Knitting: Where to start

There's been a lot of interest on my Plurk List recently about knitting and I've had several people ask how to get started. So here's a quick and dirty get started guide that's focused mostly on what you need to buy to get started and why.

( So you want to learn how to knit... )

( Needles )

My suggestion is to get a pair of ~13" (~33cm) long size 8 (5mm) needles in either metal or bamboo. (Example bamboo and metal needles I'm quite fond of)

( Yarn )

I recommend getting relatively cheap size 4/worsted weight yarn in any color you like. (This Caron Simply Soft is probably one of my favorites overall for feel, color and ease to work with)

( Other Stuff )

If anyone has questions, or if I missed something, please let me know.
I am happy to help out with advice and WTFs, both here on my journal and on Plurk. Otherwise, any beginner pattern suggestions? I'll add some in when I can!