Learning a new craft can be challenging at first, but seeking the help of friends and experts will make the first stages much easier and allows you to socialise while you learn. Learning to knit or crochet is more than just a hobby, it enables you to create beautiful items of clothing or home ware that will make ideal personalised gifts for family and friends. Good quality knitted clothing can be expensive to buy from high-street stores, but purchasing the materials will cost almost nothing and you will enjoy the item much more if you have actually created it yourself.
Find a Good Instructional Video
YouTube has thousands of different knitting and crocheting tutorials that will show you how to make everything from mittens to beanie hats, and you can even download them to your tablet or handheld device using a service such as YTD to refer back to them when you don’t have an internet connection. You can also pause and replay the video as many times as you need until you have grasped the technique.
Find a Local Class
Contact your local community centre or search online to see if there are any knitting circles close to you that you can join. You can also check your local adult community college for any craft courses that you can enroll in.
Recruit a Friend
Starting a project with a friend will allow you to guide and support each other along the way, and you could even start your own knitting circle if you get enough people to join in. Place an ad in the local paper or on the community bulletin board inviting people to come and learn the craft or to share their wealth of experience.
Find a Mentor
If you are lucky enough to have a grandmother or other relative that can show you the ropes, then arrange to sit down once a week for a lesson. An experienced hand can show you tips and techniques that have been acquired from years of experience, and seeing a professional in action is a great inspiration to learn.
Get Advice from the Professionals
This could be the owner of your local craft store, a crafts teacher, or you can even call the customer support number of whichever brand of yarn or needles you are using. They will be more than happy to advice you on materials and tools, and some may even send you free patterns.
Stick With It
Everyone will make mistakes in the beginning, and the beauty of knitting and crocheting is that you can simple unravel the wool and start afresh. Every mistake you make is another small lesson, so don’t feel frustrated if you struggle a little in the beginning. Practice and patience will soon make even the most difficult pattern seem like second nature.
Once you have mastered the technique, you will have learnt a valuable skill that you can call upon at any time to create beautiful works of art whenever the situation requires it. Birthdays, Christmas, weddings and christenings are the perfect opportunities for you to make beautiful handmade gifts that are all the more special for having been created with your own two hands.
When using third party videos, remember to respect IP.
Steven Young likes to teach young people the fiber arts. He also enjoys writing about them, so others can discover the fun of creating.
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