The virtual accomplishment of knitting: How novice knitters follow instructions when using a video tutorial

Abstract Video tutorials have become more popular as a way for individuals with particular interests to learn practical manual skills. In video tutorials, the expert is not able to monitor the learner's progression, nor is the learner able to seek help from the expert when a particular problem arises. This means, among other things, that learners need to detect, diagnose and correct their errors without assistance from an expert. In this paper we focus on how this is accomplished by individuals attempting to learn how to knit by following instructions from a video tutorial. We show that novice knitters typically do not detect errors when introduced, but only when a first error has caused a number of subsequent incremental problems. Because novice knitters initially fail to identify and diagnose the underlying cause of their problems and have no one available to help them in this work, they tend to repeat the same error over and over again. We also demonstrate, however, that novice knitters eventually turn to the video tutorial as a kind of diagnostic tool; and that when they do so, they typically manage to diagnose and correct the initial error they made and succeed in the instructed task.