Studio Notes 01. Hosting a Knitting Workshop for Absolute Beginners

The beginning

About two weeks before this year’s autumn equinox, the idea of hosting a knitting workshop suddenly came to my mind, and I ended up hosting it in the September, right before the the equinox.

The workshop was offered for free. After posting in a local group and on social media, I already had the max of 6 sign-ups. As a seasoned knitter, I obviously had some spare needles and yarn that can be used as teaching materials, but there was still lots of work to do: planning, book the room, write the handout and resource, and think about how to teach knitting for the first time.

Design the workshop program

The scope: including the purl stitch to introduce concepts

Most knitting workshops for absolute beginners don’t teach the purl stitch, since cast-on, knit and bind-off are enough to cover the basics and finish a sample. Teaching purl to complete beginners is not impossible, but less common, especially in a 2-hour in-person session.

However, since I’m teaching English knitting, my thought was that purling is not much different from the knit stitch. More importantly, it’s a great way to introduce the concept of RS/WS (right side/wrong side) along with stockinette stitch. Garter stitch is reversible and looks the same on both sides, which isn’t very helpful for explaining the Right and Wrong Side, while with stockinette stitch it’s much easier to understand. I think concepts like this are the hard part when you’re learning on your own (I struggled a lot for this when I was a self-taught beginner), so this is exactly where learning from an experienced knitter helps the most.

Another reason I really wanted to introduce stockinette stitch is that this is the stitch we see every day on store-bought sweaters. I could amaze my students by showing them the iconic knitted “V” and the connection between what they were working on and what they see in their daily life. And in fact, they WERE amazed. It’s always fascinating to realize the connection between a concept and a real-life example. Garter stitch, on the other hand, doesn’t offer this WOW effect, as it’s less commonly used and therefore less obvious.

I also put some thought into distinguishing a few terms. These were among the few things that confused me in the beginning, along with the concept of RS/WS. So this is my own creation, sorting “stitches” into two categories:

• Knit/purl stitch: refers to the method of working a SINGLE stitch
• Garter/stockinette stitch: describes the look of the texture, created by a combination of MULTIPLE stitches

Regarding RS/WS, what confused me the most as a beginner was that I didn’t know which side was RS or WS. I briefly explained to them that there isn’t a right or wrong way; it simply refers to which side we WANT the fabric to show. For example, with stockinette stitch, 90% of the time we want the V side to be the RS.

The way of holding the yarn

I’m proficient in both English and Continental knitting, but I have no doubt that English knitting, or “throwing”, is much easier for absolute beginners to learn. This is how I was taught when I learned from YouTube, and based on my observation, English knitting doesn’t require as much hand-eye coordination from beginners, since they don’t need to hold and tension the yarn in their left hand all the time like they do in Continental knitting. Hence, English knitting is my way to go when teaching in person.

The debate of yarn and needles

I only have metal needles, as I’m not a fan of bamboo or wooden needles (they feel too warm in my hand). I went back and forth on whether metal was a good option for beginners, since I hear all the time that wooden needles are the best for beginners because they’re less slippery. I also only had enough circular needles instead of single pointed needles for everyone, but I didn’t think that would be a problem, as single-pointed straight needles are less popular these days. I explained this at the beginning of the class and showed them the different options though, just for future context.

Writing the teaching materials

I planned to have two teaching materials: one is a printed handout that they would use during the workshop, the other is a post-workshop PDF for them to review after the workshop, should they are interested in continue. At the end, it took me two evenings to organize all the content.

In-class handout

My students are all Mandarin speakers, so I researched the Chinese equivalents for cast-on, knit, purl and bind-off, in case they want to know them. It’s a good learning opportunity for me too.

I think video tutorials would be helpful both during and after the workshop. During the workshop, in case I’m busy with someone, students can at least watch the video and follow the instructions on their own before I come over for 1-on-1 help. Because it’s a printed handout, I added QR codes of the YouTube links so they can scan and watch(obviously, you can’t click a link on a paper).

Another consideration is that they will most likely need to refresh their memory after the workshop if they decide to start a project. Because there are literally dozens of ways to cast on or hold the yarn, I specifically searched for video tutorials using the EXACT SAME method I was teaching, so that they wouldn’t feel unfamiliar or confused. Of course, I also told them that if they’ve seen other people do it differently, it’s completely normal and there’s nothing wrong with them.

The video tutorials turn out to be very useful. One of my students was late, but she was able to catch up with the help of the video and her neighbour student while I was busy helping others.

Post-workshop resources

This one was easier than the in-class handout, because it was meant for students who are interested in continuing their knitting journey.

To get started, I included a short list of common mistakes they might encounter, along with key search words for each, since a YouTube video would explain a single topic better.

I also wrote a brief section about equipment, because in knitting there are just too many options. I’ve already covered this in my other blog, so I borrowed from that content and suggested some options to consider.

As for patterns: of course, as a Ravelry lover, I couldn’t leave it out of the resource page. Ravelry alone would be enough, but in case they don’t know where to start, I picked 3 absolute-beginner-friendly knitting patterns with different technique requirements.

I also recommended some good-quality YouTube channels and a list of local yarn stores (we all know, as beginners we always tend to start with the equipment!)

Housekeeping: the place and communications

My first thought was to do it in a cafe. But ChatGPT told me though it sounds interesting but it doesn’t fit for a workshop, as I need to constantly move to check up others, and the space is likely squeezed. Another important cons is that cafe is usually quite loud, with people talking around and often loud background music, which isn’t suitable for teaching. In addition we usually need to buy something to seat there, and I don’t want that to be an impacting factor. Luckily, our local public library check off all boxes, with the only requirement of booking in advance, so I called and booked a room at my nearby library. The room and table is big enough for all of us, but I felt moving around was still crowded because the table is too big and there’re limited space between the table and the wall.

I used Discord to manage communications. There’re one or two who’s not familiar with it, but it was really effective. I went with the simple way and just start a group chat and pin the message of location and workshop time for visibility. Great communications tool.

On the day, and takeaways

On the day of the workshop, it went so smoothly and everything works as I expected! I was able to cover everything I want to teach, and in the end, everyone learned cast-on, both knit and purl stitch, and bind-off! One of them knitted scarves before so she picked it up very quickly by refreshing the muscle memory, so I barely need to pay attention to her work. For others some learned slower and some faster, I didn’t waste a single minute and kept rotating and check up every one of them; for me it was interesting to see how everyone learned it differently.

In terms of takeaways, I’m thinking 6 people for a 2-hour knitting session is the maximum, maybe even too many. I rarely had any time to pause, and just kept rotating between each person for 1-on-1 debugging, help and check-ups, so I was very busy the whole time. Thankfully, there’s a student re-learned the craft quickly and didn’t require my help at all. TBH I was a bit worried students might feel impatient waiting for their turn, but rotating did make sure everybody stayed on the same page. A good approach I’ve taken (actually, an advice from ChatGPT) is that I only asked them to do ONE step at a time, e.g. instead of demonstrating the entire knit stitch motion, I asked them to insert the needle, stop right here, I check up on everyone, and then continue. This way is probably more digestible and guarantee a success rate.

After the workshop, I realized there are indeed people who benefit from an in-person workshop, which I didn’t quite understand when there are so many free tutorials online. Having somebody teach you to knit can save you lots of confusion at the beginning and help you navigate the early stage.

The survey

I also sent a post-workshop survey to collect feedback, and the workshop was very well received. All responses said the pace was just right and it was easy to learn, and all of them felt I provided the right amount of check-ups and help. A few mentioned that cast-on and bind-off were the hardest parts, and suggested it would be great to have different ways of explaining how to wrap the yarn. So that’s something I’ll need to think about.

Cover Photo by Nik on Unsplash