Knitting

Over the past few weeks I've been trying to teach myself how to knit. Knitting is a bit harder than I expected. I've got a not so great practice scarf going. My end goal is to make 2 scarves and maybe a hat by the time we go to Rome in December. I'm also going to try to learn to crochet. But first to make I need to learn to knit without having to think of each step. I also need to learn how not to make it grow with time. This is not going so well. I'll keep trying. Anyone got any suggestions?