the internet: your own personal knitting tutor

the boy hat, for Mr. Snickerdoodle
in Malabrigo worsted (SFO Sky)

This crazy thing we call the internet has shaken the craft world up in a major way, wouldn't you say?

Take knitting, for instance. Back in the olden days, if you wanted to learn how, you had to find someone to teach you-- in person. And really, that's probably still the best way.

But what about those of us who weren't blessed with knitting grandmas (or anybody else we knew)? Or when you're really confused about a knitting technique at one o'clock in the morning? Internet to the rescue!

When I wanted to learn to knit it didn't seem like I knew a soul who could teach me. I borrowed some knitting how-to books from the library and tried to teach myself, but that was a complete disaster. So I turned to the internet and learned by watching the free instructional videos at knittinghelp.com. The videos you'll find there cover all the basics of knitting and they're very clear and easy to understand. And you can watch them over and over and over and over-- without feeling like you're taxing the patience of your teacher.

That's right, thanks to the wonders of the interweb, you've now got a personal knitting (or any other craft, really) tutor who won't ever get impatient with you, and is always ready to teach when you're ready to learn-- even in the middle of the night. And free! Did I mention free?

Nothing will crush a blossoming interest in knitting like a lack of good patterns. So, once you've got the basics down, head over to ravelry (I'm doulamama there-- drop in and say hi!) and knitty for access to lots of fresh, fun and free patterns for all ability levels.

Speaking of instructional crafting videos, YouTube is choc full of 'em-- not just for knitting. They're my go-to when I'm having trouble making sense of sewing pattern instructions. Once I even learned how to solder copper pipe from a YouTube video and saved us from a $650 plumber's bill-- but that's another story for another day...