What you need to start knitting
- Needles: medium size, US 6, 7, or 8 (4mm to 5mm), for worsted-weight yarn; or 7mm to 12mm for bulky or super-bulky yarn. Bamboo or wood needles are commonly recommended for beginners since the yarn grips them slightly, reducing dropped stitches.
- Yarn: a smooth, simply-spun yarn in a light or medium solid colour. Avoid novelty or heavily textured yarn, and avoid dark or variegated colours at first, since both make it harder to see your own stitches.
- Extras: a tapestry needle for weaving in ends, and a pair of scissors.
How do you cast on?
- Make a slip knot on one needle, leaving a short tail.
- Insert the second needle into the slip knot loop and use it to draw a new loop of working yarn through, placing the new loop onto the left needle.
- Repeat, drawing a new stitch through the last loop each time, until you have the number of stitches your project needs.
This single-needle method is a common beginner cast-on. The long-tail cast-on is a widely-used next-step alternative once you're comfortable with the basics.
How do you do the knit stitch?
- Hold the needle with your cast-on stitches in your left hand, and an empty needle in your right.
- Insert the right needle into the front of the first stitch, from left to right, so the needles form an X.
- Wrap the working yarn counterclockwise around the tip of the right needle.
- Draw the right needle, with the new loop of yarn, back through the stitch.
- Slide the old stitch off the left needle, leaving the new stitch on the right needle.
- Repeat across the whole row, then swap the needles and repeat for every row after.
Repeating the knit stitch on every row, with no other stitch types mixed in, produces "garter stitch," the fabric most beginner projects start with.
How do you bind off?
- Knit the first two stitches as normal.
- Insert the left needle into the first stitch on the right needle, and lift it up and over the second stitch, off the needle entirely.
- Knit one more stitch, then repeat the lift-over step.
- Continue until one stitch remains, then cut the yarn, leaving a tail, and pull it through the last loop to secure it.
Bind off loosely — a tight bind-off pulls the finished edge in. If yours comes out tight, switch to a needle one size larger for just that final row.
Your first project: a simple garter-stitch scarf
- Cast on roughly 20 to 30 stitches, depending on how wide you want the scarf.
- Knit every row — no need to switch stitch types — until the scarf reaches about 60 inches, or your preferred length.
- Bind off loosely.
- Weave in the loose ends with a tapestry needle.
A garter-stitch scarf is the classic first project because it needs only the two techniques covered above, repeated to length.
People also ask
What size knitting needles should a beginner use?
Medium needles, US size 6, 7, or 8 (4mm to 5mm), with worsted-weight yarn, or larger needles for bulky yarn.
What yarn is easiest for beginners to knit with?
A smooth, simply-spun yarn in a light or medium solid colour, since dark or variegated yarn hides your stitches.
What's a good first knitting project for a beginner?
A garter-stitch scarf, since it only requires casting on and the knit stitch, repeated to length.