Knitting books for beginners

[Picklepepperpiper]

Just looked on amazon and there are loads of books for beginner knitters, but a bit confused as to which would be the best. I am a beginner knitter and really want to start. Any suggestions would be great.

Thank you

YouTube is your friend for actually learning the various techniques, and there is someone who offers video ebooks, which are excellent here. I have one of hers and they are very good.

Alternatively, I used Knitting for Dummies and Stitch and Bitch is often recommended.

Did you have anything in mind for a first project?

Knitty Gritty is very good for complete beginners.

Got it for my daughter, and with that and YouTube she got the hang of it very quickly.

Great, thank you. Knitty Gritty had taken my fancy. Will probably try a scarf to start, not too hard. I would love to be able to knit hats and stuff for the kids.

A scarf is the usual first project but it can be a bit dispiriting since it needs to be quite large to be of any use. You could try a simple cowl, i.e. much shorter, or even a dishcloth or two made out of cotton yarn - then it doesn't matter too much if it's a bit wobbly, it will still do the job.

Every knitting pattern in the world (nearly) is indexed on Ravelry - I would head over there and see what takes your fancy.

I got Knitty Gritty for Christmas and am just about to start the first project, a scarf, using chunky wool and big needles (as recommended in the book) so that it won't take too long. I'd really recommend the book as it gives very clear instructions and there are a lot of nice little projects.

I'd also recommend Knitty Gritty, very easy to follow.

Do not get stitch and bitch, I did and it was a total waste of money. It's badly written, hard to follow and the patterns aren't particularly nice. I ended up learning from YouTube videos.

I think knitty gritty is good though.

Also, have a look at ravelry.com, it's free to join and has a forum and loads of patterns.

Apologies I think Knitty Gritty was what I was thinking of rather than Stitch and Bitch.

Brilliant, thank you for all the suggestions. Looking forward to getting started now