Knitting 101 for Beginners: Tools, Stitches, and Your First Project

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Grab your needles and prepare to learn some knitting basics all while creating your first project: a gender-neutral beanie.

For me, it all started with a lace scarf. But whether you’re looking to craft a scarf, a cabled cardigan, or a pair of cashmere socks, every knitter has their Patient Zero—the knit that precipitates a lifelong obsession with fiber.

"It's such a great and useful hobby," Tanis Gray, a designer and knitting teacher in Virginia, tells Popular Mechanics. "I love that I can make a sweater or knit someone a hat, and have it turn out exactly the way I want it." Plus, you’ll never feel more productive than when there's a project (or two) tucked in your bag. I’m often squeezing in a few rows while commuting, standing in line, or watching TV.

Driven by a collective need for simpler pleasures, knitting is experiencing a resurgence in these uncertain times. From Tom Daley, the British swimmer caught knitting on camera at the Olympics, to Michelle Obama, who started stitching during the pandemic, everyone seems to be hooked on knitting. Luckily, starting the craft has never been easier.

Here's everything you need to know to learn how to knit for the first time, including the tools, materials, and tricks you’ll need to create your first project. As an added bonus, we’ve designed an exclusive pattern just for Pop Mech readers to help you knit a cozy, unisex beanie.

For those of us who like gadgets, there's a knitting tool for every (st)itch. But at its simplest, knitting requires just two needles and some string. Start with the basics and add to your collection as your skills—and obsession—grow.

Yarn

With all the variety on offer (color, texture, fiber content), choosing the perfect yarn for a first project can be daunting. Narrow down the field of contenders by following a few simple guidelines.

Needles

Needles come in many shapes, sizes, and materials, and knitters can be pretty vocal about their favorites. Many love the warm feel of wooden straights, two separate needles that are tapered on one end. Others, like me, swear by their Addi Turbos, nickel-plated brass needles connected by a length of pliable nylon cord. Still others prefer double-pointed needles, a set of four or five needles used to knit in continuous rounds (rather than back and forth), making these needles especially suitable for socks, hats, and other tube-shaped items.

Stitch Gauge

This indispensable tool—essentially a ruler with an L- or square-shaped chunk carved out of it—could be replaced by a ruler, but its convenience-to-cost ratio is hard to beat. Slide your knitting underneath the stitch gauge and count the number of stitches and rows that fit in its window to measure the gauge, or number of stitches and rows per inch.

Take the time to knit a gauge swatch, or a sample square of fabric, to avoid unpleasant surprises. Remember to block (submerge in water and dry) your swatch the way you intend to block your final project.

Tapestry Needle

Unlike sewing needles, tapestry needles have a blunt point so that they don't split your yarn. Used to sew together flat pieces of knitting, they come in a variety of sizes for different weights of yarn.

There are many ways to lay down that first foundational row of stitches. One of the simplest is the knitted cast on. It's versatile and yields a stretchy edge that doesn't flare.

First, make a slip knot and slip it on your left needle.

Insert your right needle into the loop created by the slip knot from front to back.

Wrap the yarn in a counterclockwise direction around the right needle.

Pull the yarn through the first loop on the left needle—you now have a loop on each needle.

Pass the newly created stitch to the left needle by swinging the right needle behind the left needle.

Insert the left needle through the loop on the right needle from front to back.

Now there are two loops on the left needle and none on the right.

Continue to work in this way—creating new loops on the right needle and passing them to the left needle—until you’ve cast on the desired number of stitches.

Knitting teems with variety—ropey cables, sheer lace, bobbles, and more. Yet this variety stems from two basic stitches—knit and purl—which are stacked, arranged, and configured to produce fabric with an astonishing range of textures and properties. For example, ribbing, made up of alternating columns of knit and purl stitches, is elastic and a popular edging for hats.

"There are so many analogies to metallurgy," Karen Daniels, a professor of physics at North Carolina State University, who's been knitting for decades, tells Popular Mechanics. In both disciplines, the properties of the material (yarn, metal) and its arrangement (stitches, alloys) affect the macroscopic behavior of the final product.

Decreasing and increasing the number of stitches is an easy way to give your knitting a little shape.

Insert the right needle through two stitches on the left needle. Knit the stitches together. You’ve eliminated one stitch.

With your left needle, lift the bar between two stitches and knit it through the back to create a twisted knit stitch. You’ve created one stitch.

All good things must come to an end. Binding off your knitting prevents the piece you’ve just completed from unraveling.

A hat is a great first project—fast, useful, and an ideal canvas to use that special skein of yarn. Worked as a continuous tube that's closed at the crown, this hat is knit with four double-pointed needles and features a simple striped pattern.

Supplies

Instructions

To start:

Begin the pattern:

Begin decreases:

→ Check out our guide on how to get started in sewing

→ Find more knitting work by the author at her Ravelry page

All videos by Olivia Chinchio.

Connie Chang is a freelance writer in the Bay Area -- covering science, parenting and health. She's a recovering scientist, inveterate knitter and fan fiction enthusiast.

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