I realized, reading the comments to the previous, that I sort of lied. No, I didn't just "read the instructions." That way, for me, lies madness. First, I did something else. And second. And probably five times throughout the process.
As a VERY visual learner, I really need to see something kinetic be done to understand it. That is why knitting is something you really should do with your Mamma or your Aunts or your Songbird right next to you. But if they inconveniently live far away, and your knitting Meetup group is not for three weeks, well then you turn to your friend at KnittingHelp.com.
Amy Finlay is the knitter, the hands and voice at KnittingHelp. When the sock cast-on made me want to cry, I went and watched her hands do it on a snazzy little video. Ditto for turning the heel. Annoyingly, she was not doing the EXACT sock pattern I was, but it gave me enough of an idea that when I did this bizarre thing with my handwork that I had never seen done before, I had confidence that the knitting and I were not going to slide right off the face of the earth into a pool of bubbling lava.
She has little videos for all sorts of things: different cast-ons, stitches like SSK, (what is THAT!?), increases and decreases, a glossary, etc. She is my sistah.
I cannot commend it highly enough. KnittingHelp.com. Go visit!
