Basic Online Knitting Patterns

[MissWooWoo]

I'd quite like to take up knitting again ... are there any good online sites for easy things to knit to start me off?

Miss WooWoo - I was just about to post a thread asking the same thing.

I have just started knitting again and can cast on, do knit stitch and pearl stitch but thats about it. I have no idea how to 'read' a pattern - some of them look very complicated.

So, no help but I am watching with interest

This has a great Instruction Directory, which should lead you to all sorts of tutorials and patterns.

Good luck!

I'd love to do some mittens (for me!) (but havent got circular needles)

great minds think alike jumpyjan

Instruction Directory is a good idea, will check that out

Ooh yes, mittens would be good (no circulars either but surely available online ... no doubt amazon? seems to do everything else)

I quite fancy doing socks but have in my mind that they are tricky

www.ravelry.com (thousands of patterns, not graded by difficulty but you can look at everyone else's projects to gauge how hard things are)

www.knitty.com (rates patterns by difficulty)

socks don't have to be tricky. Cookie A's sock designs are quite complex but her patterns are so clear that they are easy to knit. or google "basic sock recipe" for really simple ones (i'd go for top-down any day - then you can try them on as you go).

i go to youtube for techniques - knitwitch has excellent videos that show you how to do pretty much anything.

pmsl at "sock recipe"

and brilliant idea re youtube .... my mum's a champion knitter but over an hours drive away so that's not much good when I get stuck

oh dear - I have had a look at a few so called basic patterns but they are all written in a secret code which I do not understand.

I bought my wife a book from MillaMia (www.millamia.com) and a Debbie Bliss book for Christmas (Romance isn't dead)

She absolutely loves the Millamia book which was brighter and a bit more stylish than DB and has a nice website you can play around with colours on.

She's started on something simple but I have a feeling the patterns might get passed up to the Mother-in-law as she's much quicker.

lol jumpjan ...maybe that's where youtube will come in handy. I have yet to even find my knitting needles (I only have one pair!) but think I will just mess around and practice stiches with some cheap wool before I attempt anything more complicated than a scarf.

Funnily enough I saw some books on Amazon by Debbie Bliss (I think) whilst I was searching for a nice crocheting book for my mum ... her patterns look gorgeous but alas to tricky for me at the moment but thanks craftydad (do you live up to your name?)

I have these moments when I come over all crafty but never quite get off the ground - maybe now dd is starting nursery I will actually get down to something

Misswoowoo - youtube is really useful and I figured out how to cast off from one of the videos on there.

I am wondering if I will need to buy a book as it seems to go from really basic things like scarfs to so called basic patterns like kids jumpers but with no explanation of how to understand the knitting pattern.

I want something more challenging than a scarf but with a simple pattern that I can read - I can't even figure out what size the thing is supposed to be on half the patterns!

I got going on a mixture of Debbie Bliss's Baby Knits for Beginners and an old Usbourne step by step knitting book which I'd had as a child.

I'm a bit slow still but have managed to make DD several cardigans, a dress, a hat, some cot shoes and a tanktop in the last year or so. The only thing with Debbie Bliss is that if you use her yarns, which are in lovely colours, it can work out quite expensive.

CraftyDad - I've just had a look at that Millamia book and it's great. Will be adding it to my amazon wishlist!

Misswoowoo, how's that knitting going ??