How do you learn to knit? To learn how to knit, you need two knitting needles and a ball of worsted-weight yarn. Cast on your stitches, then knit each row by slipping your needle through the front of the next stitch, wrapping the yarn around it, and pulling the new loop through. That single motion, repeated, is the core of knitting — everything else builds on it.
Learning how to knit is a wonderfully rewarding experience. Before you get started, fair warning: it's absolutely addicting. To begin, grab some needles and yarn. For this tutorial, we're using Mary Maxim Best Value worsted weight yarn (the most commonly used yarn weight) and size 8 (5.0 mm) knitting needles.
If you're giving this a try and don't want to wait, grab any worsted weight yarn and check the label. You'll find a small box with suggestions for what size needles to pair with that yarn. Once you move on to knitting from an actual pattern, always follow the gauge and needle size the pattern recommends — for now, the label is a fine guide.
Long Tail Cast On
To begin knitting, add your foundation stitches onto your needle using the Long Tail Cast On method, which covers the full technique with step-by-step photos and a video walkthrough.
How to Knit, Step by Step
A few different rhymes help beginners remember the knit stitch motion. We'll use the classic version here, though a cheekier, more memorable one exists too — pick whichever sticks in your head. This tutorial is written for English-style, right-handed knitting.
In through the front door: Slip your working needle under the needle holding your existing stitches.
Once around the back: Wrap the yarn (not the tail) around your working needle counter-clockwise, and slip it between your needles.
Peek through the window: Slide your working needle from one side of the stitch-holding needle to the other, carrying the wrapped yarn from step two along with it.
And off jumps Jack: Slide the loop off the needle that was holding your cast-on stitches, or the stitches from the previous row.
Knit Stitch vs. Purl Stitch
The knit stitch and purl stitch are two sides of the same coin. Knit a stitch on one side of your work, and it shows up as a purl stitch on the other — knitting is essentially the original binary code (early computer programmers really did knit code for machines to read). As you knit along, it can be hard to visualize exactly how the yarn is forming loops on your needle. Try knitting a small swatch, pausing partway through, and using a crochet hook to pull out a few rows of stitches, then pick them back up. That hands-on undo-and-redo is one of the fastest ways to understand how knit and purl stitches actually work together.
Knitting Tips for Beginners
If you have a knitting friend willing to let you feel how yarn moves across their needles, take them up on it. Needle material matters more than people expect: we usually suggest metal or ceramic needles for beginners, since most yarns slide easily across them. As you improve, you'll likely find certain needle materials suit certain projects better.
Dishcloths make a great first project, but craft cotton is a tricky first yarn — it can stick to your needles and throw off your tension. Get a few acrylic-yarn swatches under your belt first before moving to a cotton like Lily's Sugar'n Cream or Premier Home Cotton.
If you set your work down, try to stop at the end of a row and slide your stitches toward the tip of the needle so they don't slip off. If you do lose your place mid-row, remember: for right-handed knitters, the stitches you just finished sit on your right, along with the working yarn.
Expect rough tension at first. Starting with the garter stitch on a simple project, like a scarf in an inexpensive worsted-weight yarn, knits up fast and treats uneven tension as a design feature rather than a flaw. It evens out with practice, so don't stress about it early on.
Every Knitting Tutorial on Our Site
Once you've got the knit stitch down, here's where to go next. These cover every core knitting technique and stitch we've published.
Basics and Foundations
- How to Cast On Knitting
- How to Purl for Beginners
- How to Hold Yarn When Knitting
- How to Join Yarn in Knitting
- How to Yarn Over and Yarn Forward
Stitch Patterns
Cables and Brioche
- How to Knit Cables for Beginners
- How to Knit a Cable Decrease
- Brioche Knitting Instructions: Easy Brioche, Part 1
- Brioche Knitting Pattern: Striped Brioche Blanket, Part 2
- Two-Color Brioche Cowl: Easy Brioche Knitting, Part 3
