When I said "wrap the yarn" above, that was for English knitting. You scoop. Sorry.

Useful resources for me included knittinghelp.com and the knitting instuction videos on YouTube. Also sign up now for a Ravelry beta account. They have a fantastic searchable index of practically every knitting pattern on the web, including tons of free ones, all with yarn recommendations and pictures and details of what other people have done. And they have forums where you can get knitting advice, reviews of patterns, yarn, everything. And it's free.