Is knitting a form of relaxation to you? I would love a new hobby for home that keeps my hands busy. I bite my nails or play on my laptop, neither of which I need more of in my life.
I knit and crochet. It has many uses for me: relaxation, something to do with my hands so my brain can focus on watching a movie/tv/stuff like that, the satisfaction of making something with my own two hands, being able to give very special gifts to certain people who will appreciate them. I learned to crochet a long time ago and it took me several tries to learn to knit. There are a lot of different ways to hold the needles and yarn, if you want to try, I suggest watching a few different videos, throwing and picking styles, to see which feels more comfortable.
Mostly, yes. I started it at the end of college, and just knit scarves. It was totally mindless, and worked well to help me focus. I've always been antsy, which is why I make so much stuff. If you like making stuff with your hands, odds are you'll like knitting. My suggestion would be to get a big, thick ball of cheap yarn (not too dark or it'll be hard to see the stitches), find a pair of needles, and knit some kind of rectangle. Don't worry about following a pattern, or counting stitches, just get a feel for the tactility of knitting and see if it works for you. Tomorrow's my day off, I'll upload some links to tutorials and stuff - YouTube is how I learned to knit, I found the visual nature of it really clarified the techniques for me. Personally, I find knitting very satisfying, and a nice combination of several of my interests. Math, design, craft, hand stuff. It's now something I'll usually do instead of reaching for my phone - not consciously, it's just naturally more interesting to me most of the time. I'm really good at knitting in near-darkness now because I knit while I'm sitting guard during naptime at the pre-school. There's something very meditative and immersive about just counting stitches with your fingertips, feeling your way along the row. There's a movie theater near me that has $4 tickets, and I go see a random movie a few times a week and just knit as well as I can in the darkness. I usually end up with a somewhat lumpy scarf or blanket at the end of it. Anyway, I think it's a good way to spend your time. If I could play video games, make music, or read while knitting, I would probably never leave the house again.
I started off using books and I was easily able to get to the knit stitch but it wasn't until I quit trying to learn from a book and started watching videos that I finally figured out how to purl, so I definitely endorse the YouTube method of learning to knit. My mom taught me to crochet when I was a kid so I can easily learn new stitches by reading instructions now so I thought I could do knitting the same way, but nope. I do other making (jewelry, etc.) but fiber arts are my favorite because I can take them with me easily. I have little projects all over the house, in my bag, at work. They make lighted crochet hooks... I wonder if they have needles as well? You couldn't do that in the theater of course, but naptime they might be useful.
I knit too, and have dabbled in most of the common fiber arts, if you're ever curious or want to get started or what-have-you. Knitting + TV time is wonderful. I often feel sick of myself if I just marathon TV idly; it's so unproductive, and physically stagnant. But if I am knitting, I can enjoy television a lot more. Plus it is functional, and once you're sick to death of scarves for yourself, you can just start giving scarves to friends. I am the opposite of Dala, knitter first and that is where my strength lies as opposed to crocheting. I have a very difficult time keeping an even row when I crochet. Or used to have, anyway, haven't bothered in a long time.
I think I shared a picture of this WIP with hubski but maybe I didn't and if I did for sure it was a long long time ago and there were no knitters around to appreciate. This is the craziest WIP I ever started and don't think I'll ever work on again, but can't ever bear to throw out or get rid of. Because just look at it, yo. The needles are unmarked, but I think they are 00 or 000.
long whistle I would not blame you at all for just finishing that up with a lot of stockinette. Heck I wouldn't even fault you for ending it with garter and just calling it a day. I don't know that I will ever be that ambitious, but it looks beautiful! Eta: disregard deleted comments. Kept telling me it didn't post my comment, but did. Heh.