What the 🤬 is an "Advanced Beginner"?!

When it comes to knitting (and most things in life) I prefer to focus on the positive.

But there is one thing in the knitting world that has bothered me for a long time.

The term “Advanced Beginner.”

I don’t understand it.

We have a word for something that is BETWEEN beginner and advanced.

Average.

Just Kidding. 😂

It’s intermediate.

So why are so many knitters afraid to place themselves higher up the knitting skill ladder?

The Knitting Skill Problem

As I’ve discussed before, knitting is a language.

It has a standardized set of stitches that can be combined to describe any type of knitted fabric.

Since it is a language, it is possible to quantify someone’s “fluency” level.

The problem is no one has created an objective way of measuring it.

Instead we have ambiguous terms for skill level that have no standardized use across the fiber art industry.

Even the Craft Yarns Council’s project levels are not very clear:

BASIC - Projects using basic stitches. May include basic increases and decreases.

EASY - Projects may include simple stitch patterns, color work, and/or shaping.

INTERMEDIATE - Projects may include involved stitch patterns, color work, and/or shaping.

COMPLEX - Projects may include complex stitch patterns, color work, and or/shaping using a variety of techniques and stitches simultaneously.

These categories are extremely broad with vague distinctions.

The difference between easy and intermediate here is “simple” stitch pattern and “involved” ones. But what makes a stitch pattern involved?

Brooklyn Tweed does a little better by having five skill levels, but they have “Adventurous Beginner” between beginner and intermediate.

So what kind of skills does an adventurous beginner have? (They also no longer explain what their levels mean but it used to say…) They can knit a basic sweater. 🤔

It just doesn’t make sense. And no one agrees.

Why can’t we agree on skill levels?

Currently we treat knitting skills like they are subjective.

People call themselves Advanced Beginners because they don’t FEEL like they know enough to call themselves intermediate.

But if you know enough to knit a sock you’re definitely an intermediate level knitter.

You know what else you can knit if you can make a sock?

A sweater.

In fact from a technical level I’d argue a sock is more difficult.

And I can argue that because knitting skill levels shouldn’t be subjective.

We know exactly complex a knitting pattern is based on the elements required to complete it.

Which means it is possible to create an OBJECTIVE way to rank someone’s knitting skill level.

I have some ideas on how, and I’m working on a free test that will help you understand where you really are on the skill ladder.

But until then let’s agree to banish the use of Advanced Beginner.

You’re almost certainly better than that. 😉