Easy peasy knitting squeezy

KNITTING

I can't just sit still and do nothing - I mainly knit when watching tv in the evening. It makes me feel less of a slob if I'm doing something productive while vegging out. Although you have to concentrate when you're first learning, it soon becomes automatic.

Having a project and creating something feels good. I love making things - cooking, painting etc. I enjoy the sense of accomplishment. Plus it's awesome being able to make a unique gift for someone, I get real pleasure from that.


I just finished the scarf in the photo. I did it slowly over a couple of years (I had other knitting projects on the go and went back to this one whenever I wanted to do something more simple).

It's really easy peasy, here's how it's done:
Cast on however many stitches you like, but make sure it's an odd number.
Then knit one purl one knit one purl one all the way to the end of the row.
On the next row, knit one purl one knit one purl one - always start with a knit stitch on every row.
Because you have an odd number of stitches and you always start with a knit, you'll get a lovely bobbly textured pattern.
I won't bother describing casting on and off, or how to do knit and purl stitches, because there's so many good YouTube clips out there for those things.

I always use Rowan yarns. They are a bit more expensive, but the best quality. I go to John Lewis for mine, the staff are really well informed, and are especially helpful if you tell them you're a beginner. Choose your wool and then ask the staff to show you what needles to buy - it does state what size on the wool packaging, but there's UK and US sizing, I've got it wrong before!

For your first project use a chunky wool as you'll get quicker results. Oh and use bamboo needles, they are much lighter than metal ones and won't make a loud 'clacking' noise when you knit.

Knitting's also good because if you go wrong you can just unravel a couple of rows. Although I think a few imperfections are good!

Finally, take your knitting with you on long train/car journeys, it really helps pass the time - it's sort of meditative. I knitted a big chunk of this scarf on the way back from the Edinburgh festival a couple of years ago.