I am well aware this is a strange question.

[jackandahat]

I learned to knit as a kid, so I don't remember that much about it. Now I'm writing a character who has suddenly decided he's going to learn to knit. So. Assuming a fairly intelligent adult who does stuff with his hands (drawing, sewing), with the usual book/internet resources - how long would it take someone to learn to knit things? How long before being able to do a scarf you could wear in public, or learn to knit in the round and start on socks?

I know it's going to vary hugely from person to person, but I'm curious about guesstimates.

Comments

[girlpearl]

I honestly think that a large part of how long it takes for you to be able to knit in the round, or make socks, depends on how difficult you've been told those things are.

My roommate taught me to knit--like Skud says, about 15 minutes to learn "knit" and "purl," then sent me away to fiddle with some basic patterns. I came back in a day or two, bored, and the very first thing I knit was a pair of mittens in the round. The second was a pair of socks.

And I didn't know that was supposed to be hard until I was introduced to the knitting community at large. So, that, I think, is a big factor.