What is the easiest way to learn a craft?', 'Learning a craft can be easy or a nightmare, depending on which road you take.  Here are some pointers to get you started and SAVE YOU MONEY as you go along.What you SHOULD NOT DO

• Start buying materials immediately
• Buy all the books you see on the subject or what seems the subject
• Buy all the magazines on the subject
• Buy or order tools immediately

What you Should do

• Browse the magazines you see on the stores
• Research the craft on the internet at learning sites like this one or about.com

• Find the exact craft you want to learn (For example, if you like works with yarn like knitting, crochet, latchwork, plastic canvas, you need to find out which one specifically. All of those work with yarn, but you might not want to do all of those. Or if you want to work with beads, there is jewerly making, bead weaving on looms, bead weaving with stitches like peyote stitch or herring bone stitch, french beaded flowers, beading three dimensional animals or objects, and so on.) You can use our links area or research the craft in a search engine like Google, Yahoo, altavista, MSN or your preferred one.
• Once you have your exact craft, find free patterns for it online , specially how to articles and tutorials.  There are not just tutorials with graphics, there are video clips and flash animations that are free and will help you learn. 
• If you need someone to teach you, then look for classes in your area.  It''s good to research at least 3 places where they teach the craft and compare prices. I had this nasty habit of taking the first class I found and then found something better AND cheaper could be had, sometimes even closer to where I was.
• Don''t hesitate to ask people you see doing the craft or holding magazines or books with the craft.  You can help each other out.
• Of the FREE patterns you find, focus on the easiest ones.  I know you want to knit that victorian bedspread and have no use for that knitted scarf, but you will become frustrated if you take on something advanced and not succed at it immediately. 
• Reseach price on the materials and tools you will need and then buy the cheapest at firt.  When I started beading I thought, "I will make a career in jewelry  making, so I SHOULD BUY the bet tools".  But I am glad I read somewhere (Beading and Jewelry Making for dummies) to start slow and cheap.  Your craft will evolve, and then you will find out the first one was not the one you wanted but the second one.  OR you will be confirmed that this is indeed your craft and you can better plan what to buy first. (I still have hundreds of beads I bought that are useless for french beaded flowers, but I did not research properly and went out and got whatever I could find)
• ONLY BUY WHAT YOU NEED FOR YOUR PROJECT. 
• Your first steps will be clumsy and the output might be horrible.. but keep going.. keep reading.. you will get there.
• Don''t be afraid to unravel your work or simply start it over as many times as needed!
• Whatever you do, FINISH THAT PROJECT.  It will look different than the pattern, but IT IS SOMETHING YOU MADE AND FINISHED.  If you keep trying patterns and never finish one you will feel frustrated and like a failure, even when you are no such thing.