For a beginner I always recommend you start with something square/rectangle, as the roundabout with socks is an intermediate difficulty. Scarves or baby blankets make lovely gifts, and are very beginner friendly.

Once you are confident in the basics of how to knit, you can kick it up a notch by trying socks.

Honestly most every beginner knitting guide on the internet is great. There’s YouTube guides for whose who want videos and written guides for those who prefer standstill photos and text. And if you really need a physical teacher, try to find a local MakerSpace in your city - yarn wizards are plentiful in those spaces and we get EXCITED at bringing a newbie into our world!

Assuming you already know how to knit and just have never knit socks, I recommend making a pair of baby socks first. They’re the same shape and technique, just a lot smaller.

This site has a great tutorial I used to get started with sock knitting! I still reference it every now and again when I have questions / doubts:

https://www.kristinbelle.com/socks

@[email protected] has perfect advice (the others are great too, but that’s the one that resonated with me).

Make sure you’re good with knitting (and purling) first. If you’ve never done it before DON’T start with a sock. Do something like a scarf - it’s much simpler, you can do it much faster, and you can still turn out something that you like and will use. If you want to go even more simple, pot holders / hot pads are “fast” and easy.

I may or may not have a pair of socks that I dived into with fingering weight in 2019 that’s still mocking me. Though I did do two more rows when I saw this post out of shame.