How to start knitting: tips and products to start knitting

In case you experience this lack of calm or are looking for a hobby that can bring happiness to your brain, knitting can be a good alternative. The rhythm of knitting helps release serotonin, the so-called happiness hormone, which corroborates studies various scientific studies .

At least for Javiera Hernández, founder of Weaving , is synonymous with calm. “It’s my time to be in the present, and that’s why I make time for myself to knit every day,” she says. She started doing it when she was a child: her mother was very good at crafts and also at her school she was taught to knit with reverse and straight stitches, but she did not explore beyond that. scarves or squares for solidarity blankets.

About six years ago, working as a journalist and due to the stress of everyday life, she returned home and started knitting. Every day he did it more and more. “Once I moved I wanted to decorate it and while looking for ideas I found the covers granny square , those typical colored squares”. She asked her mother if she knew how to do this, she told her it was crochet and started teaching her.

At the time, she opened Instagram and Facebook accounts to show off what they knit together, thinking they would receive fabric orders. “What happened is that they started asking us to teach. This is how we trained, we thought and designed our first course. At the same time, we decided to bring new materials and we became an online store,” he explains of his La Tejería project.

To Kamill, designer and content creator behind the account @kamill.knit , weaving also meant finding a space of tranquility in which she could practice all her artistic talents. “I started at the age of 5 when my paternal grandmother taught me. It’s always been a part of my life, but its meaning changed when my second child was born.” Knitting later helped her cope with postpartum depression. That’s how he became immersed in more difficult techniques, “as he saw more meaning in the hours; focused my mind calmed down”.

Britain’s Tom Daley, gold medalist in ornamental jumping at Tokyo 2020, made no secret of his love during the Olympics, where he was caught weaving between competitions. “The one thing that kept me sane through this process was my love of knitting and crocheting and all things sewing,” said the champion, who even one Instagram — with over a million followers — where he shares his creations .

But how and where to start this rewarding activity? Here are some tips for getting started in fabric and not embroidering without thread.

According to the helmsman of La Tejería, the first thing to decide is the method with which you will weave: glue or crochet. “If you’re going to start with chopsticks, choose straight ones, ideally ones that are metallic, aluminum,” he suggests. “These are the best to start with, they are lighter and easier to handle.” As for the wooden ones, “they can mix up or confuse a yarn because the stick can break and the plastics bend easily.”

Now, if the idea is to start crocheting, Hernández recommends both plastic and metal ones, “which are basic and cheap.”

For crochet, Kamill offers “interchangeable rods, because you can play with the length of the twists”. Something essential when knitting a vest, for example, “and you need to make a small circumference, like a collar or cuffs.”

“Before investing in a set, try to see if this type of toothpick fits”, he advises and mentions that there is a huge variety of materials: there are acrylic, bamboo, birch, metal and many more.

The other key element is the choice of yarn. “There are many types, but my recommendation is to start with inexpensive materials,” says Hernández. “It’s about going to any basic string store, mall or department store, and buying an acrylic yarn.” This way there will be more confidence to make mistakes and the consequences of a mistake will not be so terrible.

Regarding the size, she suggests starting with crochet or large toothpicks, 5 mm or 6 mm. “When you buy a yarn, the number of sticks and hooks recommended for knitting it appears on its label. It is therefore very easy to choose the right one,” he adds.

There are different styles of baguette weaving. “In Chile, the continental style is used a lot, so it’s usually the best to start with,” says Hernández. Kamill agrees with her, adding that “for the continental style, there are many videos with tutorials on YouTube, so it will be easier for you to follow the lace pattern instructions.”

“With baton knitting, I recommend making a scarf or a hat as the first project,” Hernández says, because it’s the easiest and simplest. “There are many tutorials on YouTube –like the ones we did – and they are our basic courses too ”.

In La Tejería there is a curso de puntos a palillo, donde enseñan los tres puntos —revés, derecho ya montar—, pero también incluyen otros que tienen relieves y calados, “de manera que puedas aplicar distintos diseños y texturas bonitas en los tejidos”, account.

Another interesting course for beginners in weaving is the first stick vest , where you will learn how to knit a baby size cardigan. Beyond the result, it is a workshop that allows you to review all the content. “We teach you how to knit from scratch in both classes, from how to start casting on stitches, then basic stitches, knit straight and then knit in shape; make increases, decreases, borders, buttonholes. This culminates in the vest, which is made in one piece.

For those who have already dared to enter the world of weaving, one point that the founder of La Tejería considers important is to choose basic/simple projects and thus avoid frustration. “You can search for keywords on YouTube or Pinterest, and you find interesting projects.”

Although online learning is possible and a good alternative, for her it will always be best to take a workshop or learn from someone close who knows. “When you don’t take a course, there are often doubts or potholes that you can hardly answer on the Internet.”

“A lot of people have been weaving for years and don’t know how to do rivets or how to close a weave,” she says. “But having a basic course, then on the internet ‘it becomes daddy’, because we can enter networks or specific fabric sectors (like Ravelry ), where there are amazing designers you can follow, and buy their patterns to keep knitting and learning the techniques.”

They also plan to launch recorded classes in the coming weeks, where you can take the workshop online at your own pace, wherever you are. “We are going to launch the course to start with chopsticks and the course to start crocheting”, she explains.

When you embark on this new manual adventure, Kamill specifies that the main thing is to maintain motivation and desire, since with this “you can learn all kinds of techniques”.

“The world of fabric is beautiful and with more and more modern designs. We can all learn, and it’s also the best way to make waiting in medical rooms, traveling and other downtime fun,” he says. “It’s time to normalize that in gatherings of friends we can take out our wool and start knitting,” she adds, laughing. “Let them not discriminate against us.”

*Prices for products in this item are updated as of April 18, 2022. Values ​​and availability may change