I have just been knitting for about 2 weeks. There are some tips I picked up during these 2 weeks.
1) Get the tool that makes it comfortable for you
There are mostly aluminium and bamboo needles out there. I didn't really research on which material is better, I got both of them. But I feel that the aluminium one is more comfortable and smooth to use, because of the smooth metal surface. The bamboo one, on the other hand, has a rougher surface, which makes it difficult to cross the needles. Everyone would have his/her preferred material, for me, it is the aluminium needle.
2) Get the necessary accessories
Accessories are called accessories, but they are really quite a necessity for beginners. I started without any of them, and it was quite inconvenient even to start on a simple project. Markers, crochet (not an accessory strictly), row counter, tapestry needle (this is must-have), needle stopper etc. They seem unimportant, but they would be a great help for beginners. Especially for markers and row counter, they are needed because beginners tend to take longer to figure out the stitches, and it is easy to forget where you have last stopped your work.
3) Either use the measurement or the number of rows
I shall not talk about my first failed project, but my second one was not any better. I picked a project that says "... until the fabric measures 6 inches ...". I didn't have a lot of resources, so I didn't use the stated needle size and yarn weight for the work. I thought I could just measure 6 inches for the gauge I got using my own needle and yarn. The front piece was alright, the back piece gave me problem. I measured 6 inches for the back piece, but it turns out that the back piece is 1 row less than the front piece! This means that I won't be able to sew the 2 pieces together, row-by-row, so I skipped 1 row for the front piece in order to patch with the back piece. Bad idea. So, if you have a lack of resources, and you insist on using a different needle size and yarn, then I would suggest using number of rows as a gauge, because the fabric may stretch and your measurement may turn out to be inaccurate.
4) Try to have a spare pair of needles and some spare yarn
They are useful to help you troubleshoot when you have done something wrong. I did a complicated row containing the knit-below stitch (a knit-below is complicated for a beginner), and I did the row wrong half-way. I was so devastated because I spent a lot of time ensuring that the earlier 30 rows are done right. If I do this row wrong, it means all the effort is gone! I could not give up what I have done so far, so I Google-ed for solution. And to my disappointment, there is nothing about fixing a knit-below stitch! I decided to knit this stitch on another pair of needle, and do a slow-motion undo of the steps. It worked! I'm so glad I had an extra pair of needles and some spare yarn. Maybe you should keep these in case you want to try out my slow-motion undo troubleshooting technique.
