up on my pony toys once I get around to do them!

Youtube is a great resource, but these channels are the ones I find myself floating back to most often.

https://www.youtube.com/user/verypinkknits/videos

https://www.youtube.com/user/newstitchaday/videos

https://www.youtube.com/user/theknitwitch/videos

I also recommend you sign up for www.Ravelry.com and look at easy, free patterns so you will eventually learn how to read patterns.

If you need any help with terms (like 'what in the world is a m1r?!') just drop in here. I know of pretty much all abbreviations at this point and can find you the clearest video that explains how to do it.

Oh my god that sounds so painful! Please get better soon. I really like how the doll is coming together though, all the same. Are you crocheting the clothes separately or directly onto the doll's body?

The shirt was directly into the body pattern because he wears a coat the pants were done separately.

My bag is almost finished. I just have to knit the strap to my desired length and then bind off. Hurray!

THIS EXCITES ME.

I haven't touched it in a while, the pattern requires so much focus and attention it fries my brain if I do more than 2 rows in a day.

On another note: Would anyone be interested in an OOC knitting group on RPR?

I would be!

I want to suggest that's its knitting and crocheting but either way I would be.

http://www.rprepository.com/g/yarnstash/

I invited a bunch of you, but the group is free to join for everyone!!

I have only ever made one thing by knitting.




I deeply feel it was lucky to survive the process, I had no idea what I was doing, how to stop and what I was making. Sort of a cyclops, robot, miniature standing punching bag. IDK.

That's your first knitted project? That looks good!! Are you planning on making other things in the future?

Maybe, but I'd need to purchase new materials. I misplaced my old stuff when I got back to Texas a few months ago, I can keep you posted when I do make new things!!!

Please do! And feel free to join the group as well. Looking forward to seeing new things!!

...That looks more like Crochet.
But it still looks good for a first one.

Some people call crochet a form of knitting too. Pretty sure it's crochet but either term works for me personally.

Thank you so much for the invite!!! X3