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Want to learn how to knit, but have no idea where to start?
If the answer is yes, this beginner’s guide is made for you.
Knitting is a great hobby as it is relaxing and gives you something tangible and useful at the end. There is also no limit on what you can make when knitting. You could knit up a scarf or a teddy bear. You could even make your own Baby Yoda if you want.
What You Need
Knitting is one of those hobbies that require special equipment. Fortunately, what you need is not hard to get and you do not need a lot of things to get started.
The most important item is your knitting needles. For your first pair of needles, you do not want to spend too much.
The best needles for beginners will be a good pair of straight needles. These only have a single point and, as the name suggests, are straight.
With this first pair of needles, you do not have to worry about the material. Metal, wood or bamboo will be fine. All you need to consider is the size.
Some people recommend larger needles for beginners, but they can be awkward to work with. The ideal length you should look at is 10-inch as this is ideal for most beginner patterns and projects.
When it comes to width, there are different measurements used. UK and US measurements are the most common. The UK measurements are in millimeters while the US measurement is a single number.
The needles you should look at are UK 4mm to 5mm or US 6 to 8. The brand does not matter as much as these measurements. Some of our recommended needles and those we use are:
Pony Single Point Knitting Needles from Deramores – $1.22
Carbonized Bamboo Knitting Needle Set By Alimitopia on Amazon
Once you have your needles, you need some yarn.
The yarn you need should be suited to what you want to make. If you have a pattern you want to try, you should get the yarn recommended for the pattern. If you want to make a plain scarf for your first project, medium yarn is recommended.
Thicker yarns let you make everything faster and you will use less yarn. However, you do not want to choose a yarn that is too thick and will not work with your needles. Most yarn will have a recommended needle size and you need to match this if your pattern does not say anything.
Learning To Knit
You have your needles and your yarn, now what? How do you combine these two to make the items that you want?
Learning to knit is a lot easier than you might imagine. Once you have the basic stitch down, you can start making simple items like scarves.
I find the best way to learn something like knitting is to see what someone is doing. If you do not know anyone who knits, simply head to YouTube. There are a lot of knitting tutorials, but here are some of our favorites:
HappyBerry Knitting: This is a great channel that offers tutorials for beginners and much more. I would suggest starting with the Knitting Basics playlist and go from there.
Sheep & Stitch: This is another great channel with beginner videos and pattern tutorials you can follow. The best place to start is How to Knit for Total Beginners.
If you are more of a book learner than a video learner, there are a lot of books that you can check out instead. Some of the books can be daunting at first like 400 Knitting Stitches, but they have serious long-term value.
Here are some of our recommendations:
Knitting for the Absolute Beginner by Alison Dupernex used to be The Beginner’s Guide to Knitting and has everything you need to get started. You can pick up this book from The Book Depository for $14.56. You can also buy it from Amazon.
Knitting Book by Mary Thomas is one of the older books on the market, but it is still a great addition to your bookshelf. It offers all the information you need with easy to understand illustrations. You can get it from The Book Depository for $10.87 or from Amazon.
Choosing A Project
You have all the basics down, but really want to sink your teeth into a knitting project. The only question is what project should you try.
There are some patterns and projects that are ideal for beginners. The usual simple scarves are the best place to start, but this can be a bit boring. If you are looking for a bigger project, here are our recommendations:
A Tale of Two Tones Scarf is a great pattern for beginners. It is simple and quick leaving you with a nice scarf at the end of it. This pattern from Deramores comes in a kit with the yarn and a digital pattern.
This Exaggerated Raglan pullover is a great pattern for beginners. The finished product is cozy and looks great but does need circular needles. The pattern can be bought from Deramores as part of a kit with a digital pattern and yarn.
Dera-saurs are cute and you can make them as a beginner. The patterns for these little guys will help you practice the basic knitting skills you now have. Everything you need to create all 6 of these toys comes with the kit from Deramores including the digital patterns and yarn.