Recently, I (re)started learning how to knit. I tried knitting back in 2012, (1.) thinking it was an activity I could perform while watching TV and (2.) hoping to make this sweet cardigan. As those experienced in the art can imagine, neither of those things were attainable for the immediate beginner. I got bored and stopped. However, I never forgot the ideal of knitting: making something simultaneously functional, personal, and beautiful.
My first project restarting is to make a pair of socks using Silver's beginner sock pattern. If you're interested in trying out knitting, you should follow along! I will be posting updates of my progress.
With this in mind, you may be asking how in the world is this a 'guide'? I should probably clear up that this isn't a tutorial on the fundamentals of knitting, at least for now it isn't. There are a surfeit of information in videos, websites, and books on the basics, so I don't feel particularly compelled to cover these concepts. If you are looking for material, I highly recommend 'Stitch N' Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook' by Debbie Stoller. Rather, I want to present a narrative of this project that shows all of the mistakes I made, and how I solved them. If you can imagine a world where Bob Ross had the competency of a beginning painter and spent the entire show talking about fixing 'happy accidents', this guide isn't far off that mark. Indeed, this a real stitch and b****.
However, the whole point of this exercise isn't for me just to vent about knitting mistakes. It's about providing you with as much of a realistic idea of how beginner's knitting projects go. Once you have an idea that as a beginning knitter you will (1.) make a ton of mistakes and (2.) will learn how to overcome them, I hope that you will appreciate the progress you make as you start knitting. Ultimately, if just one person reads this guide and feels better about their progress in a skill, knitting or otherwise, then this page has served its purpose.