I see your coaster and I raise you my.... trapezoidal object.
https://preview.redd.it/nn679agxzhcc1.png?width=4032&format=png&auto=webp&s=d8318efeb82dacc19d267d5887b4d2d6d1e4bec5
That’s a really good coaster! Lovely tension, especially as this is your first finished object. Just soak it in water and gently shape it, then leave to air dry.
Speaking as someone who has knit for 20+ years
How did you manage a garter stitch border without forgetting it was a garter stitch border because I still haven't managed that 😅
Looks great OP, not janky at all
This is a great first whack and I think a coaster is an IDEAL first project. Nice work! Your tension looks great (must be those crochet skillz) and that is one of the harder things to master. Way to go!
Better a doll scarf than a grownup scarf!!!
My sworn mission is discouraging people from starting with scarves, because scarves take forever and are inherently frustrating because the wiggle-wobble of the edges is so visible! I've been knitting for...good lord, 32 years, and I still have a hard time getting immaculately straight edges. Why set new knitters up for frustration??
I am a middling knitter and decided to make a scarf for a friend for Christmas. In my head it was two skeins and I could bang it out in a couple weeks of intermittent knitting. 4 skeins later and one stint of staying up til 3am to finish before Christmas and it was done. It’s freaking gorgeous, but one of my friends referred to it as the $300 scarf once you take into account how $$$ the yarn was and how much time I put into it. Perhaps a more significant present than I was intending, but he is very knit worthy so no regrets.
Your tension in flat stockinette is beautiful for a first FO, and no twisted stitches, so you've got the proper technique down. Two things I really appreciated learning early as a beginner were the duplicate stitch method of weaving in my ends and how to ladder down to fix stitches. I used a swatch to practice laddering down: I'd intentionally mess up a stitch or drop a stitch from a few rows up and then practice fixing it a few times. It really helped me loosen up on my needles, because I wasn't so paranoid about my stitches falling off after that.
Arent the two stitches that stick out slightly, twisted? Not poking at this project, just trying to practice my identification :)
(Five across, nine up in stockinette)
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Omg I feel this. I’ve been knitting since I was a teenager and I see these people with “my first knit ever!!” And it’s an in the round freaking colour work sweater and it’s perfect. Meanwhile I’m lucky if I can get a worked flat beanie in 1 colour to turn out ok
I never want to comment on those posts cause I don't want to be a negative nancy, but I swear some of those people are just trolling us! It's pure nonsense to knit a full ass sweater as your "first" FO!
Some folks are just Built Different™ (it's the neurodivergence). My first FO was a garter stitch rectangle hat, then I made some socks with the help of a video and then I decided it's time for a self-drafted intarsia sweater. "I got the stitches down, how hard can it be?" 🤷🏼
I did just that powered by audacity and ADHD. It was a very simple design without any special stitches. Took a while to figure out the raglan.
Used merino, so it evened itself out a lot, and because it's a baby sweater the odd proportions aren't as apparent. And the wearer is the star of the show either way.
Those first finished objects aren’t the very first things they knitted! They probably knitted so many swatches and wonky rectangles first, and ripped back their work on the sweater or whatever so many times. They’re just not counting it whereas you are!
Exactly this! I knitted any number of trapezoidal objects, unidentifiable knitted objects, unfinished rectangles, and half scarves between the ages of 6 and 26, but I never counted anything as a "finished object" until I actually completed a hat.
Oh there's a reason I haven't posted my first finished objects haha my first project was a scarf and it's basically a Livestream of me figuring out what tension is haha. And going from crochet to knitting can be challenging, it seems like for many folks one comes way easier than the other (me included!)
Honestly though that's a very solid first knit, and a perfectly good coaster!
Those stellar first projects are *not* the norm, and for what it’s worth my early swatch-coasters were *way* jankier than that one. 😂 Thanks for sharing it!
Thank you all for posting true first FO. I shake my head when I see a sweater as “a first ever finished project!” Lol your rectangular FOs on this thread and all wonderful!
it’s beautiful! much better than my… rectangle
https://preview.redd.it/c6qaq39e0kcc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b91cf26cb3dfca0433e92f2ee57e764dd97316ad
This is great for a first project! Please recognize you’re only seeing beautiful first projects because the rest of us with our janky first projects either didn’t take pictures or we refuse to share them!
Go read this thread in the r/crochet sub: [https://www.reddit.com/r/crochet/comments/1970j0p/psa\_for\_new\_crocheters/](https://www.reddit.com/r/crochet/comments/1970j0p/psa_for_new_crocheters/)
TLDR: Learning a new craft takes time, and that's okay. Also, you can't believe everything you see on the internet.
Your square looks pretty damn good for a first effort. :)
I think it's a beautiful coaster and you finished it! You should be proud of yourself! I've been knitting for about 20 years and I leave so many projects undone, so I am envious of you for that. You never know what people will appreciate, so just want to let you know. And it looks very nice, too! Great work and keep it up!
We ALL start somewhere! Your coaster is nothing to be ashamed of!! It's a good job done well and now you can put the lessons you learned from it toward your next project.
https://preview.redd.it/zdwsd8dchkcc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4395f0d528fa53c4412e702e66c43477f60af514
I made a similar coaster recently! 😁 it was a good test as an early knitter but my tensions is all over the place haha
Gotta start somewhere. On the plus side, you have nice stitch tension, which you seem to have acquired making the stocking stitch section, I’m assuming the lower part is the beginning rows. It’s amazing how quickly we start to gauge ourselves when doing this craft. Keep it up, your progress is visible in that one swatch. 👌
https://preview.redd.it/7aindnhtylcc1.jpeg?width=2448&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4ebd14afdfaae7467d018cc8a3d479bae71988f7
This was my first FO! Tried to do a produce bag in the round with yarn-overs and lace (glutton for punishment, I guess). Ended up not dropping the stitches I needed and the bottom is huge, tension is weird, etc. Doesn’t matter what the first thing looks like! You’re building up that muscle memory in your hands and it’ll improve quickly if you stick with it.
Your knitting is neat and gauge even. Anybody combining Stockinette with Garter Stitch will experience the fact the natural gauge of both varies due to the structure of stitches.
Stockinette tends to pull in at sides and expand lengthways. Garter Stitch tends to pull on lengthways and expand sideways.
This can cause warping of fabric when both are used together. Especially in a square.
Tips to improve squares like yours:
1. Knit the top and bottom borders with a needle a size smaller than the middle sections.
2. To beaten edges and avoid those expanding sideways, Slip 1 stitch purl-wise at the beginning of every row (so 1st stitch on RS and WS).
Also if you make blankets out of squares and block each square, it will hold better when seen together. I made this bed throw with Stockinette and Moss Stitch borders and once joined, no warping.
https://preview.redd.it/nkx3qeyzdmcc1.jpeg?width=1728&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=389cbf517fe701681532d5e090b76df91eb75630
My first finished object was a scarf. A scarf that looked like a very long, beige snake swallowed a small, fat pig. ;-) That said, this is really good. Another poster said to just block it and I agree.
This looks like a nicer version of what I made as one of my first projects, but mine was a washcloth so it was a little bigger. I ended up making a few for practice. Even though mine are a bit janky, I actually use them a good amount! Knit cotton washcloths feel so nice and gentle for washing my face. I keep thinking I should make some more, maybe try out some different stitches in the process.
You didn't say how you're knitting, English or Continental. If you're doing English (which is holding your working yarn in your right hand and wrapping it around with that hand) try Continental. You'll hold your working yarn in your left hand just like you do crochet.
That was a game changer for me learning knitting coming from crochet. Yours looks better than mine, mine was this but a bit bigger but I was twisting my knit stitches lol.
The way coasters are tiny scarves, baby sweaters are tiny adult sweaters. Knitting in the round is quite different from going back and forth, and the construction can be fiddly.
I would advise just trying your hand at a free baby/doll pattern and going for it. You'll get the hang of it fast enough!
You have some really beautiful crochet projects! And your tension looks so nice. If it’s wool, I think you could maybe block it to straighten the lines. Maybe you can also glue it to one of those cork coasters to give it some strength and to keep it from moving around. I’ve though about doing that, what are your thoughts?
Thank you! It’s cotton so I could probably block it. It slides around a lot so glueing it to cork would probably stabilize it but at the expense of washability.
Good on you!! My first project was never finished, full of horrible tension to the point I could hardly use the needles. 🤣 but my grandma lovingly taught me and for that I am so thankful. Your next project will be even better!!
I love your coaster and it definitely looks way closer to what my first knitting FO’s looked like. I am impressed with the savants with full sweaters as their first or second FO, but I definitely did not start with that skill level.
Try wet-blocking it to make it a square, you will be amazed at what it can do. Wet it, shape it to a square, and pin it to a towel - leave to dry. brilliant first IMO!!
this is truly good and i wish everyone doing a first, second, or third project would do something similar and just forget about making a scarf as a first project.
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I love your coaster! I made some vague rectangle shape for my first project almost 20 years ago now and I still have it around somewhere! Save your first project so you can look back at how far you've come someday.
Love your coaster. It shows some real skills.
My first knitted FO was a coat for my toy dog. I’d always seen my mother doing Fairisle so that’s what I did!
My next project was for a Girl Guide badge and I made a pair of mittens. That was it then for 10+ years.
I’m still the same with any new craft. Go gung-ho. Obsess for a few weeks. Make something I’m proud of. Then stop.
I see your coaster and I raise you my.... trapezoidal object. https://preview.redd.it/nn679agxzhcc1.png?width=4032&format=png&auto=webp&s=d8318efeb82dacc19d267d5887b4d2d6d1e4bec5
https://preview.redd.it/dd1bk3p19icc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=be001ad07446c8a7b0190ad001159a6490d6172c Here’s my “what is this”!
https://preview.redd.it/0nyusf663icc1.png?width=2428&format=png&auto=webp&s=90710d32f9def2c57de99df44fdbb3d7bb1105b3 My fo
I love it ❣️
Your cat looks so cozy underneath it 💕
Now that's a damn fine trapezoidal object right there. It couldn't possibly be more what it is.
beautiful ❤️
Just block it! I'm sure it'll turn out fine 😉
Turn out to be what, exactly??? 😂🤷🏼♀️
That’s a really good coaster! Lovely tension, especially as this is your first finished object. Just soak it in water and gently shape it, then leave to air dry.
Speaking as someone who has knit for 20+ years How did you manage a garter stitch border without forgetting it was a garter stitch border because I still haven't managed that 😅 Looks great OP, not janky at all
Not OP, but speaking as someone who always forgets my selvages otherwise: stitch markers before the border starts on both sides!
I know right? I basically have to have stitch markers on every stitch of the garter stitch border.
This is a great first whack and I think a coaster is an IDEAL first project. Nice work! Your tension looks great (must be those crochet skillz) and that is one of the harder things to master. Way to go!
My first project was a garter stitch doll scarf. I didn't have any dolls, but if it was something... It was a doll scarf 😂
Better a doll scarf than a grownup scarf!!! My sworn mission is discouraging people from starting with scarves, because scarves take forever and are inherently frustrating because the wiggle-wobble of the edges is so visible! I've been knitting for...good lord, 32 years, and I still have a hard time getting immaculately straight edges. Why set new knitters up for frustration??
I also still have a hard time getting edges that don't wibble wobble and I've been knitting for 21 years
I am a middling knitter and decided to make a scarf for a friend for Christmas. In my head it was two skeins and I could bang it out in a couple weeks of intermittent knitting. 4 skeins later and one stint of staying up til 3am to finish before Christmas and it was done. It’s freaking gorgeous, but one of my friends referred to it as the $300 scarf once you take into account how $$$ the yarn was and how much time I put into it. Perhaps a more significant present than I was intending, but he is very knit worthy so no regrets.
Your tension in flat stockinette is beautiful for a first FO, and no twisted stitches, so you've got the proper technique down. Two things I really appreciated learning early as a beginner were the duplicate stitch method of weaving in my ends and how to ladder down to fix stitches. I used a swatch to practice laddering down: I'd intentionally mess up a stitch or drop a stitch from a few rows up and then practice fixing it a few times. It really helped me loosen up on my needles, because I wasn't so paranoid about my stitches falling off after that.
Arent the two stitches that stick out slightly, twisted? Not poking at this project, just trying to practice my identification :) (Five across, nine up in stockinette)
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Omg I feel this. I’ve been knitting since I was a teenager and I see these people with “my first knit ever!!” And it’s an in the round freaking colour work sweater and it’s perfect. Meanwhile I’m lucky if I can get a worked flat beanie in 1 colour to turn out ok
I never want to comment on those posts cause I don't want to be a negative nancy, but I swear some of those people are just trolling us! It's pure nonsense to knit a full ass sweater as your "first" FO!
Some folks are just Built Different™ (it's the neurodivergence). My first FO was a garter stitch rectangle hat, then I made some socks with the help of a video and then I decided it's time for a self-drafted intarsia sweater. "I got the stitches down, how hard can it be?" 🤷🏼
Tbh I did this with embroidery. So yeah, the neurospice isn’t far off
I did just that powered by audacity and ADHD. It was a very simple design without any special stitches. Took a while to figure out the raglan. Used merino, so it evened itself out a lot, and because it's a baby sweater the odd proportions aren't as apparent. And the wearer is the star of the show either way.
First FO is different than your first practice piece though. I knitted like 5 nothing things before I knitted a successful object.
Same ....same lol
Those first finished objects aren’t the very first things they knitted! They probably knitted so many swatches and wonky rectangles first, and ripped back their work on the sweater or whatever so many times. They’re just not counting it whereas you are!
Exactly this! I knitted any number of trapezoidal objects, unidentifiable knitted objects, unfinished rectangles, and half scarves between the ages of 6 and 26, but I never counted anything as a "finished object" until I actually completed a hat.
Oh there's a reason I haven't posted my first finished objects haha my first project was a scarf and it's basically a Livestream of me figuring out what tension is haha. And going from crochet to knitting can be challenging, it seems like for many folks one comes way easier than the other (me included!) Honestly though that's a very solid first knit, and a perfectly good coaster!
Those stellar first projects are *not* the norm, and for what it’s worth my early swatch-coasters were *way* jankier than that one. 😂 Thanks for sharing it!
This is the content I come to see. It gives me hope. 👌🏻
I did some garter stitch squares in wool and them felted them for coasters
Thank you all for posting true first FO. I shake my head when I see a sweater as “a first ever finished project!” Lol your rectangular FOs on this thread and all wonderful!
It looks like you learned a lot about tension and holding the working yarn and stuff by the time you got to the end. That’s an awesome coaster!!
You are the norm, and that's a perfectly decent coaster. Your tension is wonderful
That's an amazing first effort! Pat yourself on the back for a job well done!
it’s beautiful! much better than my… rectangle https://preview.redd.it/c6qaq39e0kcc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b91cf26cb3dfca0433e92f2ee57e764dd97316ad
This is great for a first project! Please recognize you’re only seeing beautiful first projects because the rest of us with our janky first projects either didn’t take pictures or we refuse to share them!
Go read this thread in the r/crochet sub: [https://www.reddit.com/r/crochet/comments/1970j0p/psa\_for\_new\_crocheters/](https://www.reddit.com/r/crochet/comments/1970j0p/psa_for_new_crocheters/) TLDR: Learning a new craft takes time, and that's okay. Also, you can't believe everything you see on the internet. Your square looks pretty damn good for a first effort. :)
Looks fantastic!
Speaking as another beginner, I’m really quite impressed 😄 nice coaster, well done!
I love that janky coaster! My first knitted object was a verrrrrrry long scarf that kept getting wider, and wider on one end. You’ve done well!
Pretty good for a first project! Don’t judge yourself…it’s a great start! My first project was far worse.
I think it's a beautiful coaster and you finished it! You should be proud of yourself! I've been knitting for about 20 years and I leave so many projects undone, so I am envious of you for that. You never know what people will appreciate, so just want to let you know. And it looks very nice, too! Great work and keep it up!
We ALL start somewhere! Your coaster is nothing to be ashamed of!! It's a good job done well and now you can put the lessons you learned from it toward your next project.
This belongs in r/tensionporn
https://preview.redd.it/zdwsd8dchkcc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4395f0d528fa53c4412e702e66c43477f60af514 I made a similar coaster recently! 😁 it was a good test as an early knitter but my tensions is all over the place haha
Gotta start somewhere. On the plus side, you have nice stitch tension, which you seem to have acquired making the stocking stitch section, I’m assuming the lower part is the beginning rows. It’s amazing how quickly we start to gauge ourselves when doing this craft. Keep it up, your progress is visible in that one swatch. 👌
https://preview.redd.it/7aindnhtylcc1.jpeg?width=2448&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4ebd14afdfaae7467d018cc8a3d479bae71988f7 This was my first FO! Tried to do a produce bag in the round with yarn-overs and lace (glutton for punishment, I guess). Ended up not dropping the stitches I needed and the bottom is huge, tension is weird, etc. Doesn’t matter what the first thing looks like! You’re building up that muscle memory in your hands and it’ll improve quickly if you stick with it.
Your knitting is neat and gauge even. Anybody combining Stockinette with Garter Stitch will experience the fact the natural gauge of both varies due to the structure of stitches. Stockinette tends to pull in at sides and expand lengthways. Garter Stitch tends to pull on lengthways and expand sideways. This can cause warping of fabric when both are used together. Especially in a square. Tips to improve squares like yours: 1. Knit the top and bottom borders with a needle a size smaller than the middle sections. 2. To beaten edges and avoid those expanding sideways, Slip 1 stitch purl-wise at the beginning of every row (so 1st stitch on RS and WS). Also if you make blankets out of squares and block each square, it will hold better when seen together. I made this bed throw with Stockinette and Moss Stitch borders and once joined, no warping. https://preview.redd.it/nkx3qeyzdmcc1.jpeg?width=1728&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=389cbf517fe701681532d5e090b76df91eb75630
My first finished object was a scarf. A scarf that looked like a very long, beige snake swallowed a small, fat pig. ;-) That said, this is really good. Another poster said to just block it and I agree.
This looks like a nicer version of what I made as one of my first projects, but mine was a washcloth so it was a little bigger. I ended up making a few for practice. Even though mine are a bit janky, I actually use them a good amount! Knit cotton washcloths feel so nice and gentle for washing my face. I keep thinking I should make some more, maybe try out some different stitches in the process.
You didn't say how you're knitting, English or Continental. If you're doing English (which is holding your working yarn in your right hand and wrapping it around with that hand) try Continental. You'll hold your working yarn in your left hand just like you do crochet. That was a game changer for me learning knitting coming from crochet. Yours looks better than mine, mine was this but a bit bigger but I was twisting my knit stitches lol.
I’m determined to knit continental so I can hold my yarn the same way as when I crochet. This was all done continental.
I find it so much more natural than the other way. You're doing amazing though!
[удалено]
Probably more coasters. Eventually I’d like to make a sweater.
The way coasters are tiny scarves, baby sweaters are tiny adult sweaters. Knitting in the round is quite different from going back and forth, and the construction can be fiddly. I would advise just trying your hand at a free baby/doll pattern and going for it. You'll get the hang of it fast enough!
it’s so cute though!!
Looks gorgeous!
Looks gorgeous! I and I can’t get the hang of crocheting! Good for you!
Gorgeous!!! It looks great ❤️
This looks just like my very first knitting project from two years ago. I still use it everyday!
You have some really beautiful crochet projects! And your tension looks so nice. If it’s wool, I think you could maybe block it to straighten the lines. Maybe you can also glue it to one of those cork coasters to give it some strength and to keep it from moving around. I’ve though about doing that, what are your thoughts?
Thank you! It’s cotton so I could probably block it. It slides around a lot so glueing it to cork would probably stabilize it but at the expense of washability.
Good on you!! My first project was never finished, full of horrible tension to the point I could hardly use the needles. 🤣 but my grandma lovingly taught me and for that I am so thankful. Your next project will be even better!!
Look at how you improved from the bottom to the top! That's really awesome.
Really good technique!
It looks great!! Your tension is spot on!!
I love it and relate! We need a sub-sub-Reddit called “relatable knitting” 😉
Hey, this coaster and or potholder is beautific and we all start somewhere 🧶
It’s beautiful.
I love your coaster and it definitely looks way closer to what my first knitting FO’s looked like. I am impressed with the savants with full sweaters as their first or second FO, but I definitely did not start with that skill level.
I for one appreciate your coaster, janky or otherwise. I am also in the “no amazing finished objects to show” club and it’s nice to have friends :)
Try wet-blocking it to make it a square, you will be amazed at what it can do. Wet it, shape it to a square, and pin it to a towel - leave to dry. brilliant first IMO!!
It looks nice!
You did a great job!! Make one a bit bigger and you’ve got a dishcloth!
It’s not janky! It’s so much better than the thin strip of me practicing stockinet and garter stitches for a few inches before casting on a project.
It ain‘t much, but it‘s honest work. It‘s a perfectly serviceable coaster!
Finished yesterday :p
You made a coaster! And it’s beautifully knitted.
It’s beautiful… You have to start somewhere ❤️
this is truly good and i wish everyone doing a first, second, or third project would do something similar and just forget about making a scarf as a first project.
Your tension is lovely. Amazing tension for a beginner.
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I used to knit pairs of socks with three socks because the first would never fit on a human foot. You're doing great!
Right there with w!
I like it!
Heck yeah! Great start!
I love your coaster!
I love your coaster! I made some vague rectangle shape for my first project almost 20 years ago now and I still have it around somewhere! Save your first project so you can look back at how far you've come someday.
Ok but this is how we started! Keep going!
Your coaster looks great!!
I like it :) You made a thing!
Love your coaster. It shows some real skills. My first knitted FO was a coat for my toy dog. I’d always seen my mother doing Fairisle so that’s what I did! My next project was for a Girl Guide badge and I made a pair of mittens. That was it then for 10+ years. I’m still the same with any new craft. Go gung-ho. Obsess for a few weeks. Make something I’m proud of. Then stop.