I learned how to knit using 'kitchen cotton' best stuff is Sugar and Cream. It's super soft on your hands, you can make quick easy gratifying projects like dish clothes or swiffer pads, and the stitch definintion is perfect, if you make a mistake you can see where you went wrong and easily frog it.
That, and if you really mess up, no worries it cost you about $2.
Good luck, just remember, every good knitter starts with a horrible looking scarf or two
