How to get going with knitting (after two big mess ups as a beginner)

[yellowumbrellas]

Have any of you experienced knitters got any advice on what type of projects I should start with?

16 years ago I did a beginners knitting course then started a jumper for my then unborn baby. I did the back and front beautifully and then kept going wrong on the first sleeve and messing it up so gave up.

A few years later I then tried a scarf (I thought that would be super easy) but didn't follow the instructions properly and instead of lying flat it curled up at the edges into a kind of tube.

I'd like to give it another go but a) I've probably forgotten how to do it all so need some kind of beginners tuition and b) I don't know what items to start with so I can regain my confidence and actually finish something successfully.

Any recommendations for courses / youtube vids / specific patterns would be very welcome.

Possibly a snood/cowl? You can knit it as a flat piece and seam together at the back and it's quite forgiving size-wise (compared to say a hat or socks it's hard to make a snood too big or too small), and not as big as a scarf so you can finish it in a few days and feel accomplished!

Or maybe a knitting kit from Wool & the Gang or elsewhere like that as it comes with the wool, the needles and the pattern.

I was going to ask something similar. Who is the knitting equivalent of Bella Coco/attic24? I can crochet - I started with a simple beginners book, then mn led me towards Bella Coco youtube videos and attic24 blankets. Lucy's patterns are really easy to follow on attic24. I'd like to start knitting, and although there are lots of beginner's videos on youtube, and everyone has their own favourite, who do you recommend?

I don't think you need to pay for a course to teach you knitting, is there a local 'knit and natter' type thing nearby? I'd ask at your community centre.

Knitting for beginners...all knitting magazines have a section with very clear photographic instructions. Sounds old fashioned, but it is simply practice. For more technical stuff I use you tube. I just find ones where it is a pair of hands and needles close up, so no extra blether, just hands to follow. You just seach "cast on techniques" or "k2tog" or whatever is foxing you in your pattern.

Your scarf will have curled yellow because it needed blocking. Simply getting wet, squeeze dry, pinned out to shape (yoga mat or kids foam jigsaw mats are perfect) and left to dry. It sets the knitting and knocks some of the oomph out of it. I bet you did nothing wrong at all.

I use an app called "dirty needles" (which isn't a play on drugs), which uses ravelry's pattern library in a very easy format.

Knitting squares for Woolly Hugs is useful for practice - they don't need to be fancy at all.

Thanks people, some interesting tips and thoughts here. I'll have a go at knitting a snood or squares and look up anything else mentioned here.

That hadn't actually occurred to me whendoIsleep. I have some crochet squares on the go for Woolly Hugs but hadn't actually remembered that they could be knitted as well, (in my best Homer voice) d'oh!