Are you new to knitting or crocheting? You’re probably wondering what project you should try to tackle first. Some recommend granny squares or amigurumi to new crocheters. To me those aren’t the best beginner projects.
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What makes a good beginner project?
Honestly, the best beginner project is one you want to do. So like any advice, weigh mine, take what you want, and leave the rest. After all, what’s the point if you’re not enjoying yourself? That being said, I feel there are a few different features that make a project good for beginners.
One feature is that the project is small and quick to finish. When you’re just beginning in anything it’s good to have quick wins to keep up your enthusiasm. If you tackle a huge project your enthusiasm will probably lag and it might spoil your interest in the hobby.
Another feature is something that has lots of patterns to choose from. This gives you a better chance of finding a pattern that excites you. It also gives you lots of chances to learn new stitches and all while using a pattern.
The third feature is to make something that you don’t have to worry about getting it looking perfect. If you make something that is utilitarian (made to be used and abused) then you likely won’t have to live with the mistakes made forever. When the item wears out you can just recycle the yarn into something else, be it another project or just as stuffing for something.
What about granny squares?
Not that I feel I should have to say this, but I’m not trying to pass judgement on people who think these are good beginner projects. I’m sure they have their reasoning. Just because I don’t agree with them doesn’t mean they’re bad people.
I’ve seen granny squares being used as beginner projects by some. Why I think that isn’t ideal is mostly the open form of the granny square. It makes it harder to hide mistakes and to weave in ends. Plus unless you’re getting creative with them and using them in unconventional ways you have to do several of them, okay LOTS of them, in order to make a blanket. This can be overwhelming even to experienced crocheters. Also overwhelming is the decision fatigue you can end up when faced with all the possibilities of how to join or edge those squares.
What about those amigurumi kits?
There are companies using amigurumi as a gateway project into crochet. Those projects do look cute and they market them very heavily. To me, they’re setting people up for frustration.
First of all, you have the kit concept itself. I’m generally not fond of recommending kits to beginners if I’ve not used them myself. There may not be enough materials to account for differences in tension. Running out of materials from a kit would be incredibly frustrating. If you were using regular yarn you can just get more. Sure, you might have to deal with dye lot issues, but usually that’s not a huge deal.
Getting into the project itself, I think it’s intimidating to have someone not familiar with the craft work in the round. When working in the round it’s very easy to lose track of stitches and lose count. Even working a straight project, mine and my daughters’ early projects had a lot of crooked edges due to losing stitches. Working in the round I feel it would be much worse.
Also, with these kits you’re making something that has no value except as a decoration (maybe a kids’ toy). So, in essence, the company is encouraging the crafter to immortalize their early struggles. The new crafter may even give up completely on the craft because to them they clearly don’t have what it takes to do it well.
Overall, it’s just not a very beginner friendly project.
So what are good beginner projects?
In my humble opinion, washcloths are. They are quick to make. Even as a beginner you’re not going to be struggling for hours on end with one. Especially if you pick a simpler pattern.
There are TONS of washcloth patterns out there. You’re sure to find at least one that looks interesting to you. Yes, there’s decision fatigue here but with projects it’s easier to limit options compared to edgings or joinings.
With washcloths, it’s also easy to practice just a new stitch without a pattern. Simply make a row of that stitch and then keep repeating it until it’s about washcloth size or until you’re tired of it.
There’s not as much pressure when you’re making washcloths. You’re making something that will eventually wear out and need to be replaced. So your mistake isn’t going to live forever, just until the washcloth falls apart.
Another perk is that washcloths work well when made out of cotton. Cotton yarn tends to be some of the least expensive natural fiber yarn you can buy. Knit Picks’ Dishie yarn (affiliate link) is my favorite washcloth cotton. Dishie and other cotton yarns come in lots of colors, including multicolored ones. This lets you pick colors to match kitchen or bathroom color schemes or just your favorite colors. As an additional cost-saving bonus, for most washcloths you use so little of the yarn you can get several washcloths out of just one ball of yarn.
My beginner projects
My first crochet project was a hat and scarf set I made for our oldest daughter when she was really little. The scarf was little more than a stitch sampler I made up on my own for practicing the various sizes of crochet stitches.
When I began to pick up knitting again here recently my first project was a washcloth. The result was NOT attractive. But I learned lots of lessons. I did a scarf after that, but it was very tedious because it took a really long time to finish.
What was your first project? Or what kind of beginner projects do you recommend?
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