I'm a beginner !

A good tip when you are starting out is to slip the first stitch of every row - avoids a messy edge due to your tension being a bit variable

A good tip when you are starting out is to slip the first stitch of every row - avoids a messy edge due to your tension being a bit variable

I noticed that last night - one side was really wobbly as the last stitch always had a big loop to stitch (if that makes any sense)

What do you mean by 'slip' !?.....

Google dishcloth cotton - sorry can't link from phone but even my teeny tiny haberdashery shop had it so its easy to find and cheap too

Slip means instead of knitting the first stitch just slide it from the left to the right needle

I agree with going for chunky when you're starting. I don't think I knitted anything on less than 10mm needles for a long time when I first learnt. Much easier than fiddling about with small needles and thin yarn when you're still really trying to figure out what you're doing.

I didn't go for really fancy yarn at the start, no wahm hand dyed stuff or anything like that, but I did avoid the awful squeaky stuff. I also went straight for bamboo needles (you can get sets dead cheap on ebay), I hate plastic needles and find metal too slippy, especially when you're learning, too easy to lose your stitches.