Experienced beginners

Dear Community,
you often see in patterns that they’re aimed at experienced beginners.
Where do you draw the line between a beginner with basic knowledge and an advanced user?

That’s tricky—I’d say there are several levels.
As a beginner, you’re still struggling with a pot holder made of single crochet stitches and are over the moon when the edges actually stay straight.
Experienced beginners can do that and a little more, so that with a good pattern, they can even make an amigurumi.
Advanced crocheters can then handle almost anything, including matching sweaters, patterns with minor errors, and more complicated patterns and stitches.

A beginner with basic knowledge is someone I don’t have to explain the most important stitches to.
This person knows, for example, what single crochet means in crocheting or what knit stitches and purl stitches mean in knitting, and how to work them.

Advanced crafters can handle (slightly) more complex patterns and stitch types.

For me, a beginner is someone who knits a scarf with knit stitches and, after 30 rows, still has the same number of stitches on the needle as when they cast on. The next step is then knit and purl stitches in a flawless section of knitting. 

Once you’ve knitted a few projects without mistakes—a scarf, a dishcloth, a blanket—and maybe even used circular needles or a set of double-pointed needles, then, in my opinion, you’re an experienced beginner and ready for a new challenge, such as 5 purl stitches, 6 knit stitches, and then shifting them after a few rows to create a pattern. 

“Experienced beginners”—that’s not so easy to define, but I’d say that when it comes to crocheting and knitting, an experienced beginner no longer struggles with the stitches themselves; they’ve already mastered simple projects and are now looking for challenges through new patterns or shapes.