Hello and welcome to the Tree!
I only learnt to knit after joining CNT. There are heaps of great resources online. Look at
http://www.knittinghelp.com/ for lots of handy videos explaining different techniques in detail. There's also lots of great information in the stickies at the top of this forum. And the ladies here are really, really helpful.
We have lots of knitters (including some WAHMs) who happily answer new knitter questions. Joining a class is always a good way to learn, but it's not essential. You can get by with Youtube and tutorials online.