Knitting has become very popular in recent years. Let's start with some basic patterns.
Now count the stitches, if they are all there, turn the right knitting needle around and put it in the left hand. A good place to start particularly if you are relatively new to knitting to look for patterns is the yarn skein, which comes wrapped and nearly every one of these will have a pattern on it. It was fun and helped me learn more about knitting with advice on free knitting patterns, knitting instructions, all the knitting essentials.
Other simple textures can be made with nothing but knit and purl stitches, including garter stitch, ribbing, and moss and seed stitches. All other patterns emerge from these few stitches. But in reality, a handcrafted gift, such as a knit baby blanket, costs a lot more in material and time than the mass produced blankets that you find in the store.
You also will usually want to stick with chunky yarns (this is a good use for "novelty" yarns, which have lots of texture and are usually thick but also light and fluffy), since they knit up quickly so you can make more presents. It doesn't all happen at once.