I learned from a friend, who sent me home with That Book, and I taught myself to purl from it. But my next book was Sally Melville's The Knit Stitch, and I found it much more helpful than SnB.

Stash enhancement. Get her excited about yarn, colour, texture, send he rloads of patterns, and let her imagination do the rest. If she's got the bug, the rest will follow....oh yeah, and what everyone else said.

I can't beliee that you didn't ask. Of course I'd be happy to teach her! Uh, where does she live? Is there train?

The Art of Knitting DVD (www.theartofknitting.com) is a cool way to learn knitting. If she doesn't want to buy it, tell her to check out her library as many of them have it now.

I took a community ed. class about 5 years ago- but then put down my needles after making one hat. I picked my needles up again in December to make a blanket for my soon-to-be-in-the-world niece. I am now obsessed and want to spend all day knitting :)

While there are tons of great books, my most favorite quick resource right now is www.knittinghelp.com. It is the most amazing thing. Little audio/video clips of how to do lots of things. She covers both Continental and English knitting. I only have dial-up so download is lengthy (that's where a quick book look-up is helpful). But, if she has a faster connection, I think it is a great way to get started.

what a great story! i have no good advice about teaching how to knit--but i'm happy to get the encouragement that maybe there is still hope for my friends. good luck to her!!

I taught myself using the instructions on the Vogue Knitting website. They're really clear. A group of us meet most Fridays around noon at KnitNY. If she can get downtown at lunchtime, she's welcome to join us. Have her email me if she's interested. We'd be happy to get her started.

I learned in a beginning knit class at a LYS (in Milwaukee, 20 yrs ago). I really think that's the best way, b/c if it's a good shop, they can answer almost all of her questions and there will be other people learning at various speeds so she won't be the only one. As for books, EZ's Knitting Without Tears is a book I wish I'd known about when I started. Debbie Bliss's book "How to Knit" (published about 5-10 years ago) is a fabulous reference book, as is The Mary Thomas Knitting (Dover).

if she lives in NY i would send her to the same knitting store you mention at the very beginning - yarn connection - to take one of their beginners classes. i didn't learn to knit from them but i did take a very good color knitting class there. they may not be the best yarn store in the city in terms of stock, but i think they are BY FAR the best teachers. MUCH better than either yarn company or the bitchy story on sixth ave.

It's an ugly looking book, but I learned to knit from Knitting for Dummies. The directions and illustrations are extremely clear (and the illustrations are nice and big so you don't end up squinting at them trying to figure out what is going on). I find that some authors seem to have forgotten about the stupid questions you have at the beginning, but this book takes the time to explain and illustrate everything step by step.

e-mail me and i'll give you my phone number - she can call me and i'll teach her the basics for free - i live in williamsburg but i work in manhattan (i like yarn connection - used to work around the corner, they are very nice but it's SOOOO packed in there - but i digress) - so it's not hard for me to meet her at a coffeehouse somewhere and help her out. just cause i like your blog so much - and maybe next time i'm in Paris(if u r still there) you can buy me a Panache(don't have the little accent thing for the e)

Wait, we are all members of the connected blog world , just find one of us close to Blossom. You know any of your blogging friends would be happy to teach her. And do you really trust her to just any LYS, or book. I am just outside of Portland, Oregon, if she is close I would be happy to help.

Wait - you of the distanceless blog world are asking that? So where is Blossom, and what blogger do you read that lives near Blossom? Don't you think the human touch is better and do you really trust sending her in unaided to a LYS. So where is Blossom and just ask for volunteers. Anyone will teach knitting for friends and coffee!!

Why not go to the Yarn Connection and take a class? I happened to go there yesterday, and the owner, Jane, has a little sign up for beginner's classes. Blossom would be going back to her roots!

In terms of books, I like the Harmony Guides' Knitting Techniques, EZ's Knitter's Almanac, and Mary Walker Phillips Step-by-Step Knitting (which is 'vintage' with some dated patterns, but a little more interesting than the average basic beginner book. I got it online for 3 or 4 dollars. I agree that having someone to show you is great; if she's still in New York, I'd suggest Yarnivore/Church of Craft or Brooklyn General. Nice folk who are happy to show you a few things.

I highly recommend the Yarn Girls' Guide. I read a couple of books, and then sat down with a friend for an afternoon. From then on I have been on my own and the Yarn Girls' great instructions have come to my rescue several times.

As long as you're there to answer email that sure helps. My mom taught me basics ages ago but I continue to buy books, read blogs, and look and figure things out. I think I'd recommend the Melville books too but you know, blogs and the internet (the Do It Yourself Network site, eg) are nice = can you guess I'm a more introverted knitter? Classes are fine but I never took one so I have no idea what they are like.

My mother taught me, but that was years ago, and the VERY basics. When I began knitting again, I taught myself as I went along, mainly using books. I'd recommend Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Without Tears. EZ is very good at giving ideas, and encouraging knitters to not rely solely on patterns. Also for an in-depth reference, the Reader's Digest Knitter's Handbook by Montse Stanley. It's photos are a bit dated, but it has answered every question I have ever had.

Try MeetUp.com - that's the group I first joined. There's a SnB group but it's huge, the MeetUp group is about 10 ladies, sometimes only 2 or 3 of us, just the right size for me. My only cost is a cup of hot chocolate :)

The LYS has "Drop In Knitting" but it's $10 a session. Nice way to get help when you need it, but I'm all about freebies. And hot chocolate.

Go to the nearest LYS with a workshop-type class - one where everyone is working at their own pace on their own projects. I've been in one for 5 years now and still learn things. It's great to be exposed to other fibers, designs and ideas. It's also necessary to have a great reference book - I like Vogue's (the big one), but there are many out there to suit different learning styles. The Sally Melville knit and purl books are good, too, with projects as well, but they are not reference books in the strictest sense. It's also a good thing to take a more advanced "techniques" class at least once a year.

I learned from books, but I've also found the website www.knittinghelp.com invaluable when it comes to the finer points of increases, decreases, etc. It has wonderful little videos that open right there on the screen and demonstrate the technique in English or continental method, and it covers all the basic stuff like knitting and purling and casting on, too. But if your friend has any other acquaintances who knit, I'm sure they'd be delighted to help her get started.

My mom taught me the basic knit and purl stitch when I was younger, but I picked up 'The Yarn Girls Guide to Simple Knits' a few years ago and was hooked. It's a much smaller, and slightly less intimidating that SnB (though I do love the SnB books).

The book has great illustrations, so it's easy to be able to cast on and start with something simple like a scarf.

Felted bags are also fun, and it would be a good way to learn picking up stitches and using circular needles.

I live in CT outside of NYC, so there are alot of classes in my area... certainly a great way to learn. My LYS (at least, the ones in NYC I consider my LYS's) are very young and hip, which is fun too.

I don't know of any specific good ones, but I think videos would really help. And definitely, in-the-flesh coaching and encouragement in the form of other knitters. And Maggie Righetti's *Knitting in Plain English.* The illustrations in the Vogue Knitting guides are good, too.

I went to my local yarn shop and signed up for a class. I loved it. I learned and met other newbie knitters who are now my knitting buddies. And it's nice to have enrything you need (and didn't know you needed) on hand in the shop while you are learning new techniques.

I learned from my Mom when I was 30. She helped me when I got stuck on a pattern, stitches, and finishing. Since you are far away, perhaps suggesting good beginner projects would be helpful. Patterns that are easy to follow and produce beautiful results are encouraging to a new knitter, and helps build confidence so she can move on to the next project.

Connoisseur. It's early. I can't spell without more coffee...

The felted bag idea is a good one too...if she likes felted bags. And with Sophie you can make cool beaded handles instead of the regular handle if you like...it's a good opportunity to be creative and make something you really love to use. Unlike the itchy red raglan...whose current location is a mystery...

self taught basically. someone showed me how to cast on and then i got stuck, frogged and had to start over without a clue how to do it. so thanks to the internet, and the best knitting book ever (knitter's handbook by m. stanley) even though it has 1970's style illustrations, i'm a knitter. now we teach people through our local group, in stitches. i completely understand about the snb overkill....

While I'm not s huge fan of the SnB book, the groups are really a great place to learn. There are so many of them, too, that one should be pretty close.

I learned when I was young from my grandma. Since that option doesn't seem available I'd recommend her going to a local SnB. When my sister or I teach people we have them make felted purses first (sophie bag from magknits). They are easy, don't have to fit anyone, and the felting hides numerous mistakes.

If she were my friend I'd tell her what to buy to make the bag and then help her find a group to go to that doesn't mind helping newbies. Or maybe she could come visit you for a week and you could teach her the basics to get her started.

I too taught myself, using a combination of a Coats & Clark CDRom and random internet tutorials. I do think it would have been easier to have someone teach me. I asked my grandmother, but managed to teach myself before she had a chance.

I tried to teach myself when I was ten, because I could crochet and thought well, what the heck, I'll bet knitting is just as easy. Not. Didn't work. The next time I tried learning was at a January term course at college. It took and I knit like crazy, and I had a knitting buddy. I think your friend should find a group of knitters, for sure, but also investigate classes at an LYS. Preferably a hipper LYS than the one that sponsored my course...I still remember the sweater I made, and it fit fine, but it was the most boring pattern on the face of the earth and it was equally boring to wear. Its only saving grace was that it was red. But it itched.

As her friend and a connaisseur of all sorts of yarn, you could recommend something to her that she will love to touch, at least. That's key. A first sweater in a crappy, itchy wool is often a last sweater ;-)

I learned from books and what really made everything click for me was that CD that they sell at JoAnn and other places... I can't remember the name, but seeing the stitch made, and being able to rewind over and over really helped me. It was like "Aha!" you know? I also got a corny knitting pamphlet thing at JoAnn's for teen girls that had silly, basic projects but was written so simply that it was one of the most helpful things for me too. Every project added a new skill and they built on each other, just scarves and a soda can cozy, a cat toy, etc. And Knitting Pretty was my favorite book for starting out, way easier for me to use than Stitch N Bitch, Weekend Knitting, etc, even though I love all of those books too. Just some ideas from a relative newbie in CT!

heide

I was fortunate enough to find a teacher. One of the patients at the doctor's office where I work would knit in the waiting room. When I asked if she would teach me she was more than willing. Every Saturday for about a month I would drive to her house for lessons. She had learned the Continental method from her German grandmother and that's the way she taught me. Interestingly, because her granny only spoke German, my teacher only understood knitting in German. She never learned to read patterns in English. She was able to teach me the basics of cast on, knit and purl but after that I was on my own. So, like you, there's been lots of trial and error but I started out with a pretty firm foundation.

i am just now learning to knit, and i think you're right that having people to show you how makes a huge difference. i connected with the "knit and stictch" group at the local college where i can either just go for the company, or go because i need help figuring out how to join yarns or weave the ends in, etc. maybe her local yarn shop would also have ideas about groups.