From Helen Rose, expert knitter and Ravelry designer:

1. Read the whole pattern before you cast on and try to get a general sense of how the garment is constructed. Make sure you read the "Pattern Notes" section thoroughly.

2. Read each section and understand what you are about to do before you do it. Sometimes the wording is a little funny and it's not clear until the end of the paragraph what is actually going on.

3. Use online tutorials to help you with new techniques, and practice on a swatch first.

4. If a pattern doesn't spell out each step, but sort of describes what is about to happen, write it out row by row.

5. Mark the section as complete when you are complete. It is easy to get confused if you put the pattern down for a while.

6. Choose patterns that only have 1 difficult, new technique. Too many difficult parts can be frustrating and overly time consuming.

7. Check on other people's projects to see if they have the same questions.

8. Contact the designer if you still don't understand.

9. Make a swatch to insure that your gauge is accurate. Otherwise the sizing may end up wrong.