Knitting Newbie Question

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So....say an unknown person was going to attempt to teach themselves to knit, how would this person know what type of needles he or she would need to buy without spending a whole lot of money?  And this unknown person doesnt have a local store to visit for anything of said nature and he or she already has something in his/her Amazon cart to buy so he or she would like to buy from there to save on shipping.  Any ideas what I could share with this person? 

Edit: What type and what size?

eminen

I would suggest this person find the project they want to start with like a wash cloth or scarf and buy what is required for the project. ?Perhaps size 7 in bamboo? ?I don't care for metal but anything else would be fine. ?Start with straight needles and later you could try circular.

kmgourley

It's going to depend on what you want to knit.  Scarves are recommended to learn and as first projects but they're horribly boring.  To be honest, I'd jump right in.  Join Ravelry and find a soaker pattern that's not knit in the round.  It will be knit flat so you'll learn everything, but it'll be so much more fun than a scarf.  To follow a pattern, though, you're going to have to look at the pattern's recommended needle size & yarn. 

I know you'd like to buy from Amazon, but I really recommend knitpicks.com.  Their needles are high quality, work great, and are very inexpensive.  They also have really nice inexpensive yarn, too.  If you spend more than $49, I think it is, you get free shipping.

Let me see if I can find a good first soaker pattern for you so I can give you more specifics on yarn & needles and see if they have them on Amazon....

ab&jim

Bamboo tends to be fairly affordable. Sizes 5, 7, 8 all seem to be fairly standard for soakers, sizes 1 or 2 for socks. So it really depends on what you're making. I think for your buck, circular needles are a good choice b/c you can use them for flat knitted patterns. But you can't use straight needles for knitting in the round.

I don't know if that all made sense. I'm just a beginner myself.

eminen

10 inches long would probably be good. ?If you don't have yarn yet I love cascade superwash.

mh2t

It depends on the project. What is said person planning to make as his/her first project, and what kind of yarn is he/she planning to use?  Circular needles are the most versatile, but the length depends on the project.  If I were to advise said person on a first project, I would recommend a hat using worsted-weight wool and 16" circular needles in a size 8.  I would recommend bamboo needles rather than metal needles because they are less slippery for a beginner. 

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Said person would eventually like to be able to knit soakers & whatnot but figured that he or she should probably start with something that isnt going to frustrate him or her and make him or her quit. 

anneliesek

I just started knitting last night so I am brand new at this too!  I started with a pair of size 8 bamboo needles and a skein of standard acrylic blend yarn last night. So far I learned to cast on stitches and learned one type of standard stitch.  I am using stitch and *** (the book) and knitting tutorials on you tube.  Good Luck!!

MTOW

kmgourley:

It's going to depend on what you want to knit.  Scarves are recommended to learn and as first projects but they're horribly boring.  To be honest, I'd jump right in.  Join Ravelry and find a soaker pattern that's not knit in the round.  It will be knit flat so you'll learn everything, but it'll be so much more fun than a scarf.  To follow a pattern, though, you're going to have to look at the pattern's recommended needle size & yarn. 

I know you'd like to buy from Amazon, but I really recommend knitpicks.com.  Their needles are high quality, work great, and are very inexpensive.  They also have really nice inexpensive yarn, too.  If you spend more than $49, I think it is, you get free shipping.

Let me see if I can find a good first soaker pattern for you so I can give you more specifics on yarn & needles and see if they have them on Amazon....

I agree with this, except I don't see any reason not to learn to knit in the round.  Just choose a project you want to make, and buy what you need to make it.  I think the Knit Picks Harmony needles would be great to learn on. 

Also, you can knit flat with straights or circulars, but you can knit flat or in the round with circulars, so you get more bang for your equipment buck if you just buy circulars.  I didn't have straight needles for the longest time, and still rarely use them.

There seem to be a lot of new knitters on this board!  Warms my woollie heart   Maybe we should set up a skype or iChat Q&A/Show and Tell sometime.

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MTOW:

kmgourley:

It's going to depend on what you want to knit.  Scarves are recommended to learn and as first projects but they're horribly boring.  To be honest, I'd jump right in.  Join Ravelry and find a soaker pattern that's not knit in the round.  It will be knit flat so you'll learn everything, but it'll be so much more fun than a scarf.  To follow a pattern, though, you're going to have to look at the pattern's recommended needle size & yarn. 

I know you'd like to buy from Amazon, but I really recommend knitpicks.com.  Their needles are high quality, work great, and are very inexpensive.  They also have really nice inexpensive yarn, too.  If you spend more than $49, I think it is, you get free shipping.

Let me see if I can find a good first soaker pattern for you so I can give you more specifics on yarn & needles and see if they have them on Amazon....

I agree with this, except I don't see any reason not to learn to knit in the round.  Just choose a project you want to make, and buy what you need to make it.  I think the Knit Picks Harmony needles would be great to learn on. 

Also, you can knit flat with straights or circulars, but you can knit flat or in the round with circulars, so you get more bang for your equipment buck if you just buy circulars.  I didn't have straight needles for the longest time, and still rarely use them.

There seem to be a lot of new knitters on this board!  Warms my woollie heart   Maybe we should set up a skype or iChat Q&A/Show and Tell sometime.

Oh boy!  The person in question is getting overwhelmed nearly as much as they were when they first started cloth diapering.  This person should probably just pick something and run with it. 

This person thinks that they need a hobby and what better than to fullfill that desire with something that actually could potentially make a useful product?!  

MTOW

This person might find it useful to assemble yarn and needles in front of the computer and tune into knittinghelp.com.  She might just love it!

kmgourley

Okay, I'm having  a hard time finding a soaker pattern that is free that is knit flat that looks like it would fit a baby.  I prefer to knit in the round and to be honest, it's just as easy as knitting flat.  And, like MTOW, you can use circular needles for flat and circular knitting.  I own maybe 2 pairs of straights and NEVER use them.  I use my circulars (knitpicks metal interchangeables) for everything. 

You can buy a good interchangeable set on Amazon.  It gets good reviews, but I think most people like KnitPicks better: https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Denise-Interchangeable-Knitting-Needles/dp/B001B2MHYS/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1249479653&sr=8-14

People LOVE this soaker pattern: https://www.curlypurly.com/pdf/soaker.pdf.  The hardest part will probably be grafting.  It's really not hard, I promise.  www.knittinghelp.com will tell you how to do everything.  If you don't understand, I'd be willing to help

What size needles you need are going to depend on your guage.  You will not know your gauge until you start knitting.  I suppose that's another reason interchangeable sets are nice

Okay.... so this is assuming you're of the "jump right in" mentality.  I think that people are more apt to quit knitting when they think it's boring like simple scarves can be.  The first project I ever finished was a pair of socks.  now, I had started simpler projects before but never finished because they were boring, but they did help me learn the knit and purl stitches.  Socks have a rap for being hard, but they're really not and they're really fun.  And so useful!  So, I say jump right in

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Ok, I'm gonna do it....err....I mean this fictional person I've been talking about is going to do it.