Good "learning to knit" book?

mid-20s might be past the "cute and trendy" thing, or her personality may lean toward the classics instead of nasty eyelash scarves and such.

I would recommend Elizabeth Zimmerman's "Knitting without Tears" and Maggie Righetti's "Knitting in Plain English" as good beginner books. Elizabeth is a picker, Maggie swings both ways, and both books present basic knitting skills (cast on, knit purl, inc, dec, cast off) as well as some advanced topics. Add Elizabeth's "Knitting Workshop" and "Knitters Almanac" and your niece will be set up.

Jm2c.

I know many people swear by Elizabeth Zimmerman, but personally I think her books would not be the best for a beginner -- I find them very frustrating, as the instructions are mixed in with philosophy and anecdotes. I have read a lot of knitting books, and I have checked out various Elizabeth Zimmerman books from the library many times and find them very difficult to read! I don't deny that she had many great ideas -- I just wouldn't give her books to a beginner.

WoolyGooly wrote:

That was my thought too. I've been knitting for years and find them a little tedious. Most beginners want, and need really, patterns which begin, CO x sts, and are very detailed on each row as to what you're supposed to do. Sally Melville's the Knit stitch might be good, or any basic book with step by step instructions.

sue

Yarn-wise, I was thinking of a soft, natural fiber yarn that is not too expensive. The eyelash stuff never caught on with me. Besides, her parents live on a ranch south of Rocksprings, Texas, and raise angora goats for their mohair, and her father manages the wool house in town. If I gave her a manmade fiber her father would probably burn it!

BonnieBlue

Elizabeth isn't for everybody. This has been proven time and again. She's an intuitive knitter's knitter. However, her information is solid and well-presented, and for the sort of person who doesn't require spoon-feeding she's an excellent teacher.

Absolutely not true, and that's all I'll say about it lest I get soapboxy and unintentionally insulting.

Two things about yarn. One thing to consider is how much effort does this person want to put into taking care of and washing an item. I personally like things that I can just throw into the washer and dryer, thus natural fibers are a rare thing with me. Another thing to consider is that since the person is new and beginner, the best yarn to use should be something that can be easily seen. Something that is light in color and not too "furry". It is very frustrating when you cannot distinguish your stitches from one another.

Hello!

I started knitting again a few months ago and bought "Stich-n-bitch" to help me along my way and really like it, especially the quite funky patterns (to my eyes, but I'm a 26 y.o. biologist so I might not be the epitome of cool). What also really, really helped was joining a knitting group of youngish ladies who meet at my local pub. Nothing like people on hand to teach you things and show you what they're doing to keep enthusiasm going. Maybe you could search out one near her?

Oh, and wool that's nottoo thin otherwise it feels like you're not getting anywhere. I startedon DK, but was much happier when I moved up to chunky/aran.Good luck!

Jenny

There's plenty of good-quality wool yarn out there and a lot of it is reasonably priced. Cascade220, EllaRae, Brown Sheep to name a few.

Which wool warehouse does your brother/brother-in-law run? I've been trying to find bulk mohair that isn't two days' drive (there, back) for a while, most of the wool warehouses in Central Texas have folded ...

It is Priour-Varga Wool & Mohair, Inc., 300 Main Street, Rocksprings, TX

78880. Phone is (830) 683-3194. My brother-in-law's name is Steve Haynes.

At one time there were two wool houses there (competing) but Priour-Varga bought out the other one and then sometime later it burned. It really set them back.

I think inexperience is a bigger bar to understanding Elizabeth Zimmerman than a need of spoon feeding. In Knitting without Tears, chapters one and two don't actually tell you how to make anything. Although they have lots of advice that would be useful for a beginner, they also have even more things, like grafting, pockets and buttonholes, that a beginner won't be needing for a while.

Even Elizabeth, in chapter 1, says,"I am taking for granted that you are already familiar with the rudiments of the craft."

The first suggested piece of work, in chapter 2, is a cap (for establishing gauge). It is suggested that it be knit in the round, but there is absolutely no indication of how to make a cap. I'm wouldn't suggest knitting in the round for one's first project. A potholder strikes me as a better alternative.

However, assuming one begins with a cap, knit in the round, one could leaf back to chapter 1 and find the advice on casting on and the advice on using circular needles, and the advice on whether to use English or continental style, and maybe a really clever person would realize (Elizabeth never mentions this) that the cap would look nicer if you begin decreasing at some point, and then they could read the part on different methods of decreasing. For someone who's still all thumbs, all those bookmarks are going to be a frustration.

In chapter 3, page 55, comes the first actual instructions on how to make something. It's a fine guage patterned ski sweater with two or more colors of wool. I certainly wouldn't recommend this as a second project even for someone who managed to make the cap without spoon feeding.

I had been knitting for some time when I first encountered Elizabeth Zimmerman (in a magazine that I think was called Knitter's Magazine), and I liked her immediately and bought several of her books. But I'm sure that I would never have taken up the craft if I had had only Knitting without Tears as my first instruction.

Which is why I generally suggest Maggie Righetti's book to complement "Knitting without Tears". Maggie isn't exactly my cup of tea, but between them EZ and Maggie ought to be adequate instruction for even a rank beginner. My granny taught me to knit when I was a sprout but it didn't stick. When I came back to it after 20-odd years I only had two books to start with...

My aunt taught me to knit when I was a little girl. I knit a few little things, but didn't keep it up. When I came back as an adult I learned from a little leaflet that I'd had since I was a child. It was by Coat's and Clark, sold near the yarn rack in Woolworth's and called, "Learn How Book". It has instructions for knitting, crochet, tatting and embroidery. I still have it and I used it again about 6 years ago to teach myself how to crochet.

I can say by experience that this little leaflet is adequate for a beginner, but I don't know if it can still be found. It doesn't cover knitting in the round, nor the continental method, but both of those can be picked up later. Actually, I never warmed to knitting in the round, I don't know why. I never minded sewing things up, which most knitters seem to hate, so maybe I wasn't motivated enough.

I used a copy of my mom's from the 50s (?) to teach myself. I think I did see an updated version without the tatting and embroidery at Michaels in the last few years. Or somewhere. I figured out circular knitting somewhere along the way, probably from a pattern I wanted to try. It made sense to me that you have to join the CO on somehow and I just practiced it until it looked okay.

sue

BonnieBlue,

I think the SNB is a good book for a young woman wanting to learn to knit. It's funny and has clear instructions and gives all the basic info she'd need to learn. The patterns are apealing to a younger crowd as well. Whenever my college students express an interest in knitting, I tell them I'll be glad to help them and that they might like SNB.

Hesira

B> My niece has expressed an interest in learning to knit so for Christmas I

If the SnB books are too `out there' for her taste, explain that the patterns can serve as a basic guide. They can be knit in plain stockinette, single colors or regular yarn too.

sue

The Learn How Book is one of my treasures as I used it to teach myself how to knit, crochet and tat. Mine is the first edition, was copyrighted in

1941 by The Spool Cotton Company and had a price of 10 cents. I've had it for about 60 years which is too long ago to remember how I got it but it probably came from Woolworths like Barbara's. Later, when I was teaching Home Ec, I bought a revised edition with a 1959 copyright in 1959 and a price of 29 cents. It does have instructions for knitting in the round on DP needles with patterns for anklets and mittens. I still have an almost finished sock that I knit more than a half-century ago using those instructions. I doubt I had any intention of making socks to wear but just wanted to see if I could do one.

There are some Web sites where the book is still available. One of the early editions is at

There is a newer edition with a totally different cover on the Coats and Clark site.

Thanks to everyone for their input. I decided on the SnB book and have ordered some super bulky yarn for the beginner's garter stitch scarf and will pick up the large needles at Hobby Lobby or Hancocks to go with it. The colors of yarn I chose are earth tones -- ivory, light brown and a darker brown.

BonnieBlue

Actually, mine also has the knitting in the round socks. I forgot those.

Still with the needles in it? Why not finish it and retrieve the needles? ;-)

=Tamar