How-Tos
Circular Knitting
Swatching For Socknitting
Beginners' Knitting Resources

Cast Ons
Twisted German

Stitches
k enc
p enc

Beginners' Knitting Resources

If you'd like to learn how to knit or are returning to knitting from a long absence, the following resources should be able to get you going.

Your local yarn shop (LYS)
Nothing can take the place of having a real live person show you what to do. The folks at your LYS can guide you to the right yarn and needles for your project as well as help you out if you get stuck. They may also offer knitting classes, which are a great way to learn and to connect with other members of your local knitting community.
Your local library
Your local library may have books and videos that cover basic knitting techniques. They may also host beginning knitting classes, or have a bulletin board where knitting guilds or groups post their meeting schedule.
Videos at Knitnet.com
Casting On: www.knitnet.com/common/support/support3.htm
Knitting: http://www.knitnet.com/common/support/support4.htm
Purling: http://www.knitnet.com/common/support/support5.htm
Casting Off: http://www.knitnet.com/common/support/support6.htm
Illustrations at Vogueknitting.com
http://www.vogueknitting.com/tech/knit/knit.html

There are oodles of online groups for every type of knitting interest imaginable. These are probably not the best places to learn the knit and purl stitches, they can be a wonderfully warm and encouraging learning environment for everything after that. Many groups are hosted on Yahoo! Groups - a quick search on that site should provide you with plenty of options.

I highly recommend finding a group of nearby knitters. Your LYS should be able to connect you with other knitters in your area through classes and other knitting events. You can also try The Knitting Guild Of America or Meetup.com to see if there's a guild or group in your city. If you join an online group, you can always post a message looking for nearby knitters. Some of the larger groups have thousands of members so chances are good that a few will be close to you, even if you live in a rural location!