Learning to knit sounds harder than it is, here's the breakdown of my journey

“Always thought of knitting as a super complicated grandma hobby, but I was wrong”

My name is Lindsay, I’m 28, and in the summer of 2025 I started knitting for 2 reasons.

1. Winter was coming, and I wanted a sweater I’d seen online. The only way to get it was to knit it myself.
2. I was looking for something different to do with my free time.

Why I almost didn’t start

Probably like 90% of people who look into something like knitting, where you have to learn a skill that looks hard,

my brain tried to convince me it was too much for me.

Of course, you see all these videos on social media of people knitting beautiful sweaters, and their hands move so fast

it’s intimidating.

And our brain wants to escape from being bad at something. I guess it’s the discomfort.

Little did I know that a beautiful sweater doesn’t have to be hard, and the hand speed comes quicker than you’d think.

But luckily, I’m stubborn. I really wanted to be one of those people, and I wanted that sweater so badly.

The Knitting Journey Breakdown

Here I want to break down every challenge I ran into on my way from zero to sweater, so anyone who wants to start but feels scared can make the leap.

What made starting easier than I thought:

1. Video tutorials: OK, it’s really important to know just how MANY knitting tutorials there are online. That’s why I think anyone can learn from home. I did. You can find absolutely everything on YouTube, TikTok or Instagram.
2. Knitting kits: You don’t have to do much guessing when it comes to WHAT to buy. If I’d had to start from zero and buy everything separately, it would have been too much. I just wouldn’t have started.

Now some brands sell knitting kits, so you get everything you need to finish the project. You pick them by design and color, like I did with my sweater.

I just clicked, bought the kit, and got the yarn, the needles, the instructions, everything.

Just make sure it says beginner. If it’s a beginner kit and comes with a video tutorial, the only thing you’ll need is consistency to finish whatever project you choose.

The sweater I chose was the Sweet Rose Sweater by Sierra Yarn. I loved the design, and I made sure it came with everything I needed + video tutorials.

I’ll tell you more about it later.

This is the sweater I fell in love with. The Sweet Rose Sweater by Sierra Yarns

From zero to knitting in one day

Once I ordered the kit:

At this point I had already done the hardest part, which was taking the first step and deciding I would finish this sweater no matter what.

I’ll say this, though: you need the right mindset, because mistakes could happen, and a lot of people quit over one small mistake. Keep that in mind.

Knitting isn’t as hard as it looks. I’d say it’s fairly easy, but it’s not a walk in the park. At the end of the day, anything worth doing takes at least a little effort.

I spent the next 5 days getting mentally ready, and then the kit showed up at my door.

By then I’d already gotten a couple of emails from Sierra Yarn with some basic tutorials and first steps.

The first thing you do when the kit arrives is wind your skeins into balls. You just follow the video, and it’s pretty simple.

The kit came with 4 skeins, so I wound just 1 and left the other 3 in the box so I could start right away.

With my needles and yarn ready, I learned the “cast on,” which is how every project starts. It’s really simple. Then there are 2 basic stitches: knit and purl.

If you know these 3 things, which might take you... 15 minutes? You can already make a scarf. It’s really that simple.

I practiced with the videos until I got into the flow, and within a day I could honestly say I knew how to knit.

Where it actually gets hard

After learning the basics, I was ready to start my sweater.

Kits come with patterns, which are the written instructions. At first they look like they’re in another language, and honestly, they kind of are.

There are videos that teach you how to read them, too. But if you want to skip that completely, my kit had a video tutorial, so that’s what I followed. I’d still recommend learning to read patterns, though, because not every kit comes with a video.

For a sweater, you start using new techniques like knitting in the round, increases and decreases.

These are harder, and when you’re just starting out, they can get kind of confusing.

My advice: if it’s your first project, just follow the video. As you go, you’ll understand the why behind each technique, and everything starts to make sense.

So yeah, the basics are easy and fast. The hard part comes after, when you start unlocking new levels.

And like I said, if you’re consistent, finishing is kind of guaranteed.

Start Your First ProjectBeginner kits · a video for every step

How long my first sweater took

A little longer than I expected, but hey, it was a sweater. I’ve heard of people who wait 6+ years to make their first sweater, and this was literally my first project.

I made a few mistakes along the way, but I had the videos, and Sierra Yarn’s designer helped me fix them.

One more tip: if there’s a knitting group in your town, you can get help there too. I didn’t need help, but I still met other knitters near me, and that social part is honestly one of the best things about knitting.

The sweater fits really well. I like it, I feel I did a great job, and a lot of people have asked me where I bought it. Which, of course, feels amazing.

To sum it up:

The buying process: Solved with knitting kits
The learning phase: Video tutorials. Sierra Yarn taught me every technique, and the tutorial for my sweater was really well explained
The hard part: Harder techniques come as you improve, but the videos solve that too
Time it took: About a month and a half. At least I was ready for winter.

Now, about the kit I chose:

This is SUPER important. I always choose kits by design. I want to knit something that matches my style, something I’d like to have in my wardrobe, with a timeless, minimalist design.

But ALSO, there’s another factor when it comes to whether you’ll actually wear something: does it feel good on?

If a sweater looks beautiful but feels like cardboard or makes you sweat, it’s a no for me.

That’s where yarn quality comes in.

My kit’s yarn is a blend of baby alpaca (not from babies, it’s the name for the softest alpaca) and Pima cotton. It’s 100% natural fiber, it feels really soft, and it drapes amazingly.

That’s what makes a garment look expensive. Trust me, you could pick the most beautiful design, make it in acrylic, and end up hating it. It looks cheap, it feels cheap, and after 2 wears it pills and people notice.

Good yarn will make your sweater last 10+ years.

So if you’re going to start knitting and want your time to be worth it, get good yarn. One that motivates you!

Here’s the link to the kit I bought. Like I said, it came with everything you need, and the colors are amazing: