I am determined to take up knitting and was wondering....

[CrushWithEyeliner]

Where I start really .
What "number" needles do I buy? What kind of Wool?

Is there a book anyone can recommend for starters?

many thanks x

Do you have a John Lewis nearby? They are pretty helpful though they seem to have stopped selling "normal" wool - it's all posh cashmere stuff these days.

Bigger needles will be easier, up to a point - maybe size 4 or 5 to start with. Double knit wool is much easier than 4 ply for beginners. Don't get anything too fancy - I started with Snuggly which is easy to use and cheap. I had a book which is called First Steps by Sirdar which has lots of really easy patterns which I started with, but I have to say having someone to show you the stitches in person is pretty helpful at the start.

ah OK great. Thanks so much ss I really appreciate your help!

Go buy a knitting magazine (some of them have free needles and stuff in and usually a couple of easy patterns). And yes DK is good to start with, you can get yarn from ebay, there are a couple of decent sellers on there, or try purplelinda, she is a crochet stockist but she sells dk wool too and she is very good, I mainly buy from her now.

i got given a knit a monkey pack from my sister, it contained everything you need to start.

though i got confused with the instructions but people on here helped and guided me to knitting help website.

(monkey is on my profile btw!)

also there's an online community called Ravelry which is free to join and you can get lots of support - tips on what to make, what yarns to use, best online stores etc - and links to videos etc when books just aren't enough to understand a technique.

my Rav online name is the same if you want to message me on there

Ravelry

Oh and you will probably need this site at some point.

Also take a look at the free patterns sites, try www.lionbrand.com for starters, they have a lot of patterns clearly labelled for beginners.

texere (good value) and kangaroo (bit posher)good stockists

once you get going beyond the scarf etc stage, knitty.com is full of brilliant free patterns.

WOW

this is like a whole way of life I love it..

thank you all so much

welcome! it will empty your bank account change your life

oh really? lol I was doing it to save money on jumpers and clothes for DD

My advice would be to go into the smallest, most local looking wool shop as you'll probably get some help in there. I went in to buy wool and needles and told them I was just starting out, and the owner took the time to choose me wool etc, and to show me how to cast on and to knit a row! I would have found it really hard without someone to start me off. She told me to pop in if I got stuck!

Good luck, hope you enjoy it.

Check out a charity shop for cheap needles. You might get lucky and find some nice yarn there too.

It probably is possible to save money by knitting if you don't get carried away and use cheap yarn. This is a really good site for cheap basic yarn www.kempswoolshop.com

as others have said you can use cheap yarn

take me - i used to just (mainly) use cotton, lots of dk, rowan (fairly £ but not extortionate)

joins ravelry..........

gets hooked on poshyarns (cashmere, silk/cash blends lovingly hand dyed in wales) and wollmeise (hand dyed merino to die for, from germany)

am now going on a yarn diet...

You can also try New Lanark wools. they are beautiful and were only £1.00 for a 50 g ball. Lovely colours too

I recently started knitting and went to local, small shop where the lady helped a lot. I started with feather type wool - the fluffy stuff and it hides a multitude of errors. Went mad making scarves in different colours and stitches before graduating onto a hat. Am now onto my 2nd cardigan and really enjoying it. I found that loads of people are secret knitters and willing to help me - my questions have even spurred a couple of friends to start knitting again after not doing any a while.Suggest asking around in the school / nursery playground / toddler group or wherever you go to regularly.

I also found loads of really nice (FREE) patterns on line by doing a google search on "knitting patterns" or "easy knitting patterns". I guess they are put there by the wool manufacturers as they tell you exactly which needles and yarn to use.

BTW what got me knitting was reading a novel by a lady called Debbie Macombre - "a good yarn" and she has written several different ones. Nice feel good books based around a knitting shop owner if anyone is interested.

if you haven't met anyone who can show you stitches try the knitwitch on youtube.

I used the Stitch and Bitch book and Knitting for Dummies - but I had learnt to knit a long time ago as a small-ish child as well at school. Still these are pretty clear. I would try large-ish wool but not too large wool - say aran - which knits at 18-19 stitches per 10cm on 5-6mm needles. Any knitting shop will help you find these. If they have bamboo needles, these are not as slippery as metal and nicer to hold - JL has a huge selection. Pick something nice! A wool mix, not too scratchy - I gave my niece a ball of cashmerino. Then knit a square of garter stitch, admire it - you've started!