I had to make MANY swatches of garter stitch before I could maintain a consistent stitch count. Then I undertook your beautiful gray and pink beginner's scarf and was that a learning experience! As a result I have learned to fix mistakes to some extent - I had to frog a row or two and finally learned to put the remaining loops on the left needle so they could be knit again onto the right needle. I'm almost done with the scarf and although it has a few wonky stitches, that's fine with me. So now I'm on to practice purling and the stockinette stitch, no matter how many swatches I need to do, lol. I'm a lifelong crocheter and I'm learning to knit in my late seventies - so you can teach an old dog new tricks for sure! Thanks to you, Brittany!

Thanks for sharing ❤❤❤ These were some really great points. my first knitting project was also a baby garter stitch blanket. 🧶🧶🧶

Good points, especially keeping your first pieces of work! :) However, as a beginner knitter (longtime crocheter -- over 40 years -- but decided to try learning to knit again only a few months ago), I would not have continued if I had only knit swatches. That would have been pointless to me and a waste of my time. Instead, I knitted a wash cloth (kind of like a swatch but with a purpose), and then a garter-stitch scarf (also kind of like a really long swatch but with a purpose). Those two things gave me the practice I needed to get started, but without the "I'm not really knitting, I'm just swatching" that would have nixed my efforts right out of the gate. Just my two cents' worth. :)

You helped me. A while ago you had left handed knitting videos. Huge help to this lefty!

1:18 ***(simplified version at the bottom if you don't want to do a bunch of reading)*** Something you can do to fix this is to cast on a number of stitches that is relatively small, maybe 6-10 stitches*, and do around 5-6 rows of the stitch you're planning to use. Then, once you've finished, measure the width; this helps a lot, because then you can multiply both the stitches you casted on and the width of the stitches you casted on by however much you need to match the size of the pattern. (one you made up, or that you found.) This is a method that I made up, unless it already existed without me knowing, that I found out while trying to make a cardigan pattern of my own. Also note that you need to do this for every stitch pattern - (Ex: like the garter, stockinette, rib stitch, etc.) - that you are planning on using in your pattern if you want roughly around the size you need. *If it is a written pattern make sure to do something divisible by the stitch count(s). ***(SIMPLIFIED VERSION IF YOU DONT WANT TO READ ALL OF THAT)*** Cast on a small number of stitches divisible by the pattern be it written or made up, do 5-6 rows, measure the width, then multiply the stitches to see how wide the project will need to be - or how many times you need to cast on.

Thanks for the tips. I have been a crocheter for years and just picked up knitting. I have made some scarves and now am on my first sweater with the help of a youtube instructor. My biggest fear was making mistakes because you can't just frog them like crochet - you have to learn to "un-knit" them. But that has also been my biggest accomplishment, learning how to fix my mistakes which took the fear away. And I too think knitted garments just have a more polished look than crochet although I have made some of those as well.

I wish I would have known more about the qualities of yarn. Thanks for your video and sound advice. I am practicing stitches on scarves. I feel like I am not accomplishing much but I am learning how different yarns knit up and I am also refining my tension.

My first project was a disaster! I was in Girl Scouts, and we had to make a triangular headscarf. Got so mad at it, I bent the needles and threw them away! Tried picking it up a couple of times and it just didn't click for me. I was trying Continental style. I finally watched a whole bunch of different youtubers and found that my most comfortable way to hold was English, even though I crocheted for 50 years previously. Finally, about 50 years after my first attempt, it clicked and I've made several things. Right now I have two different blankets, a poncho and a hat on the needles! So my thing I wish I knew was that there are multiple ways to knit (Continental, English, Portuguese and I think a couple more). Experiment until you find a style that fits you.

Greart suggestions. I was fortunate to have a yarn shop owner teach me to knit. All of the bits of information she gave me saved me a lot of mistakes. I still made plenty of errors and was frustrated at times Knitting is still not the easiest for me. I've been crocheting since I was seven and its so automatic. With knitting, I have to think about each move I make. I agree that knitted garments seem better than crochet ones, but I'm no fashionista.

Blessings and knitting 🧶👋🏾🤗