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Learning to Knit on the Net

© Suzanne Griffith

I learned to knit from a book. It was tough. I struggled and struggled, and people who came by to visit me would ask what I was doing with this lumpy, wavy stuff that was supposed to be a baby sweater. I can't honestly recommend this method, although it did eventually work (with a little help from experienced knitters). Probably the best way to learn is to take a class from a local yarn store or join a knitting group that would enjoy taking you as a beginner. If these aren't options for you, however, I would recommend using the internet as your beginning knitting classroom, along with a good book or magazine. The free lessons on the internet are also great for refreshing or expanding your knitting skills.

The British yarn store Wonderful Things offers designer yarns for sale along with a nice collection of helpful hints on knitting. There are written instructions on gauge, buttonholes, and other techniques, and, best of all, great drawings of the versatile long tail cast-on.

Vogue Knitting online provides illustrations of how to do knit and purl stitches, the basics of knitting. Also see their concise "glossary and abbreviations" section. If you're more advanced, you'll appreciate the photos explaining traveling stitches under the "stitch glossary."

For a video course, try Common Threads' beginning knitting class. You need Real Player to take advantage of these excellent video presentations, which you can link to from the Common Threads' website. The four lessons - casting on, knitting, purling, and casting off - will give you the information you need to start knitting on your own.

If you already know you to knit, but haven't made socks yet, now's the time! Claudia Krisniski of Countrywool is offering a free sock knitting class starting January 8. To take Claudia's class, join the Spinfree e-mail list. First, go to onelist, and register. Then type "spinfree" in the search box, and sign up for the list. Once you're a member of Spinfree, you can read the messages for the last week or more in the archives and catch up with the preparations for the sock class. Right now, the list members are talking about spinning for sock yarn. If you'd rather buy yarn, Claudia is offering a kit for the class.

And guess what! There's another sock knitting class online. Go to Cybersocks, where you can learn to knit Carol's Sideways Garter Stitch Cuff Socks or Denise's Toe-Up Socks. If you have already joined onelist.com, you can subscribe to the Socknitters e-mail list and chat with Carol and Denise about the socks you're knitting. Another great feature on this site are the "mini-lessons." Scroll down the Socknitters main page to "Photos." You'll see two great sets of instructional photos, one on grafting, and one on picking up stitches for sock gussets. I am looking forward to seeing more of these mini-lessons in the future.