Knitting beginner seeks book/resources to get started

[Cyee]

Hi everyone,

I posted last week looking for handknitted bag and have been persuaded to get cracking myself. So, I am now armed with needles and all manner of sundries that I didn't actually need but hey...

My knitting experience is basic, I can cast-on, do knit, purl and.. ah well that's about it. Can anyone recommend a book for me or other resource? I anticipate making basic like bags, scarves, hats etc.

It would be ace if the book helped with my non-pattern habits. For example, if I wanted to knit some doll's clothes, how can I equate size with number of stitches etc.. I appreciate that may be a completely silly question!

Many thanks!

Cyee

You need to look for the tension on the ball band of your yarn. It is usually something like a square with two knitting needles through it and it has two figures, one on the bottom (=number of stitches) and one along the side =(number of rows) You need to cast on that number of stitches and knit that number of rows and see if you come out with the required number of cms or inches. Usuall 10x10 cm or 4"x4". It tells you in your pattern what you need to do if not. You then need to compare that with the tension in your pattern and you need to match the tension of your yarn to the yarn in the pattern.
As somebody has said, scarves are maybe not the best project to begin with because you need to do an awful lot of very boring knitting to finish a scarf and if you are not very good at it, the beginning of it may always look a little bit ropey. There are easy patterns to be found on the internet and you may be able to find some books in your library.

And join Ravelry and the Mumsknitters group there. Any questions will be answered very quickly. it doesn't take that long to get an invitation.

Thanks DutchOma! Have signed up for Ravelry.

agree re. ravelrey, i love ravelry. knitty has lots of free patterns too. and i recommend youtube for techniques. i needed to know how to do a 'tubular cast-on' and i found several videos teaching it!

good luck!

I like www.knittinghelp.com.