First Project Instructions

Since knitting is my obsession, I chose a patchwork afghan as our first project. It's an afghan made up of 7 x 9 inch squares, which can be knitted or crocheted (the picture in Mom's post shows some we've already done). The idea and patterns for the afghan are from the charity knitting organization "Warm Up America!" Their website is here:
http://www.warmupamerica.com/home.html
They do accept squares and afghans to distribute, but they encourage people to get organized and distribute them in their own community.

Here is their page for the square patterns:
http://www.warmupamerica.com/patterns.html

The materials you will need are:

-Size US 7 (3.75 mm) straight knitting needles, about 9-10 inch length (you don't need the long 14 inchers). If you are a beginner, get wood or plastic, metal will be very slippery and frustrating.
-Crochet hook size G (4 mm) or H (5 mm). The H is bigger and may be easier for a beginner. Metal or whatever is fine, it doesn't matter as much for crocheting.
-100% Acrylic worsted weight (weight 4) yarn. Any color that you enjoy. Vanna's Choice, Red Heart Soft, and Caron Simply Soft are good brands that are widely available.
-A 7 inch by 9 inch template. This is important! You can use a ruler, but having a pre-cut template out of cardboard or whatever is great for checking that your square is the right size. The squares must all be approximately 7 inches by 9 inches to fit together. I can fiddle them in if they're off by an inch or so, but not too much more than that.
*If anyone needs supplies for any reason, let me know and I'll send you some, I usually have extra yarn and stuff hanging around!

If you are new to knitting or crocheting, don't worry- both are quite simple and easy to learn, you'll get the hang of it quickly with a bit of practice. Most people prefer one over the other, if you are new to both, I encourage you to try both and see which one comes more naturally to you. I prefer knitting, I feel like a fish out of water crocheting- others, like Polly, can't knit worth a darn (hee hee!) but crochet at the speed of light.

It's often best to learn from a person who knits or crochets- a family member or a local craft or yarn store are good sources for one of these. But you can also learn pretty easily from books and the internet. Knitting and crocheting are red hot right now, your local bookstore or craft store will have dozens upon dozens of beginner's books. I prefer the ones written for kids, they have big simple pictures (that's how I taught myself). :)

Here are some good websites that have free videos that you can practice as you watch:

Knitting: http://www.knittinghelp.com/
This website is great because it has videos for the two main different styles of knitting: The English method (where you hold the working yarn in your right hand) and the Continental method (holding the working yarn in your left hand). Try both styles- one will probably be easier for you.
For knitting a square, the basics you need to learn for this project are cast-on, knit stitch, and cast-off.
For your first square, do the garter stitch square, where you use the knit stitch the whole time.

Crochet: http://www.hassdesign.com/StitchLegend/
For crocheting a square, you need to know chain stitch and single crochet, and how to tie off when you're done. Do the single crochet square as your first one.

E-mail or call me if you have any questions!