Cast on

How to Knit – Casting On from Penny Dablin – www.TheKnittingSite.com

Very clear instruction, assumes no prior knowledge and is has a good visual everything’s done very slowly, even so I had to replay the video a few times before I got it (and have gone back to it for every new project since!)

• I found on some other videos the hands sometimes masked what what was happening a little or it was done a it quicker maybe?

Apparently there are two methods to casting on and according to this article the thumb method, shown in the video above, gives a less firm edge to your knitting. Maybe it would be worth trying to learn the other method – which uses two needles, but I didn’t find a video I could follow using that method – if you know of one please post a link in the comments!

Knitting

How to Knit for Beginners : How to Make the Basic Knit Stitch, Expert Village.com

Now I had had previous instruction in the knitting part, so just needed to find a reminder but this video is really clear and I’m sure will make it easy for someone who’s never seen it (sorry the permissions for embedding this were disabled, but it’s a really good vid).

Casting off

I like this video – especially the size of the needles used.

Threadheads have a clip, which joins all of these together which is a good refresher if you know the basics but need a reminder:

Next steps

This glossary of knitting terminology might come in useful once we get onto using patterns.

My next project is going to be a shrug – my mum’s tested the patten, her dog (Buddy) ate a chunk of it, the lady in John Lewis helped me find the right wool and needles.

So far I’ve just asked which needles I will need as I buy the wool but this video explains the different types of needles and the different materials they can be made from.

So there you go – using those videos you should be able to wow your friends with your scarves

Having had several conversations with people about how nice it would be to join a book group I decided it was about time that we did.. in a rare proactive move I set one up..

It was so easy.. I just emailed 3 friends and told them to invite a couple of people and that was it

We’re meeting in a bookstore that has a bar and serves cake (covering all bases!) and I thought it might be nice to share..

Our first book is the 19th wife by David Ebershoff and we met on the 24th March. If you’ve read the book or have time to read it let me know what you think in the comments below and I’ll share your thoughts with the group and report back after we meet..

So that’s what I’ve been reading,

I’ve been watching Series 1 through 6.. (this may explain my intermittent blog posting)

playing Ginger Dawn check out the intro

buying wool – I’m trying for a garment rather than a scarf this time.. you may see photos (depends on my success!).

I’m playing catch up on reading blogs as well as writing posts but have just spotted a great post on different scissor types over at Purl Bee. I have a worrying scissor purchasing addiction which this may do quite a bit to feed!