Knitting is so much more than a rocking chair pastime. What began as a method to weave threads into socks and other garments for early Egyptian civilisations has evolved into an essential form of fabric making. In fact, one of our most beloved wardrobe staples – the humble T-shirt – is machine-knit from thin cotton threads. If you look very closely, you can spot the tiny ‘V’-like stitches.

Over time, knitting has emerged as a popular hobby thanks to its mindfulness benefits and creative possibilities. You can literally take a long piece of string and turn it into almost anything you can imagine: from scarves or hats to sweaters, socks and even toys. 

And, there’s a lot of research that shows how knitting can positively affect our wellbeing. A recent study from the University of Gothenburg found that knitting provides “a sense of calm and structure” that can be beneficial to mental health. In another study, frequent knitters reported experiencing stress relief, relaxation and creativity benefits. If you’re looking for your next creative pursuit, knitting might just be the perfect combination of creativity and calm that you’re looking for.

Not sure where to start? Use this knitting for beginners guide to learn the basics and get started on your first project.

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Knitting for Beginners: Supplies to Get Started

An assortment of Born knitting yarn and knitting needles, arranged in a neat pattern on a light blue background.

Yarn

Yarn can be natural (wool, cotton) or synthetic (acrylic), and different sizes ranging from thinner (8 ply) to medium (12 ply) to chunky yarn. For your first knitting project, the size of yarn that you choose comes down to your budget and preference. The benefit of chunky yarn is that you can knit something up more quickly – but keep in mind that it will also create a much thicker piece! 

If you’re following a knitting pattern, it will tell you how much yarn you need. As a rough guide, two to three balls of chunky yarn would be enough to knit your own scarf.

Hot Tip: Choose a lighter-colour yarn so it’s easier to see your work when you’re starting out (shades like black or navy make it tricky to see your stitches), and avoid anything that has texture or embellishments like fluff or sparkles.

Knitting Needles

The size of knitting needles you use must correspond to your type of yarn. In Australia and New Zealand, needle sizes are usually measured by the thickness of their diameter in millimetres. The label of your yarn will have information about the recommended needle size – look for a figure like ‘4mm’ or ‘5mm’, which is often next to a little icon of a needle. 

Knitting needles can be made with different materials such as wood, bamboo, plastic or metal. The material comes down to your personal preference. 

Hot Tip: Wood or bamboo is not recommended for thinner knitting needles (3.5mm and under) as these tend to break more easily. 

Yarn Needles

Yarn needles are a type of sewing needle with a larger eye to fit yarn and a blunt end that you can use to weave in loose ends or stitch together knitted pieces. 

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Knitting for Beginners: Terms and Skills to Know

By learning how to cast on, knit, purl and cast off you can get started with some fun beginner knitting projects.

How to Cast On

‘Casting on’ refers to the process of creating the starter stitches across a single knitting needle. 

A series of images demonstrating how to create your first stitch. They show an overhead view of two hands using a grey metal knitting needle and pink yarn, on a blue background.
The first stitch of casting on.

‍Step 1: Create a basic slip knot and put it on your needle. This is your first stitch.

Hot Tip: When you create the knot, make sure you leave a long, loose tail on one side as you will need this to loop around to create the rest of your stitches.

A series of images demonstrating how to cast on. They show an overhead view of two hands using a grey metal knitting needle and pink yarn.
Adding the remaining cast on stitches. 

Step 2: To add the remaining stitches, hold the needle with the slip knot in your dominant hand. Wrap the loose tail around the back of your thumb on your other hand.

Step 3: Insert the needle through the loop on your thumb from the front (the side closest to you) to the other side. 

Step 4: Wrap the working yarn around the needle and pull through the thumb loop. Pull both ends to form a new loop on the needle.

Repeat steps 2 to 4 until you have the required amount of stitches on your needle. Every time you knit all of the stitches across one needle, this is referred to as a row.

How to Knit Stitch

A series of images demonstrating how to do a knit stitch. They show an overhead view of two hands using two grey knitting needles and pink yarn.

A knit stitch is when you loop the yarn from the back of your needle to the front, creating a small ‘V’ shape.

Step 1: Hold the empty needle in your dominant hand and the needle with the stitches in the other.

Step 2: Push the empty needle through the first stitch on the opposite needle. The empty needle goes below the other needle, as you push the needle away from you.

Step 3: Wrap the yarn that is attached to your ball under and then over your empty needle and pull it close towards the stitch on the other needle.

Step 4: Pull the empty needle with the wrapped yarn back through the stitch going underneath it, then out and on top of it to form a new loop with the wrapped yarn.

‍Step 5: Slide the old stitch off the needle, leaving the new stitch you made with the wrapped yarn on the opposite needle.

Repeat these steps for each stitch across the row. When you complete a row, switch hands and start all over again!

Hot Tip: A knit stitch is often shown as ‘K’ in patterns. For example, ‘K 3’, which means knit three stitches.

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How to Purl Stitch

A series of images demonstrating how to do a purl stitch. They show an overhead view of two hands using two grey knitting needles and blue yarn.

A purl stitch is essentially the opposite of a knit stitch. It is when you loop the yarn from the front of your needle to the back, creating a bump or ridge on the fabric. 

Step 1: Start by holding the empty needle in your dominant hand and the needle with the stitches in the other.

Step 2: Push the empty needle through the first stitch on the opposite needle. The empty needle goes above the other needle, as you push the needle away from you.

Step 3: Wrap the yarn that is attached to your ball under and then over your empty needle (which is now on top) and pull it close towards the stitch on the other needle.

Step 4: Pull the empty needle with the wrapped yarn back through the stitch going on top of it, then out and underneath form a new loop with the wrapped yarn.

Step 5: Slide the old stitch off the needle, leaving the new stitch you made with the wrapped yarn on the opposite needle.

Hot Tip: A purl stitch is often shown as ‘P’ in patterns. For example, ‘P 3’, which means purl three stitches.

How to Cast Off

A series of images demonstrating how to cast off. They show an overhead view of two hands using two grey knitting needles and blue yarn.

When it’s time to finish your project you need to close off the stitches and remove them from your needles. 

Step 1: Follow the knit stitch instructions to knit two stitches.

Step 2: Take the first stitch and pull it back over the second stitch so you’re left with just one stitch.

Step 3: Knit one more stitch and once again pull the first stitch on your needle over the one you just knitted.

Garter Versus Stockinette Stitch Patterns

Knitting every row is called a garter stitch pattern. A garter stitch pattern looks the same on both sides. 

Knitting one row, purling one row, and repeating is called a stockinette or stocking stitch pattern. One side will have the ‘V’ stitches and the other will have the horizontal purl bumps.

Garter stitch is recommended for scarves as stockinette tends to curl in on the sides. 

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How to Knit a Scarf

A series of images showing the first steps of creating a scarf. They show an overhead view of two hands using two grey knitting needles and chunky mustard-coloured yarn.

What You’ll Need

  • Two balls of chunky yarn
  • A set of knitting needles (the size of needles will need to match what the yarn label recommends)
  • Yarn needle
  • Scissors

Step 1: Using your chunky yarn, cast 16 stitches onto your needle (you can use more or less depending on how wide or thin you would like your scarf to be).

Step 2: Using knit stitches, continue to knit rows until you have almost worked through the two balls of yarn.

Step 3: When your yarn is almost done, cast off.

Step 4: Cut the loose end leaving at least 20cm. Use your yarn needle to sew this loose end back into the scarf to hide it. Do the same with the yarn left hanging from your cast on.

What to Do if You Make a Mistake When Knitting

The most common knitting mistake is dropping a stitch. You may look at your knitting needles and notice you have one stitch missing, or you may see a little loop hanging somewhere from your work. Follow these steps to fix a dropped stitch.

Step 1: Secure the dropped stitch (which looks like a loop) with an empty knitting needle. 

Step 2: You’ll notice that behind the loop and running up your work there will be small, horizontal strands of empty yarn that look like a ladder leading all the way back up to your needle. Wrap this loop over the horizontal strand behind it, forming a new loop. When you’re using garter stitch, you will do this on the opposite side every time (loop on one side, then loop on the other).  

Step 3: Continue this until you’ve looped all the way back up to your needle, and secure the loop (stitch) back on the needle with the others.

What to Try