I could give you a long list of beautiful, fun tools that I LOVE to have in my knitting bag. But if you’re just beginning, you may not want to invest in all the bits & pieces just yet. The ESSENTIAL tools come down to just 6 things: needles, yarn, scissors, stitch markers, darning needle & a measuring device.

Why would anyone take in-person knitting lessons when you can learn for free on YouTube? To be perfectly honest, YouTube is where I turn to learn new skills.  But as we enter a possible 3rd year of the pandemic, we see people flocking to in-person classes!  Is it just that we’re all sick of the pandemic?  Well, yeah.  But also, in-person classes (especially in-person knitting classes!) have many benefits over online learning.

According to a 2017 survey by the Craft Yarn Council, more than twice as many people responded that they prefer crochet to knitting.  51% of respondents prefer to crochet, 20% love both skills and 29% prefer to knit.  So, those of us who knit are in the slight minority!  71% enjoy crochet, and only 49% enjoy knitting.

Knitting has had a boon in recent years.  When Covid first hit in 2020, and everyone was staying home, DIY everything became a major fad.  But this increased interest in crafting hasn’t waned much as people have returned to work.  New knitters have found so many benefits to knitting, that they just keep coming back!