A woman beginning to knit jacket (6)
I believe the answer is:
anorak
'jacket' is the definition.
(anorak is a kind of jacket)
'a woman beginning to knit' is the wordplay.
'woman' becomes 'nora' (**).
'beginning to' says to take the initial letters.
The first letter of 'knit' is 'k'.
'a'+'nora'+'k'='ANORAK'
(Other definitions for anorak that I've seen before include "Parka, windcheater" , "Jacket; nerd (colloq.)" , "Jacket for an obsessive?" , "Casual outerwear" , "good on most figures?" .)