Learning to Knit & Crochet on a Budget

I know money is tight for a lot of us now and if you have wanted to learn to knit or crochet but think you need expensive paid lessons, think again! My mom has known how to crochet for about 40 years and she taught me how to do it. The best resource can be to learn from a friend or family member. If you don't know anyone who could teach you, YouTube is a fantastic resource. My mom and I both learned a lot of knew crochet stitches and techniques from YouTube and here are some of the channels that I have found helpful and I wanted to share them with y'all.

Crochet Cabana

Naztazia

I learned to knit on my own also using video tutorials from YouTube. I found these channels to be really good with easy to follow videos.

Good Knit Kisses

Wool and the Gang

If you find that you do need help from someone in person, Joann's (a very good craft store chain) offers private and group classes for knitting, crochet, and a lot of other crafts as well. If you don't have one near you, you can check out their online instructions (along with YouTube as another video resource). I haven't taken any of their classes yet but I may take some knitting classes at some point in the future.

Here's a link to the list of classes they offer both online and in store along with pricing information: Joann's Classes. The prices are reasonable and they sometimes offer coupons for their classes so keep an eye out for those.

There are also a lot of free crochet and knit patterns available online. Here are some of my favorite pattern sites.

All Free Crochet

Free Vintage Crochet

All Free Knitting

Free Vintage Knitting

We get most of our yarn from either Hobby Lobby or Joann's and they have sales quite often so if you wait for the right time you can stock up and get a good deal. Check their websites too as they offer coupons each week and Hobby Lobby in particular always has a coupon available on their website to get 40% off one regular priced item. Our Wal-Mart also has a pretty good selection of yarn so I pick some up from there occasionally too.


You don't need fancy equipment either. There are a variety of crochet hooks and knitting needles out there but they all work the same. Boye and Susan Bates are two popular brands that make both hooks and needles. You can get them in plastic or aluminum. I prefer the aluminum ones as they are light and the yarn slides on and off them easily. I buy most of my hooks and needles from Wal-Mart as they are a little cheaper there. I did splurge a while back and I bought some bamboo knitting needles from Joann's. They are also fairly light like the aluminum ones and the yarn works on and off them easily but I didn't really notice a big difference.
It might be best to buy one pair of needles or just one crochet hook when you start and then if you like it you can buy other sizes in packs and get a better value.


Susan Bates crochet hooks in sizes F, G, H, I, J, & K - These are some of the most commonly used hooks

Boye knitting needles

I hope this has been helpful and if you have thinking about learning either one of these crafts, that you'll go for it and have a lot of fun!