Resources for the Hip Young Beginning Knitter
Who do you know that knits? Can a friend of family member teach you? I would be more than happy to teach you if you happen to live in my area. It is much easier to learn the basic of knitting from a teacher sitting with you, but there are other options. You can make friends with people who knit. Find a local knitting group through http://www.stitchnbitch.org/ or through your local yarn or craft store. You’ll have better luck finding hip young knitters through http://www.stitchnbitch.org/ but many yarn and craft stores offer excellent knitting classes.
If you just can’t find any local knitters you can teach yourself to knit with the help of http://knittinghelp.com/ This is an excellent website with videos of many different knitting techniques for all levels of experience. It might be difficult for a beginner to recognize and fix knitting mistakes if you to teach yourself, but if you have patience you can do it!
Where do you buy your yarn, needles and knitting supplies? If you have a local store that specializes in yarn you will find a huge selection of very fine, high end and expensive yarns. If you’re knitting on a budget, like so many young adults, try your local craft stores for more affordable yarns. There are several online retailers that sell quality yarns for less. http://www.knitpicks.com and http://www.elann.com offer good quality products for low prices. Buying yarn online can be tricky because you aren’t able to see the true color and feel the texture. If you’re willing to take a chance try the online retailers.
Many people tend to over buy on yarn, or need to get rid of grandma’s twenty year old yarn and needles. They’ll sell for cheap! Check http://www.ebay.com for yarn and needles, but be aware that some yarn may come from homes with pets and smokers. Try yard sales, flea markets, and thrift stores for cheap needles and yarn. If you’re feeling adventurous you can unravel old knit garments and reuse the yarn. http://www.neauveau.com/recycledyarn.html This site shows you how to recycle yarn from old sweaters. This technique is especially useful if you find cashmere or angora sweaters at a thrift store, or if a garment is the wrong size and can be re-knitted in the correct size.
Now that you can knit, and have a ton of yarn and needles, you need hip young fashionable patterns! You will find knitting books and patterns at your local library, you can buy patterns or you can look for free patterns online. http://www.magknits.com/ and http://www.knitty.com have free patterns for fashionable youthful garments. http://www.theanticraft.com/ has unique and interesting craft projects, including knitting. Some projects are rather avant-garde and may be considered morbid, but the projects are all unique and fun. http://www.craftster.org has crafting forums where you can find many knitting patterns in addition to a hip young creative community and knitting advice. http://glampyreknits.com/ sells beautiful hip young knitting patterns and offers a few free patterns. Make sure to check out the glampyreknits.com blog!
Now you’re a knitter! You’ll always have a scarf, hat and sweater. You may want to consider doing some charity knitting and donating all the extra knit garments you made. In addition to donating to foster care homes, women’s shelters, animal shelters, and children’s hospitals you can use your knit items for fundraisers and charity sales. Also consider donating to organizations like http://www.warmupamerica.com/ and http://www.projectlinus.org
