Alright, let's get started! 😀 

If you are as enthustiastic as I am, you will probably enter a knitting shop, buy two needles and some yarns and get ready to start knitting.

What you need for knitting

Not all yarns are made for all needles! Each pair of needles will have a certain size, most of the times in mm. 

Initially I bought a very thin yarn made of wool and 5-mm needles. I was really struggling to make progress because of 2 reasons. Firstly, the yarn was too thin for a beginner and would fall apart very easily and then, the needles I bought were kind of plastic, instead of wooden and were difficult to handle. 

I donated these two and decided to do a Google search. I ended up finding a good pack that had all of what I needed together, and I strongly recommend it as a beginner. The needles are wooden (8mm), and the yarn was from wool, dark green and very thick. Also, especially in the dark winter UK months, wooden needles feel cozier and my hands were more familiar with this soft touch. Then, when the yarn is very big, you can see your mistakes more easily and make progress quicker. 

The pack that I bought can be found below and has everything you need. Because remember that you also need a small finishing needle for casting off!😀

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Needle-Complete-Beginners-Knitting-Needles/dp/B08HHCK23R/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=knit+scarf+kit&qid=1633181722&qsid=262-7648086-8349811&sr=8-5&sres=B08HHCK23R%2CB08LTVKR4Q%2CB08DD613J9%2CB08LX8Q3H4%2CB09DXY32YH%2CB07F5M66V5%2CB0096AYXA8%2CB08N6TZHKM%2CB0719BV59X%2CB07F7GTRX5%2CB085PXMQPG%2CB01N3N5N8N%2CB083S78VHF%2CB08ML5DKPM%2CB000Q7CN4I%2CB08K7MBFQ8%2CB01EVMBWBI%2CB00AFE82RO%2CB07B8NS39N%2CB07PNJ1PGG

My progress just before the last knitting ball is shown above. 

So how will you learn the pattern?

First of all, there is not a single pattern for knitting! You will find many tutorials and books with many different patterns depending on what you want to knit. So firstly, decide what you want to knit. I chose a scarf of dark green colour as said above. You can have a hat or some decorative mug handlers or some random small projects. Then, you can either buy a book or select some good YouTube videos. I did both! I bought the bible of knitting shown below and I also searched for some good tutorials.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Knitting-Book-Frederica-Patmore/dp/1405368039/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=the+knitting+book&qid=1633182047&qsid=262-7648086-8349811&sr=8-3&sres=024136194X%2CB07G2LBJQP%2C1942021690%2C1781577595%2C1647221803%2C1419738089%2C1911682466%2C1570769893%2C1596684836%2CB097XH43D5%2C1785007890%2C1911622668%2C1861087993%2C1632504928%2C0804854041%2C144630731X&srpt=ABIS_BOOK

Two tutorials that I recommend for beginners for knitting a scarf are given below:

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24lR2IRS57A&t=679s

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8scF8cgm0E&t=1149s

What if you don't see progress quickly?

Well if you never try, you never know. Follow the tutorial or book instructions and pause and repeat as many times as it is needed! But be patient, because it takes time for your hands to pick the pattern. I paused the above videos many times and many days until I picked the pattern completely and I was sure how to do it myself. 

How quickly can you knit a scarf?

Well, you will find tutorials that they say you can do it in 3 hours or a couple of days depending on the pace. My personal opinion is that this is for experienced users. If you are a beginner, my best advice is to practice a little bit every day for a longer period so that your hands pick the pace. I needed 3 weeks to knit the scarf shown in the pictures below, and I was aiming at knitting 5-7 rows per day. 😍 

What's next?

Next you have to pick your next project. I decided to donate some of mine to British Heart Foundation. I have now bought some cotton yarns and I am knitting a small decorative neck layer for spring. Most importantly, I have fallen in love with my progress and I hope that you will also do fall in love as well and keep enjoying knitting!

Thank you very much for reading! Any comments are more than welcome!