Pip is Head of Crop Campaign Marketing at BASF and shared her top tips on how to get started with knitting.
There comes a point in everyone’s life when they need a hobby; this happened to me a couple of years ago. Not sure where to begin we popped to Hobby Craft and had a look around at potential hobbies – the one that stood out was knitting. It was decided! Knitting would be my new hobby. My husband went away and did some research (he’s a scientist, he likes that sort of stuff) and got me a ‘beginners knitting pack’ for my birthday – I was off! I took to it like a duck to water, admittedly I had had some training when I was a child from my Nan so some of it was probably long-hidden memories coming to the surface but still I very much enjoyed my new hobby. What’s to enjoy? Well, it’s very relaxing, you can’t worry about the world when following a knitting pattern. It’s also amazing for presents, literally every child born within my friendship group has at least 1 item knitted by ‘Auntie Pip’. My sister-in-law was so excited when I handed over the freshly knitted blanket for my niece Izzi. I also like that you can choose projects to suit your personality – I’ve not got the patience for adult-sized projects, they take too long!
Top Tips for Beginners:
- If your Nan isn’t around for advice then I recommend ‘Knitty Gritty – Knitting for the Absolute Beginner’ by Aneeta Patel. The instructions easy to follow and there are projects in there that start small and let you work your way up. It also explains how to read a knitting pattern which can be somewhat frightening for the uninitiated
- Bamboo needles are much better for beginners than metal ones – the stitches stay in place much better
- Make sure you have a crochet hook to hand – these make repairing the damage caused by a dropped stitch so much easier!
- Start with large sized needles – easier to handle at first
Hope this inspires you to begin – it’s great if you feel the need to be a bit creative but have no artistic talent at all, trust me I know!!