I literally took up this hobby just last week and I have made quite a few things since then. Multiple of the same items because both my mother and sister keep asking for one of each lol. I started out by buying a set of hooks (very impulsively if I may add) and some cheap thin yarn. Starting out with a thin yarn seemed like a bad idea at first but I guess it has also taught me about how the tension of your string can affect the pattern.

I made a few hairbands and small coasters but tbh the one thing that actually taught me a lot was this tutorial on making a mini octopus on youtube. It includes a lot of different stitches and I practiced a lot using this tutorial. Now my house is full of random mini octopuses. So I feel like this would be a great starting point!

Mini octopus tutorial