Knitting For Newbies-Choose Your Yarn and Learn to Cast On

I've been Knitting for several decades. Oh doesn't that sound old. Well it's true. I love knitting and I love being with knitters.

I've had a lot of people around me wish they could knit. They seem intimidated by even getting started. They are intrigued and interested but can't get started.

Well I thought a hub on getting started would be just the thing. How do you get started? How do you get the yarn on the needles? How do you advance from pattern to finished project?

I hope I can help you. This hub is going to focus on Yarn and Casting on. That means getting the yarn onto the needles so you can get started and finally break through the intimidation paralysis.

Let's get started.

Oh my goodness, We may be here for awhile. There are so many choices. There are yarns for babies, yarns for socks. Very soft yarns like angora (rabbit) or alpaca (cousin to the llama, know for it's soft wool). There is very thick yarn, there is also fancy yarn like the eyelash yarn. There is fingerweight yarn, 2-ply and 4-ply yarn. (this just means how many strands of thread are wound together to make the yarn, different weights for different pattern needs).

There is every color of the rainbow yarn. There is multi-colored yarn. There is synthetic yarn and real right off the animal wool yarn. There is really expensive yarn, like the hand dyed and hand painted wools, the alpaca, angora and buffalo yarns. And there is cheap yarn which is synthetic, which you can get at Walmart or K-mart. Which is actually where I recommend you to start

You might be so tempted to go for that soft lush buffalo wool of some hand painted, multi-color variety. DON'T!

You will hate yourself. Just remember. You are learning. You are just getting started. Why spend tons of money (good yarn is expensive! Like $50 an ounce for some. YIKES) on a yarn just to ruin it because you have to rip it out to fix your mistake or you mess it up by constantly handling it with your greasy fingers. Yes I said Greasy!

Please go to Walmart and get yourself a beautiful and simple synthetic yarn, one color, (your choice) and have it be a regular 4-ply. Nice straight forward learning yarn.

Okay? Made your choice?

Now you've chosen a simple yarn that is not going to break your heart (or the bank) to learn on. (Don't worry you'll be using buffalo yarn in no time.) And you've got your pair of knitting needles. Probably a size 9, 10, or 101/2 will work great.So all we need to do is get the yarn on the needles so you can start to knit.

The following videos are going to teach that very thing. Seriously, there are many ways to cast on. I am going to show you the one I love and another very simple one. Watch them over and over, take your time. I chose the ones that really show it so you can learn it and really get it.

Start watching.

We visited the Woolen Mill in a small town near our home here in Michigan and had the time of our lives. It is an actual Mill that takes the shearing right off the animal and turns it into yarn. They pick it, which means they pull out the straw and stones and lodged objects the animal got into while living life on the farm.

They wash it, in giant vats of warm water and very gentle detergent, over and over and over again. And of course rinsing after each wash.

Then when satisfied it is clean it has to be carded, which means they use a hard back board and a hard bristle metal brush and "comb" the wool, separating the fibers and making it smooth and so soft you wouldn't believe.

The mill does this by using giant machinery made for this purpose. But it can definitely be done by hand. Just takes time, patience and muscle. After that it is put into big pots of dye. The colors of the rainbow.

Afterwards it is hung to dry. And mind you it is not yarn yet. It is a curly colorful mess called locks.

After it dries it is ready to be spun and that is what you are used to seeing, balls of yarn. They will spin it into different plys, weights and for different uses. It is gorgeous.

My apologies to any woolen Mill or yarn experts out there. My simplification of this process is not meant to be insulting. It is simply all the knowledge I have at this time.

I wanted to be sure to show you some buffalo wool. I was shocked to find out they even had such a thing. But the under coating of a buffalo is as soft as a baby's bottom. It is necessary to super clean it and prepare it as described but it is such beautiful yarn.

The buffalo yarn in the photo is still on one of those giant woolen mill machine I mentioned. It was such an interesting visit.

They also told me at the woolen mill that they will and can make yarn out of absolutely anything. Your dog's or cat's shed hair even. It was remarkable.

Congratulations! You have made it this far and I am proud of you. Really!! I am!

You have purchased your simple, one color,  synthetic yarn and straight needles. You have watched the videos and chosen the style of cast on you like. (You really should try them both) And you have cast on your stitches onto your needle. (It doesn't matter how many stitches, you are just learning the art, this is practice.)

In my next hub I will show you the Knit stitch. You won't even believe it. You'll be knitting!!