Sometimes the internet is very good at throwing a lot of information at us and it can get really overwhelming. What do you really, really need to know when you first begin to knit? Obviously you need to know how to cast on and how to work a knit stitch. The rest is just sprinkling on the top of your ice cream Sundae, right? Maybe. Here are five things I wish I had known when I first started knitting.

1. Use colours that you like.

When you first start knitting, you’ll probably pick up some bargain yarn or get some yarn from a friend’s yarn box. You don’t want to invest too much in supplies — because you feel like you might just mess things up or you might not enjoy knitting.

Here’s a tip: if you use a colour you like, you’ll enjoy your knitting far more than you if you have to stare at a colour you don’t really like.

If you use a colour of yarn you like, you are also more likely to use your finished item afterwards!

2. Don’t Spend Too Much Time on the Internet!

I know, I know. You are currently reading this blog post, so who am I to tell you to get off the internet? Here’s the thing: many well-meaning people can make a simple thing look really complicated and scary, so try not to do a deep dive before attempting something new.

Are you working a cable for the first time? Look up a simple tutorial and then try it out in your knitting. Don’t look for more tutorials or blog posts, because suddenly you’ll be looking at seven different ways of working a cable and it’ll seem scary.

Knitting is just one stitch at a time and if something goes a bit wonky, just take it back to where you know you were right and then try again. No need to look up three more videos. You got this.

3. Learn To Love Your Ball Bands

That piece of paper around your ball of yarn? It contains all sorts of important information.

It suggests needle size and standard gauge (and those are really just suggestions!) but it also tells you what the yarn is made of, how much yarn you get in a ball and how to care for your finished item.

Most importantly, the ball band tells you about dye lots. The dye lot number is super-important! Make sure to always get all of your yarn in the same dye lot. The colour might look identical in the ball, but if you knit something in different dyelots, there will always be a subtle difference.

Spend that extra bit of time on checking for the dye lot and you’ll be spared a lot of potential heartbreak.

4. Not Everything Will Be Perfect & That’s OK

One of the hardest things about being a knitter is accepting that you’ve spent a lot of time making something .. and you might not like it once it’s done. I always start a new project thinking it will be the best thing ever, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out like that.

Maybe the hat looks weird on your head. Maybe the colour wasn’t quite right. Maybe you hated the yarn so much whilst you were knitting that you hate the finished item. It’s okay, it happens, and it does suck.

Have a box where you keep these items. You might end up donating them, or gifting them (a friend might love that pink hat), or you might discover that six months down the line those crazy blue socks are actually really awesome.

5. Don’t Force It

Are you sitting there still stuck on a project six months after starting it and you are hating everything? That’s fine.

Sometimes we think we might like something and it turns out that something is not for us. Maybe knitting isn’t your thing. Maybe you’d be happier with crochet or embroidery or Minecraft or yoga. Different strokes for different people.

Just promise me that if you are hating a project, it might be that the project is wrong for you.

Knitting a garterstitch scarf is incredibly tedious and even the most patient knitters would rather chew their own hands off than make one. Maybe cast it off early and sew the narrowest ends together - that way you end up with a useful cowl and a empty needles!

Also, the yarn might be totally wrong for you. As beginners we are often drawn to yarn that looks fun in the ball: different textures and fun little effects woven through the yarn make it look like the project’s going to be super-fun too! Sadly often these yarns are hellish to work with and can kill a lot of desire to knit. Try another yarn.

But don’t force it. Knitting is supposed to be fun!