Knitting has been around for centuries. But in the last couple of decades, it has become more popular as a craft activity. People are, once again, appreciating the beauty of a hand-knitted item. Surveys have shown that around a third of women ages 25 to 35 now knit or crochet.
Knitting as Therapy
According to research carried out by the University of British Columbia, knitting can help with psychological conditions such as eating disorders. It may also help people to cope with chronic pain and may even slow down the decline of brain function. You just have to get through the initial learning stage, perhaps by starting with a knitting kit like those you can see here https://www.woolcouturecompany.com/collections/knitting-kits.
Here are some useful tips for knitting beginners that will help you climb that learning curve.
1. Improve the appearance of the last stitch
Stop the last stitch in your bind off from looking weird by slipping it to the right needle. Then find the stitch below and pick up the back loop before slipping both stitches onto the left needle. Knit the stitches together and then bind off as normal.
2. Master a neat left-leaning decrease
To produce a left-leaning decrease, knit a slip, slip, knit (SSK) but in a slightly different way. Start by knitting the SSK as normal, but at the tip of your knitting needles. Then, on the return round, purl it through the back loop.
3. Loser Cast on Edge
Stop your cast on edge from being too tight by casting on using two needles. Carefully remove the second needle before you start knitting the rest of the project. Alternatively, you could use a larger needle to cast on.
4. Change cast on for knitting in the round
When you are knitting in the round, start the cast with a twisted loop. This stops a knot from being visible.
5. Avoid twisted stitches
Watch how you pick up dropped stitches as they can twist. You can twist them back with your fingers or knit the stitch through the back loop.