I know I've said it before, but I love what the internet has done for knitting. As web developers, Charles and I have had a bit of a front seat - well, we've had a seat - to watching how the internet has changed so many things: commerce, communication, education, art. For example, the artisan no longer has to rely on the craft fair to sell his or her creations; sites like Etsy create a portal to a huge international audience. Students no longer have to photocopy pages out of academic journals. And the same kind of thing is happening for knitting instructions.
Back in Ye Olde Times (ie, the 20th century), knitting instructions were available in books or from other knitters. Which was fine, to a point. But if you're like me - impatient, but I like to say driven - and you get to an unknown abbreviation or instruction (remember the first time you saw sl1wyif or yo?) you want answers now. You've got a row to finish.
So on Tricksy Knitter, I'm starting to compile some knitting instructions or links to sites with good knitting instructions.
In the Knitting for Beginners section, you'll find instructions for casting on, basic stitches, and casting off (binding off).
The type of knitting instruction I most often have to look up is for finishing. Finishing is a crucial part of a knitting project, especially for sweaters where there is a lot of visible finishing, but patterns provide minimal instruction. All knitted sweater patterns use at least one of these: blocking, side seams, shoulder seams, picking up stitches, weaving in ends, sewing on buttons. So I'm starting to collect some useful information on finishing in the Finishing: The Details section.
And I'm also keeping a list of knitting abbreviations.