Just to share my little experiences. I buy yarns online and ship from UK. It is at least 20%-30% cheaper than buying locally here. The only bad thing is, if you not buying yarns from local shops, like the one in sg wang and the one in subang parade, they are not going to guide and teach you knitting nor crocheting.

Anyway, I picked up the techniques myself, which I think you may try too. There are lot online resources which you can refer to.

The website that I placed order from charge Pound 5.95 each order. So more worth if you order more items each time. I normally order materials for 3 short sleeve blouse in one order, and it costs around rm80 (inclusive postage) for one blouse. Of course, it depends on the yarn you choose too. I normally order Patons 4ply 100% cotton yarn.

i'm also a beginner knitter. you can learn all the basics in youtube. just type knitting tutorial. there is this 1 channel i subscribed http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCroNgMIOCKOsU5LpnNNFH_w

she has very good tutorials for knitting projects. because of her, i successfully knit my baby's booties. i really love to read knitting pattern & amaze how these designers can think the patterns

i don't know if because i learn to knit first, its really hard for me to learn crochet. i think i need a class for this. try to do granny square but failed. i even didnt understand crochet pattern.
from my experience, for starting to learn basic knitting, buy a double-pointed needles. size 3.5mm or 4.0 mm or 4.5mm. buy aluminum material. most books & guide suggest using bamboo material but after 1 week you will be comfortable with aluminum dpns. buy nona or minlon yarns. this is the cheapest. normal price rm2 per ball. try buy only two plain colors (1 ball per color) & START KNITTING!!

after 1-2 weeks, you will know already what to buy for your first project. GOOD LUCK!!!

girls, i would like to recommend you a good website which contains all information you need for your knitting hobbies.

www.ravelry.com

register a free account, there are many free or paid patterns, yarn information for your to refer to.
do feel free to contact me if you need any help.

Enjoy.