how long does it take to learn knitting

A few weeks is all you need to master the knitting patterns. Two months of consistent engagement gets you acquainted with the different knitting styles. However, if you’re on and off with the work, getting hold of the patterns and styles could take you forever and a day. How fast you master each idea determines how long you take to learn the art.

Is Learning To Knit Hard?

Knitting is just a complicated version of, say, tying one’s shoes. You learn a style, you practice it over time and then gain mastery of it. So, knitting is somewhat easy to learn. The principles of learning knitting are more or less the same as those of other arts, and they are:

1. Consistency – knitting becomes easy if you do it daily, for at least two hours. You become rustier every time you get out of step. It means that you may spoil the knitting dance and ruin the fabric.    

2. Focus – if you’re checking your social media with hanks of yarn under your armpit, it’s going to be hard to learn. Knitting needles and your yarn are what you need to attend to and nothing else, period.

3. Trial and error – the unspoken rule is that mistakes are a special ingredient for living a real life. This rule does not exempt the knitting blunders that you’ll make. Learning how to purl and warp may feel like a bumpy ride, but staying positive and trying again makes you better.        

4. Exercise – you won’t level up if you don’t practice. If you do more exercise, you will surely mark progress, and if you don’t, you won’t.

With all the above in mind, your learning should go on smoothly. Remember that the basics are everything and you should spend more time on them than anything else.   

What Should A Beginner Knitter Buy?

It’s now time to shop and kick off your journey to master knitting. As a beginner, you may be all over the craft shop looking for anything that looks like it can knit. It is well understood – knitting items look so fancy. Here, you’ll see what you specifically need.

So, the following are the items a beginner knitter should buy:

  • A hank/hanks of yarn – yarn is what will bring that image of a sweater or scarf to life. A string of yarn is thicker than one of a thread. The choice you make will depend on:
    • Color – what do you want that pair of mittens to look like, royal blue or hot pink? Your intended project defines the color of the yarn you buy.
    • Weight – is your project a big and fat one, or is it just something lightweight? You need more yarn if you want to knit a toddler’s sweater than you require for a baby’s scarf.
    • Pattern – if you want fancy designs for your yarn, be advised to go for novelty yarn. The other option is basic yarns, which are, well, basic.
  • Knitting needles – apart from yarn, needles are the other must-have items. Knitting needles can either be straight, circular, interchangeable, and double-pointed or cable. The tips (or points) of the needle are what should motivate your purchase. If you bought a lot of spun fiber, rounded tips ought to serve you nicely. Sharp tips handle light yarn well. Also, the needles come in different sizes.
  • A pair of scissors – as an item of convenience, scissors help you to cut the yarn’s thread. Surely, you’d want to engage your biting teeth, or would you? Pick any that you can handle, and that can snip a string of yarn. You can look for a pair that has decorated handles, but that’s not necessary.
  • A basket – like the pair of scissors, should make you more comfortable when knitting. Your hank of yarn can be sitting in the basket as you stitch up that scarf.    
  • A miniature-size knitting book – if you’re serious about knitting, you need a book. You can use it to track your project. Before you start knitting anything, you can write some questions that look like this:
    • What am I knitting?
    • What color do I want it to have?
    • Who is supposed to wear it?

The book will surely help you set the specifics of your project and do better planning. 

Those items should get you knitting, and what you should now do is identify an easy project to take on. 

What Is A Good Beginner Knitting Project?

Making up your mind on what to knit first can be an uphill task. What you should know is that your first need to be fun-to-do and easy to complete. In this, you have one of the easiest knitting projects, which is making a tiny little bunny. It may not be Easter, but making bun-bun up is like taking candy from a baby.

Now, time to practice those warps and purls. 

The How-To Part

Using a square pattern, you can knit up a beautiful bunny toy.  You will use a sizeable piece of cotton wool, two needles (one of them being a tapestry type), a pair of scissors, and two pieces of differently colored yarn.

Cast around 15 – 30 stitches on one needle. Then, use the garter stitch to knit up the square. Match up the corners to make sure that the square is a perfect one. Bind the square pattern off.

Use the tapestry needle to stitch in a triangle on the square pattern. You do it by stitching through the middle, forming the base of the triangle. The stitches will help you to create the head and ears of the bunny.

At this point, you can finish it. Add the bunny’s nose and ears using the other colored string. Your tiny little buddy is ready to decorate your room. 

It all boils down to this – your success here levels up your knitting confidence. You can now go into a more grown-up project, such as stitching up some baby legwarmers or marking a scarf.

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