Poll for novice knitters and people who think about learning

[neadods]

So, I'm working on the knitting book. There are a couple of goals here:

1) To have a dozen projects, with a "use up the yarn from everything else" making the baker's dozenth pattern.

2) To make every project so portable that each module can be carried in a purse-sized cosmetics bag.

2a) To make every project easy to pick up and put down and come back to later. (Numbered needles rule!)

3) To make the new knitter buy the minimum of equipment (all projects knit to same gauge) and learn the minimum of acronyms (less than 10.)

Frankly, I'm hoping that $600 of Therapy and a Free Afghan is going to be one of those gateway books that knitters use to lure their unsuspecting friends into the hobby Mwahahahahahaaa!

*ahem* Anyway, I've decided to divvy up the patterns provided into four sections, with escalating skills so people can tackle what they want when they feel ready for it. Section 1 is the simplest: garter stitch and its associated concepts, "knit two together" and "knit front and back."

Section 4 is the hardest: cables. (Seriously, it's nothing to worry about. Same basic stitch as garter. Honest.)

What I can't decide is what Section 2 should be. For some reason, the purl stitch seems to freak people out; I've even heard someone at the knitalong saying that they've knit for three years "and am just about to learn purling." On the other hand, the yarnover intimidates at least one person I know.

So which, of the two, is the less threatening to a nervous novice? If I go to purl next, I can bring the readers up to seed stitch and broken rib - all sorts of texture play. But purl is a different stitch. On the other hand, the yarnover is the same motion as garter, and yarnovers + knit two together = all sorts of fabulous lacy effects that look much harder than they are. (Why yes, there *is* going to be a feather and fan project!)

[Poll #1211690]

Comments

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I've got a nice cable that gives a woven effect that's going to be introduced at one point. And I might have a much smaller version of the basketweave... another rule of the book is that all patterns are a maximum of a 4-row repeat. That's enough to do basic textures and cables, but not too many needles to juggle if you use numbered straights. (I'm still trying to work out the mechanics of numbering my circulars. The Knitpicks that I'm so fond of are so well polished that I can't get nail polish or sharpie to stick to them!)