My friend taught me to knit in 2005. After making a few practice patches, my first project was a hat. She told me to get the gauge (which I never did. I just went by the feeling.) and start knitting in rounds.
I started with a circular needle, no ribbing. So the end curls up a bit. Then I started to decrease and switched to double-pointed needles when the round became too small for the circular needle. Simple, except that I used beginner's yarn. It's supposed to be good for beginners because, if you mess it up a bit, it doesn't show. I don't know why that is a good thing. I prefer to see my stitches. If you are a good counter, you can keep track of the number of stitches and know when to do the decrease. I find it easier to see where the decreases happen, so I like simpler, straighter yarn. I liked the pattern, so I continued to knit more hats until I discovered the joy of crocheting.
