It provides a fun craft activity for kids to do with items that they are familiar with (food coloring) and usually inside their pantry. The items required are inexpensive, its a great engaging activity for kids that are kinesthetic learners as well as visual learners. It’s also a good intro to kids into wool crafts ! See the full tutorial here.
Have you read?
Learning to Knit? Try a Garter Stitch Washcloth
I used to always teach people how to knit by giving them bulky yarn, teach the knit cast on and have them knit a scarf (like this garter stitch scarf). That’s still a great first project, but I acknowledge people might get bored knitting all that garter stitch before they can say they’ve finished their first knitting project. Plus they might not want to wear something that comes out a little wonky, as first knitting projects often do.
These days I’m more likely to recommend a garter stitch washcloth to a new knitter.
Washcloths are usually made with medium weight cotton yarn, which is one of the easiest yarns to find at big box stores and craft stores, and it’s usually inexpensive and comes in lots of fun colors. You only need one ball of yarn and one pair of needles to make one, so there’s not a lot of outlay in terms of supplies.
Everyone can use washcloths, and even if you drop stitches, add stitches, have weird tension issues or all of the above, it will still work as a washcloth. And you can keep that first thing you made to see how much progress you make in just a couple of projects.
And if you still want more garter stitch when it’s done, you can move on to a scarf (or even a sampler scarf if you want to try some new stitches).
That post linked above is a great one for a brand new knitter or someone who just needs a refresher, because it walks you through everything you need to know how to do to make it. There’s also a full video tutorial for people who would rather see moving images rather than still pictures.
What was the first thing you made when you learned to knit? Or if you’ve taught someone to knit, what first project did you give them? I’d love to hear about it!