The Complete Beginner's Guide to Knitting

Thanks to Nici McNally's DVD I am fulfilling a lifelong desire to learn to knit. I have tried knitting and crochet books on and off in my life, and it just didn't work for me to learn from diagrams! Nici's DVD is well done and better than expected production quality. At times, her enthusiasm gets a tad silly, but it's just her exuberant style and she clearly loves her craft. The lessons plans are laid out well. This is not a comprehensive introduction to knitting, but it's quite adequate to get you started. Actually, it's a positive thing that it's not too overwhelming or "too much information." It's just enough to get you started on beginner projects and to help you handle the challenges you will run into. The main thing a new knitter needs is practice, and Nici doesn't want the student to get too hung up on perfection, but to just get into the knitting process and practice and learn to be comfortable and enjoy it. There is a small reference booklet and a password to her website included. Both are helpful extras. One thing I strongly recommend is that you use her specific suggestions for materials for your first project. I went to the local needlework shop to be told the knitting expert only worked when I was at work and the person waiting on me sold me an elegant yarn that was a bloody stinker to work with, so I spent most of my time tearing out my stitches that were split or other problems developed. When I purchased (online) the materials Nici recommended, things went MUCH BETTER! When in doubt, follow directions? :) I have since bought a few other reference books that are excellent reference, but I give five stars to Nici's DVD and highly recommend it if you are like me and don't feel that books help you learn basic knitting, and you want to have personal, in-home knitting lessons at your own speed and convenience. Classes would be ideal, but not everyone has access to that. An onsite instructor could help you figure out some of your bloopers, but Nici assures you that ripping out some of your knitting is part of the process, so you get any aversion to that out of the way right off! Her troubleshooting section helps you to recognize and fix pitfalls. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I didn't feel I was knitting in an hour or two. I was flubbing around with stitches pretty quickly, but I felt for a while that I was "de-knitting" more than knitting as I ripped out problems and tried to figure out where my extra stitches were coming from, but the answers were in the DVD. But I am finishing my first scarf now and my knitting is starting to feel relaxing and enjoyable. I'm really quite pleased how well this simple first project is turning out and dreaming about my future projects. I am convinced that the key is to start with simple patterns and progress with more challenges, rather than frustrate oneself with something so complicated that you can't get the stitches right or figure out what the pattern is calling for next. Nici provides enough patterns to keep you practicing for quite a while on safe footing until you feel ready to take on more complex projects. Her follow-on DVD is supposed to be coming, though I have read that there seem to be some serious problems with the release. I have enjoyed good success with my beginner DVD, and I would not hesitate to purchase DVDs containing more advanced instruction by Nici McNally should it become available.

When I quit smoking I decided to learn how to knit to keep my hands busy. But I seem to have three left thumbs and all the rest are toes and so by age 55 I figured it was impossible for me to learn this mysterious craft. At first the video seems too elementary, but I actually needed every bit of her instructions. The video is very clear and concise, and the angle of the camera catches the needles, the yarn, and the stitches perfectly. Nici covers everything you need to know, like English and Continental ways to knit, gauges, increasing, decreasing, binding off, adding yarn, OMG, just everything a new knitter needs to know. I especially like ( and need) the "First Aid" section, which covers all possible mistakes that can be made, and not only how to recognize and identify which mistake you just made, but how to go back and fix it, with close ups of the yarn and positions of the needles and the stitches. It is not as scary as you might think!!Though I haven't actually made anything yet since I bought this video ( about 2 weeks), I have been having fun practicing different things with different size needles and yarn, like gauges, and some actual stitch patterns, getting braver and braver. I think I might be ready to try a beginner or easy pattern to make an actual thing. If I make a mistake or drop a stitch ( worst case scenario) I know how to fix it.If you're just starting out in knitting, and you hold your needles like chop sticks, and your "projects" end up as wads of knots, try this video! Knitting is not only a fun pastime, but also a practical one, and if you don't know how to do it and want to learn, this video can show you how.Update 19 April 2017: You might not believe this but now I am a qualified spiffy knitter! I have made projects using cable stitches, entrelac, fair isle, lace stitches, and every other difficult level stitches I can find, and all because this dvd showed me that knitting is not the mysterious and difficult craft that I originally thought. ( thanks Nici !!). If there's anyone else out there ( besides me) who has seen beautifully knitted items and fantasized about being able to do it, thinking only nimble fingered rocket scientists could do it, please get this video. Knitting has proven to be the most pleasant pastime, and as an extra bonus, in addition to meeting many other really talented knitters in a knitters group, it also helped ( and continues to help) me quit smoking.