Knitting, the next step

[TheWomanTheyCallJayne]

A friend taught me what to do one Monday and since then I've been hooked and have already pretty much finished two scarves for dd and dh.
What shall I move onto now? I would like to try something a little more adventurous but not so much that I struggle and give up as hands on help is intermittent to say the least.
I'm not very good at learning craft from books or you tube so am hoping I'll be able to follow a pattern.
Any suggestions for a good next step please.

[TheWoollybacksWife]

I would suggest getting to grips with simple shaping. Learn how to decrease first and make something like this simple baby hat

Simple decreasing is knitting two stitched together. There are more complicated versions but for the time being this will do for the above pattern.

[Chocolateteabag]

The Puerperium baby cardigan on Ravelry is an easy pattern to practise knitting "in the round" and increases

Wrist warmers are good to practise ribbing and changing colours (stripes or patterns) and also stitches (moss stitch etc)

Lots of free patterns to look at on Ravelry - all searchable by complexity too!

[mirivy]

If there are any babies in your life, then I recommend Debbie Bliss 'Baby Knits for Beginners'. Taught me everything I know, as each pattern builds on a new technique. And they are all lovely

[TheWomanTheyCallJayne]

Sadly I've learned too late for any of my four to be babies and no one else seems to be providing any either.

Will have a look at ravelry, thanks.
A hat to go with dd's scarf would be good

[SomewhereBeyondTheSea]

Definitely hats
And then you can move onto socks and then gloves! (That's what I did ...)

[WhomessweetWhomes]

Do I gather from your name that you are a Firefly fan? If so, there are Firefly-related patterns on Ravelry including, iirc, a Jayne Cobb hat!

[tribpot]

Yep, there's Jayne hats aplenty, and I'm even thinking about knitting a toy Serenity for one little girl :) I particularly like the Kaywinnit socks.

If you would like to do a blanket square or two, we are running a Woolly Hugs project at the moment. Blanket squares are a great way of trying out new techniques or patterns before attempting a bigger item.

How about a cowl or shawlette for you? Given the season you might as well knit winter gear to your heart's content!

[TheWomanTheyCallJayne]

A man walks doesn't the street in that hat...

Don't think dd would be impressed but maybe for me

[TheWomanTheyCallJayne]

*down
How does it change down to doesn't?!

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

Do you have a yarn shop near you that has a knitting group - or is there a local knitting group you could go to? You would find plenty of people willing to share patterns or point you in the right direction for your next project.

Blanket squares are a good idea - I have been teaching myself to crochet, and I am making lots of squares, in mad colours, and eventually I will make a random patchwork blanket out of them (random, because they are definitely not all the same size - I decided it was easier to decide up front that they wouldn't be the same size than to try to make them the same - I am not that good a crocheter).

There are lots of books out there - like the Harmony Book of Knitting stitches - that either have a few patterns in, or that are just books of different stitches - for striping, textures, lace, cabling etc. If you did squares of different stitches, it would rapidly increase your repetoire, and you could put the squares together into a patchwork blanket that would be uniquely yours.

Most stitches are based on knit, purl, knitting stitches together (or decreasing the other way, by slipping one stitch from the left to the right needle, knitting the next stitch on the left needle, then using the left needle to lift the slipped stitch over the last one you knitted, and off the needle - known as Sl1, K1, psso - pass slipped stitch over), and increasing by putting the yarn round the needle to make an extra stitch. Cabling is a lot easier than it looks too - you are basically knitting the stitches out of order, by slipping (say) 2 stitches onto a little cable needle and holding them in front or behind your work (as directed in the pattern), knitting the next two stitches off the main needle, then knitting the stitches from the cable needle. It sounds complicated, but it really isn't - and you can get some amazing effects really easily.