People often assume learning to knit will be near impossible, they tell themselves all sorts of stories in their heads about how they are not capable, not smart enough, not creative or crafty enough to learn how to knit. Having taught people from all over the world at ages from 5 - 65+years old,  I can assure you all that internal messaging is absolute rubbish.

Some choose learning how to knit to help to heal unhappy memories of being taught to knit by impatient teachers, nuns (yes really) or grandparents, some to create a therapeutic space for themselves to help process something traumatic or difficult, or distract themselves from a challenging period in their lives. Some to relieve stress from work and relationships. Many people come because they have always harboured a desire to do something crafty and creative and would love to have an activity to stop the endless social media scrolling that brings them little to no joy or satisfaction.

So, you have learnt to knit and purl, cast on and off and now you want to make something. Knit something to actually wear, or maybe to gift a loved one. You want to knit something of your very own and feel proud every time you wear it or see it being worn and enjoyed. I remember that hunger well.

Learning to knit is an exciting and rewarding journey, but, in the early stages, it can also feel like wrestling with a tangled ball of yarn and chopsticks all at the same time. Fear not, everyone has this experience at first and most importantly, this initial feeling does not last long.

In fact my beginner knitting lessons have people feeling considerably more confident with what they are doing (aka knitting) within 45 minutes! But until you have found you have found your knitting rhythm and flow I have some tried and true knitting 101 fundamentals to help you survive and eventually thrive as a beginner knitter.

It happens every year, we all have visions of gifting bundles of handmade goodies to every member of our family and friendship circle and the come December...we panic.

"There's not enough time now!!!"

As you build your knitting confidence and embark on more knitting projects and patterns you will inevitably accrue yarn and build what is known as a stash. If you are anything like me you will end up buying yarn because it is simply too squidgy and gorgeous to leave in the store and then you end up with a large collection of yarn, sitting pretty and waiting for a knitting pattern to be allocated to...and so the stash grows.

Like all hobbies/pursuits and activities Knitting comes with it's own language. Not as complicated as Klingon but as a Beginner Knitter it can easily feel intimidating. You will find these slang terms being used in online knitting spaces like forums, comment threads or even Instagram posts, you may also overhear them being used in your local yarn store. Learn to Knit Online is built entirely on the intention to break down any intimidation or mystique around knitting so let's talk knitting jargon.

I think it's been about 2 years since knitting came into my life. To give you a little insight about where I was at that time in my life, and how knitting was such a huge benefit for me, I'll first give you a little backstory to my situation.

Going from 'thin to thick' yarn, I shall take you on a tour of all the variations of yarn weights, the category names they are known by, the knitting needles they use and the projects they are typically used to knit.

A row of knitting is when all stitches on your knitting needle have been worked. Many of my students refer to them as a line of knitting. If you have 20 stitches on your needle and you knit or purl them all so they are now transferred from your left hand needle to your right hand needle - that is a row completed. Hooray!

If you are tempted or even just intrigued about my Self Paced Beginner Knitting Lessons and Course, have a little peek at how they work and let me know what you think in the comments below.

Recommended needles are the size of knitting needle which commonly achieves a medium tension for that specific yarn weight (you may think of it as yarn thickness).

I have been teaching knitting for over 15 years (at the time of writing), borne out of my passion for my own self taught adventures. I had found that thing, that activity and interest that just clicked with me, inspired and excited me and I wanted more people to drink the yarny kool-aid. I started teaching friends in my studio apartment in London, soon it became friends of friends until one day…