Knitting Advice for Beginners

A good place to start for getting a feel for knitting is to knit some granny squares, which are simple knitted squares. Once you’ve mastered these you could even stitch them together to make a blanket! Small, square cotton dishcloths are also a great place to start. Simple scarves or baby blankets are also great for people new to knitting.

Before You Start

You will need to set yourself up with some needles and yarn – don’t start too small as the stitches will be a bit too fiddly. In our experience the best type of yarn to start out with is a medium weight wool, such as a DK (8ply) or worsted wool, and using 4mm or 5mm knitting needles. This is the easiest to learn with for beginners.

Getting Going

Never underestimate the power of a YouTube tutorial video!! There are literally thousands of online tutorials covering every aspect of knitting and crochet that you may need. Once you actually see the stitches being created, suddenly the penny drops and you’re away! You just hit pause, and mimic what they are doing on screen…

Videos are also useful to learn what to do if you miss or drop a stitch, so you don’t panic when it happens!

Firstly, it’s a good idea to learn how to cast on and off correctly so that will give you a good idea of where to start.

Knitting Stitches

There are many different knitting stitches out there, but the simplest and most widely used are knit and purl. So master these ones first, and then when you feel more confident you can start branching out.

Once you are up and running...

Knitting Needles

These days there are many different types of knitting needles, including plastic, wooden, bamboo aluminium, straight, circular, double pointed, and the list goes on! The most important thing to remember is to get the right size for the pattern you are knitting. Most knitting patterns will include what size needles are required. This is usually dependent on the weight of the wool or yarn the pattern uses. For example, 8ply wool will often use 4mm knitting needles.

The material of the needles is really a personal preference, so try a few different types and see what you like the best. My preference is for wooden and stainless steel needles.

Yarns

There are an overwhelming number of yarn and wool types in existence. Different materials, different weights and so many different colours! Again, this is entirely a personal preference. We recommend you start with a fairly plain yarn that isn’t too difficult to man-oeuvre.

Choosing a pattern

When you’re ready to start, here are some of our favourite knitting patterns for beginners.
View our collection of easy skill level patterns