The Complete Beginner's Guide to Knitting

Thanks to Nici McNally's DVD I am fulfilling a lifelong desire to learn to knit. I have tried knitting and crochet books on and off in my life, and it just didn't work for me to learn from diagrams! Nici's DVD is well done and better than expected production quality. At times, her enthusiasm gets a tad silly, but it's just her exuberant style and she clearly loves her craft. The lessons plans are laid out well. This is not a comprehensive introduction to knitting, but it's quite adequate to get you started. Actually, it's a positive thing that it's not too overwhelming or "too much information." It's just enough to get you started on beginner projects and to help you handle the challenges you will run into. The main thing a new knitter needs is practice, and Nici doesn't want the student to get too hung up on perfection, but to just get into the knitting process and practice and learn to be comfortable and enjoy it. There is a small reference booklet and a password to her website included. Both are helpful extras. One thing I strongly recommend is that you use her specific suggestions for materials for your first project. I went to the local needlework shop to be told the knitting expert only worked when I was at work and the person waiting on me sold me an elegant yarn that was a bloody stinker to work with, so I spent most of my time tearing out my stitches that were split or other problems developed. When I purchased (online) the materials Nici recommended, things went MUCH BETTER! When in doubt, follow directions? :) I have since bought a few other reference books that are excellent reference, but I give five stars to Nici's DVD and highly recommend it if you are like me and don't feel that books help you learn basic knitting, and you want to have personal, in-home knitting lessons at your own speed and convenience. Classes would be ideal, but not everyone has access to that. An onsite instructor could help you figure out some of your bloopers, but Nici assures you that ripping out some of your knitting is part of the process, so you get any aversion to that out of the way right off! Her troubleshooting section helps you to recognize and fix pitfalls. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I didn't feel I was knitting in an hour or two. I was flubbing around with stitches pretty quickly, but I felt for a while that I was "de-knitting" more than knitting as I ripped out problems and tried to figure out where my extra stitches were coming from, but the answers were in the DVD. But I am finishing my first scarf now and my knitting is starting to feel relaxing and enjoyable. I'm really quite pleased how well this simple first project is turning out and dreaming about my future projects. I am convinced that the key is to start with simple patterns and progress with more challenges, rather than frustrate oneself with something so complicated that you can't get the stitches right or figure out what the pattern is calling for next. Nici provides enough patterns to keep you practicing for quite a while on safe footing until you feel ready to take on more complex projects. Her follow-on DVD is supposed to be coming, though I have read that there seem to be some serious problems with the release. I have enjoyed good success with my beginner DVD, and I would not hesitate to purchase DVDs containing more advanced instruction by Nici McNally should it become available.

I am not good with reading instructions and translating that to real life. Not even with great drawings. But I was able to follow the clear, and simple instructions presented in this DVD! I loved sitting in front of the TV with my DVD remote by my side, knitting needles in my hands and yarn hanging from my fingers! I was knitting in just a few minutes and am absolutely hooked on it! That was two weeks ago and now I want to try new things and wish that I could find a DVD format for some more advance techniques. I most appreciated the way the DVD is set up and the personality of the teacher. She is very pleasant, talks slowly enough to be easily understood without being annoying or condescending. I felt like I was learning from an aquaintance . . . one with a lot of patience! The DVD stops at just the right moments and you can easily repeat sections as many times as you need to or jump to whatever interests you. There is an "emergency" secion that is invaluable! I was adding stitches like mad until she showed me exactly where I went wrong -- turns out it is a common mistake and very easy to correct once you see her clear explanation and video. Just a terrific resource that I will probably be coming back to frequently. I am not a big 'scarf' person and that is the only project included in the little booklet included with the video. But she teaches the basics of knitting and purling which is all it takes to create various patterns (garter, stockinette, seed, basket weave, etc.). Rather than full-fledges scarves, I made short "scarves" using cotton yarn and called them dish clothes. I also tried various patterns and combinations on with other types of yarn we had around the house and my daughter has happily employed these as blankets for her hundreds of beanie babies. There is a LOT you can do with a simple scarf pattern even if you're not a scarf person! I've now started making stuffed balls using four double pointed needles and am anxious to make a hat on a circular needle as soon as I find a suitable pattern! This DVD was a terrific start for me!

When I quit smoking I decided to learn how to knit to keep my hands busy. But I seem to have three left thumbs and all the rest are toes and so by age 55 I figured it was impossible for me to learn this mysterious craft. At first the video seems too elementary, but I actually needed every bit of her instructions. The video is very clear and concise, and the angle of the camera catches the needles, the yarn, and the stitches perfectly. Nici covers everything you need to know, like English and Continental ways to knit, gauges, increasing, decreasing, binding off, adding yarn, OMG, just everything a new knitter needs to know. I especially like ( and need) the "First Aid" section, which covers all possible mistakes that can be made, and not only how to recognize and identify which mistake you just made, but how to go back and fix it, with close ups of the yarn and positions of the needles and the stitches. It is not as scary as you might think!! Though I haven't actually made anything yet since I bought this video ( about 2 weeks), I have been having fun practicing different things with different size needles and yarn, like gauges, and some actual stitch patterns, getting braver and braver. I think I might be ready to try a beginner or easy pattern to make an actual thing. If I make a mistake or drop a stitch ( worst case scenario) I know how to fix it. If you're just starting out in knitting, and you hold your needles like chop sticks, and your "projects" end up as wads of knots, try this video! Knitting is not only a fun pastime, but also a practical one, and if you don't know how to do it and want to learn, this video can show you how. Update 19 April 2017: You might not believe this but now I am a qualified spiffy knitter! I have made projects using cable stitches, entrelac, fair isle, lace stitches, and every other difficult level stitches I can find, and all because this dvd showed me that knitting is not the mysterious and difficult craft that I originally thought. ( thanks Nici !!). If there's anyone else out there ( besides me) who has seen beautifully knitted items and fantasized about being able to do it, thinking only nimble fingered rocket scientists could do it, please get this video. Knitting has proven to be the most pleasant pastime, and as an extra bonus, in addition to meeting many other really talented knitters in a knitters group, it also helped ( and continues to help) me quit smoking.

This is a great DVD! I really like it! Nici seems really clear and she knows what she is doing. The only tiny thing I truly wished this DVD had was English subtitles. The only reason I wish for subtitles is because I'm deaf and hard of hearing so I can't always catch every single word without lipreading. But, it does show excellent demonstrations! I like it. I would give it 4 and 1/2 stars because of no subtitles.

I learned to knit in a quick instruction from some yarn store employees. I did well until I went home and promptly forgot what I was doing. When I remembered enough to restart, I made several little mistakes like yarning over and accidentally reversing the yarn direction. What was harder to learn in person, because the teacher(s) either went too fast and I was unable to see exactly what was happening, or too embarassed to ask a 2nd or 3rd time, was easy with this dvd. I could pause it, look at all the particulars, such as where the yarn should be hanging, imitate it and repeat it if necessary. You don't even have to manually rewind - she includes a "show me again" option at the end of every step. She even covers common mistakes and pitfalls before you have a chance to make them. Excellent! This particular DVD is uniquely excellent in that it pauses itself for about 3 seconds after it shows you something tricky, giving you enough time to regroup, then restarts itself and continues. Additionally, at the end of logical sections, it pauses indefinitely until you manually unpause it to go to the next section. This is invaluable. This DVD production uses all the strengths of the DVD format to its advantage. I'd tried free internet videos and while they were excellent, the inability to pause or slow motion hindered me. Also, the video is superior to the American Knitter series (which is also pretty good) in terms of the cleanness of production. The backgrouds are all white, close-up and the hostess is very wholesome looking, as opposed to the American Knitter hostess sitting in a darker room with less than optimum colored yarn and very long fingernails that seem to distract and upset a lot of reviewers! I was able to learn from her despite those objections, but the difference between the two is like using a dictionary for reference like this DVD, or using targeted paragraphs of fiction with words in context, yet not as reference-like - like the American Knitter program. The American Knitter multi disc does go farther in depth, but this DVD here is the cleanness, easiest way to learn to knit properly that I've ever seen! Thanks.

OMG! Using this DVD really helped my knitting take off! I am a complete beginner, who was at first intimidated by knitting, but this DVD is very clear, easy, and helpful beyond belief. It wasn't hard at all to follow along with each new step, and it would pause automatically after certain steps to let you catch up (working at your own pace), then you could continue when you were ready for the next step. DVD is also very easy to navigate and find different chapters to learn from. It showed different ways to cast on, how to hold your needles, knit and purl stitches, working with continental or english methods, introducing new yarn/color, binding off/casting off, etc. The instructor is very sweet and personable, and made it feel like I had my very own personal teacher helping me along in a friendly, fun, and very encouraging manner. I worked my first sample with cast on, knit and purl stitches, yarn color change, then cast off. It's not perfect, but it looks nice and I'm so proud of myself for making it, because to be honest, I didn't think I could even do as much as I did on my first try! I will keep using this DVD to practice and improve, and along with Kids Learn to Knit by Lucinda Guy (which had a much easier way to cast on for me to learn), I am finally entering the wonderful world of knitting and enjoying it. For the absolute basics of knitting, give this DVD a try, you won't regret it! ^^ Bob's Wife, Lillia~

I knit something very few years so forget how to start by the time I pick up the needles again. This is better instruction than I’ve seen anywhere else. Clearly filmed many years ago - but who cares! The instruction is basic and clear. So happy I found this years ago. I haven’t seen anything as clear and concise as this

I ordered this DVD and received it in about a week. I put it in the DVD player and nothing happened, it didn't work. I sent an e-mail to the seller and had a new DVD in about a week. I put it in and it was great. You get wonderful close-ups for knitting and purling as well as casting on. Unfortunately, when the DVD got to Chapter 4, it froze up and went back to the main menu. I clicked on Chapter 4 again, got a blank screen and then back to the main menu again. This DVD is excellent, if you get one that works. I told my sister about it, she ordered it, and the DVD that she received doesn't work. Then, much to my surprise, without even asking, I received a third DVD a few days ago that works great. Of the three knitting DVD's that I have, this is definitely the best. Nici goes slowly and lets you catch up before going on to the next step. The camera close-ups are excellent and the instructions are very clear. I think that anyone who wants to learn to knit should get this DVD because they'll be knitting and purling very quickly. If I could change my rating, I would make it five stars.