Tips and Projects for New Knitters

This is a perfect time of year to learn knitting if you haven’t already done so, to brush up on your skills or to teach someone else how to knit.

Over at About I have a great collection of links to tutorials, easy patterns and tips that should get you going when learning to knit.

Nicole from Darn Good Yarn also has some thoughts to help beginning knitters that you might want to check out. My favorite is her advice to check out online resources, because there’s really a ton of great information out there, from online tutorials to videos and tons of free patterns. But don’t be afraid to go to a class at a local yarn shop if you have access to one; there’s nothing better than learning from a real-life person.

If you’re learning to knit this year, I’d love to know what you need help with. And if you’re a more seasoned knitter I’d love to hear your advice for new knitters.

Mine is just to stick with it! I know everyone says knitting is great for stress relief and it doesn’t at all feel like that in the beginning, but in time it will get easier and more comfortable and it will really be the best thing you can do with your time.

Fall will be here before we know it, and that means there are holidays coming right behind where we might be entertaining at home. It’s always fun to have a hand knit touch in your home for other people to see, and if you’re going to be in the kitchen all day you might as well have some nice knit dish cloths to use.

I love this little plaid hand towel from Darling Jadore. Use a little bit of leftover cotton yarn from another project for the plaid portion. It looks like the horizontal stripes are worked as you knit and the vertical stripes are done with duplicate stitch, making this a quick and easy project even newer knitters can make.

Combine garter stitch and an easy eyelet pattern worked sideways to make the Annette Dish Towel from Cluck Cluck Boots, which is meant to be reminiscent of flour sack towels. It calls for DK weight yarn and you can work it in one color or two (or even three!).

Add a little more texture with this set of kitchen towels from Whileberry Creative. They’re mostly worked in garter stitch with borders in easy knit/purl patterns, and you can work them in sport or worsted weight yarn.

Two of Wands Shop has another cute allover knit and purl pattern they call the Seersucker Textured Tea Towel. It’s an easy repeating pattern worked in worsted weight yarn, and there’s a chart in the pattern you can use, but don’t have to, if you want to practice knitting from a chart.

The Classic Cloth dish towel from Handmade Home by Connie is another one that can use a little leftover yarn in a contrasting color, or you could color block it our use stripes throughout the pattern. This one uses worsted weight yarn and another easy repeating knit purl stitch pattern.

If you like to hang your towel on the oven handle or elsewhere but it’s always falling off, try the Stay Put kitchen towel from Fancy Step Knits. This project is worked in garter stitch and includes a hole partway through so you can pull the towel through itself over a rod or handle. Stripes are optional but a nice addition.

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