Knitting or crochet: which is easier to learn?
How the two crafts differ in your hands, what each makes best, and why we teach them side by side.
From Weeks 1–4Beginner help · free guides
Knitting and crochet help for beginners
Short, practical fixes for the problems beginners really run into: work that grows or shrinks, stitches that won’t behave, and patterns that seem to be written in code. Each guide is written from a class in our course, Cast On Together, with UK terms first and US terms in brackets.
Getting started
How to start knitting: kit and first stitches
What to buy, how to read a ball band, casting on, and your first knit and purl rows.
From Weeks 1–2Knitting fixes
Why is my knitting getting wider?
Extra stitches, almost always at the edges: how to find them, undo them and stop them.
From Weeks 2 and 4Why is my knitting too tight (or loose)?
How to hold the yarn so every stitch, knitted or crocheted, comes out the same size.
From Week 3How to fix a dropped stitch (even rows down)
Catch it with a safety pin, then hook it back up one row at a time.
From Weeks 4 and 16Why does stocking stitch curl?
Why stocking stitch (US stockinette) always rolls, and how patterns stop it.
From Week 5How to read a knitting pattern
Abbreviations, * repeats *, brackets and stitch counts, explained line by line.
From Weeks 13, 14 and 23Crochet help
How to crochet a granny square
Round by round, with treble clusters (US double crochet) and neat corners.
From Week 8UK vs US crochet terms: conversion chart
Why a UK double crochet is a US single crochet, and how to tell which a pattern uses.
From Weeks 3, 7 and 8Does the turning chain count as a stitch?
Why crochet rows get shorter or longer, and where the first and last stitches go.
From Weeks 3, 6 and 7Want the whole path, in order? Cast On Together takes you from your first slip knot to a finished sweater in 24 weeks, knitting and crochet side by side, with email help when you’re stuck. Or email us a photo of the problem.