Beginner Knitting Patterns

Your first six projects, in order

The fastest way to learn to knit is not to learn everything at once. Each project below adds exactly one new skill, and every one of them is a real finished object rather than a practice square destined for the bin.

• A garter stitch scarf or cowl: cast on, knit every row, cast off. Nothing else. Use aran or chunky yarn on 5 to 6mm needles so it grows visibly.
• A dishcloth in cotton: teaches consistent tension over a small square, and you will actually use it.
• A simple hat: introduces working in the round on a circular needle, plus decreasing at the crown.
• Fingerless mitts: a thumb hole is your first taste of shaping, and they take one ball.
• A blanket of squares: a chance to try new stitch patterns square by square without commitment.
• A drop-shoulder jumper: four rectangles and some seaming. Your first garment.

What you actually need to buy

Very little. One pair of 5mm needles, one or two balls of a smooth light-coloured aran yarn, a blunt darning needle and a pair of scissors will get you through the first three projects. Light-coloured is not a style preference: on dark yarn you cannot see your stitches, and beginners need to see their stitches. Avoid black, fluffy mohair, slubby novelty yarns and very fine 4 ply for now – all of them hide what your hands are doing. Bamboo or wooden needles grip slightly and stop stitches sliding off, which is a real advantage in the first fortnight.

Reading a pattern without panic

Patterns are written in abbreviations because writing them out would double the page count. K is knit, P is purl, st is stitch, and every pattern includes a key. Read the whole pattern before you cast on, and mark the size you are making throughout – patterns give sizes as, for example, 90 (95: 100: 105) cm, and the second number is your size in every single instruction if you chose the second size. Tension is given as stitches and rows over 10cm; for a scarf you can ignore it, and for a garment you cannot. Knit the square, wash it, measure the middle.

Mistakes everyone makes, and how to fix them

Accidental increases at the start of a row are almost always caused by the yarn lying over the needle and being knitted as a stitch: keep the yarn below the needle when you start a row. Stitches that are too tight to move mean you are knitting into the needle rather than letting the loops sit loosely on the shaft. Dropped stitches can be laddered back up with a crochet hook and are not a disaster. And if a project stops being fun, cast off and start something else; there is no rule that says an unfinished scarf must be worn as a badge of shame.

Finishing your first pieces

Cast off loosely – a tight cast off will pucker the top of a hat and stop a cuff going over a hand. Weave ends in along the direction of the stitches with a blunt needle, giving them several centimetres of travel. Then block: soak the piece, roll it in a towel, pat it out to shape and let it dry flat. Blocking evens out beginner tension more effectively than anything else you can do, and the difference between an unblocked and a blocked first scarf is genuinely startling.

Beginner knitting questions

What is the easiest thing to knit first?

A garter stitch scarf or cowl in chunky yarn. One stitch, no shaping, quick progress.

What size needles should a beginner use?

Around 5 to 6mm with aran or chunky yarn. Big enough to see, small enough to handle.

How long does it take to learn to knit?

Most people can knit a straight row within an afternoon and a finished scarf within a week or two of evenings.

Do beginners need to knit a tension square?

Not for scarves and blankets. Always for anything that has to fit.

What next?

Try hat knitting patterns or scarf knitting patterns.