Simple pleasures

After publishing my weekend post, I received some lovely emails asking me if I could suggest a 'learning to knit' book and as it happens, I'm happy to recommend the book I bought to help my daughter master her knitting needles. It's a straightforward book, with great photographs, clear instructions and isn't too unwieldy; I found it in my local Hobbycraft store, but I'm sure Amazon or Ebay would also be able to locate it for you. The book is titled 'Beginner's guide to knitting' and it's written by Alison Dupernex, so if you fancy teaching yourself to knit, I think you'll find this a useful aid to learning the craft. Go on, be a devil! Buy a book, a pair of needles (4mm, short and bamboo would be perfect, but any needles will do to get you underway!) a ball of wool (double knit makes a great starter wool) and perhaps a row counter (to make life easy) ... before you know it I bet you'll be clacking away merrily!

Learning to knit - a few basics

Lately I've been making some very simple scarfs for my 20" bears - they'd make a perfect starter project for a new knitter, so once you've mastered cast on, garter stitch and cast off, why not make your favourite bear a scarf? This scarf should fit a 20" bear comfortably:

The finished 20" bear's scarf

Using double knit wool and a pair of 4.5mm needles, cast on 25 stitches.

Knit in garter stitch throughout and continue until your scarf measures 30 inches in length. Then cast off - hey presto, you have now completed your first knitted garment!

If you fancy taking things a little further, why not stitch a pom-pom to either end of your scarf (gather the ends of the scarf first), or add some simple tassles? I use a kiddies pom-pom making kit (see pic), but you can just as easily wind the wool tightly around two circles of reasonably thick card (the same applies for tassles only use rectangles instead of circles) and then cut carefully through the wool, between the outside edges the two pieces of card, then tie the wool tightly through the middle of the wool pieces before removing the card and attaching the pom-poms to your lovely scarf. Simple pleasures eh?!