As a Beginner Knitter you want to practice your core skills -- casting on, knitting, binding off -- while adding new skills to your repertoire. New skills may include the purl stitch, distinguishing a knit stitch from a purl stitch, mixing knits and purls to create stockinette stitch, and learning to recognize and fixing simple mistakes such as the incomplete stitch and the one level dropped stitch.

At this level, you can also add versatility to your projects with simple 2 row stripes, elongated knit stitches, and yarn combinations. The basic decrease (k2tog) is used for shaping.

As a Bridge Knitter you're ready to expand your skills and to take on a variety of projects. At this level, you'll start mixing knits and purls to create ribbing or simple texture stitch patterns, shaping garments with basic increases and decreases, and knitting in the round.

You'll also learn the basics of simple finishing including picking up stitches, seaming using the mattress stitch, and adding single crochet for a beautiful finished edge. Bridge knitters become comfortable fixing dropped stitches and ripping out rows.

As an Intermediate Knitter you're adventurously seeking to challenge yourself and to fine-tune your skills, such as improving finishing skills, reading charts, and shaping garments. Projects in this category could involve full fashioned shaping -- including waist shaping, armhole shaping, and neckline shaping -- as well as short rows for shoulder shaping.

More complex garments will require finishing skills such as picking up stitches along curved edge, seaming sleeve cap into armhole, 3 needle bind off for shoulders and more crochet edges. Cables can add a beautiful look and learning to read charts will allow you to add more complex patterns or color changes to your work.

Some projects, like our Chunky Knit Cable Bags, require skills other than knitting. We always include detailed instructions and photo "how tos" but you will be using an iron, sewing a bit by hand.