Learn to knit kits are often built for children and in their way are lovely and very helpful. I have found a kit called the Knit Knack Kit, by Kris Percival that can be for children, but is also an excellent guide for adults and in addition has some intermediate lessons for beginners who want to learn more. The kit is in a durable container and has three main components, a set of circular needles and a tapestry needle, a basic instruction book and pattern cards for twenty-five projects.

First, the circular needle, the weakest part of the kit, they are plastic with a stiff cord, but with a few minutes and some hot water the kinks came out of the cord and it became more flexible. Most kits come with straight needles and in my experience most people have learned on straight needles, but many people find straight needles hard to manipulate and keep track of while learning to knit. Circular needles allow the new knitter to set one side down while figuring out what to do with the yarn without losing a needle.

Second, the instruction book, it is small enough to travel with you for easy reference. The book has easy to follow instructions for both American and Continental style knitting with very clear illustrations. I suggest you try both and see what is most comfortable to you and the author agrees. Ms. Percival covers all of the basics, casting on, increasing, decreasing, joining and blocking. My only criticism is in the blocking section, where she states, “Never use blocking to try to stretch or shrink two knit pieces so they match each other. It doesn’t work.” It does work within reason, I often use blocking to make afghan squares uniform and have never had problems. In addition, I’ve increased the width of a garment by two inches with blocking (I do have to re-block it after washing).

Finally, the 25 pattern cards of projects are durable, and compact. At 6 1/2 inches by 4 1/2 inches or 12 cm. by 16 cm. they too fit well in a project bag and are made out of sturdy card stock so can take some battering around in a knitting bag. The projects are not exclusively designed for children which is what makes this kit unique. Each card has a picture, difficulty level (1 to 4), list of what you need, the techniques you will use and the corresponding page in the instruction book and the directions. The cards also have a section called Improvisation ideas, where you can customize the project to your own taste or try something a bit harder.

This would make a lovely gift for someone you know who wants to learn to knit or expand their knitting knowledge, but isn’t necessarily a child or even a nice gift for yourself.