Ready to jump into knitting, but not sure where to start? There are plenty of options for easy knitting patterns that will have you creating all kinds of practical and fun projects right away. Here’s a list of 25 free and easy knitting patterns for beginners that are perfect for getting you started.
Easy Knitting Patterns for Beginners
To get started with knitting, all you need to know are a few basic stitches (knit and purl are the most common). Add a few more skills, like increasing, decreasing, and working in the round, and you’ll have dozens of wonderful knitting patterns to choose from!
Fortunately, there are plenty of knitting patterns for beginners (and intermediate-advanced knitters, too) available for free. So you can knit to your heart’s content!
Below are a few of my favorites to get you started.
What is the first thing a beginner should knit?
Some of the easiest projects for first-time knitters include scarves, baby blankets, and dishcloths. These patterns can be knitted up quickly and only require knowing one or two stitches, worked back and forth.
Fortunately, all of these types of patterns are included in this post!
Easy Knitting Patterns for Beginners
Here’s a list of 25 knitting patterns for beginners. Find one you love and start knitting!
Easy Garter Stitch Scarf
A scarf is one of the best knitting projects to start with for beginners. This comprehensive guide will teach you how to make an entire scarf from start to finish, even if you’re brand new to knitting.
Yarn weight Bulky
Suggested Yarn: Lion Brand Hue + Me
Easiest Baby Booties Ever
Booties are the perfect gift to give to a new baby. Unfortunately, knitting baby boots can be complicated. On the bright side, this pattern makes knitting baby booties simple! Unlike most baby boot patterns, this one uses single-point needles and doesn’t require any tricky shaping.
Yarn weight: Worsted
Suggested yarn: Brava Worsted
Baby Sweater Pattern
This pattern only uses one simple stitch – the garter stitch. It also utilizes some simple shaping, done by increasing and decreasing. This is a great beginner sweater, but if you’re brand new to knitting, you may want to save this project until after you have a scarf or two under your belt.
Yarn weight: Aran
Suggested yarn: Rico Creative Cotton Aran
Seafaring Scarf
You’ll feel like you’re cuddled right up to the softest sheep in this chunky, wool scarf. You’ll need to know how to knit and purl in order to make the deep, squishy ribs in this scarf.
Yarn weight: Super bulky
Suggested yarn: Purl Soho Super Bulky Weight Yarns
Confetti Scarf
The fun, confetti colors that fill this scarf are made by knitting the project with 7 different strands of yarn at once. Don’t worry, though! It’s not as hard as it might sound, since the yarns tend to curl around one another and stick to each other as you knit. The pattern even includes 8 different pictures of ideas for your colors choices.
Yarn weight: Fingering
Suggested yarn: Purl Soho’s Line Weight
World's Simplest Mittens
This pattern offers five sizes of mittens, from toddler to adult large. You’ll work in a round, knitting from the cuff to the hand, and then finishing with the thumb. This is a fairly basic knitting pattern, but may not be suitable for those who are super new to knitting.
Yarn weight: DK, chunky, fingering, or worsted
Suggested yarn: Swish DK
Garter Stitch Baby Cardigan
This baby kimono sweater is just too sweet! For this pattern, you’ll need to do some shaping, knit buttonholes, and sew pieces together, as well as sew buttons on your sweater.
Yarn weight: Fingering
Suggested yarn: Stroll Tonal
Garter Yoke Baby Cardi
Little ones will stay toasty warm in this sweet knitted sweater. You’ll use circular needles to knit this sweater from the top down.
Yarn weight: Sport
Suggested yarn: Knit Picks Andean Treasure
Flax Pullover Sweater
What better way to keep yourself warm than with your own, hand-knitted sweater? The only problem with this sweater is that all your friends will be asking you to knit them one, too! This pattern is best for the more experienced beginner, and it includes sizes from infant through adult.
Yarn weight: Worsted/Aran
Suggested yarn: Knit Picks Twill
Diagonal Comfort Blanket
If you’re looking for a simple, cozy blanket that knits up quickly, this is it. This snuggly baby blanket pattern is perfect for beginners.
Yarn weight: Worsted
Suggested yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease (Discontinued) Substitute Comfy Worsted
GAP-tastic Cowl
Let your mind wander while you knit and purl away on this cozy infinity scarf. It’s perfect for wearing with your favorite winter outfit or for giving as a gift.
Yarn weight: Bulky
Suggested yarn: Lion Brand Hue + Me Yarn
Cozy Ribbed Scarf
This is the ideal ribbed-stitch scarf – you won’t want to take it off all winter long! Use 100% baby alpaca yarn to get the perfect drape.
Yarn weight: Bulky
Suggested yarn: Misti Alpaca Chunky
Delightful Dishcloths
Making your own dishcloths is the perfect way to make your kitchen feel even more like home. You don’t even have to worry about gauge with this pattern, since the exact size isn’t important.
Yarn weight: Fingering - Worsted
Suggested yarn: Knit Picks Dishie
Baby Mitts
These little mittens are perfect for using up extra bits of yarn. For these simple, thumbless mittens, you’ll need to know how to work in the round and how to increase.
Yarn weight: Worsted
Suggested yarn: Blue Sky Fibers Sweater Worsted
Brick Sweater
Since this sweater is knit from the top down, you can check the fit as you go. This pattern is best suited to a more advanced beginner.
Yarn weight: Worsted
Suggested yarn: Brooklyn Tweed Shelter
Moonbow Slouchy Chunky Knit Cardigan
If you know how to knit, purl, and work simple decreases, you can make this cozy, chunky cardigan. When you’re finished knitting the pieces, you’ll sew them together using a whip stitch.
Yarn weight: Chunky
Suggested yarn: Lion Brand Hue + Me
Garter Rib Baby Blanket
There’s plenty of texture in this squishy, ribbed baby blanket. This bordered blanket is perfect for keeping little ones warm and snug.
Yarn weight: DK
Suggested yarn: Orange Flower Yarn DK 250
The Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief
This triangle-shaped shawl is made mostly with the stockinette stitch and accented with lovely garter knit eyelet sections. Best of all, you can easily make it as large or small as you like in order to create the perfect shawl drape for you.
Yarn weight: DK
Suggested yarn: Orange Flower Yarn SW Merino
Sockhead Hat
This cozy, floppy hat has a ribbed brim to keep you warm while you sport your own, hand-knit project. To make this hat, all you need to know is how to knit, purl, and knit two together (K2tog).
Yarn weight: Fingering
Suggested yarn: Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Sock Yarn
How to Knit a Chunky Hat for Beginners
Here’s another snug, comfortable hat for winter. Knit in the round until you finish your hat, then make your own pom pom to keep it fun! This pattern also includes video tutorials to walk you through the knitting process.
Yarn weight: Super Chunky
Suggested yarn: Cascade Magnum and Malabrigo Rasta
Lambing Mitts
These fingerless mittens were created to keep farmers’ fingers warm as they catch newborn lambs at lambing time. But even if you don’t have sheep, everyone can find a time when fingerless gloves are just what they need. This pattern includes instructions for sizes small, medium, and large mittens.
Yarn weight: Worsted
Suggested yarn: Knit Picks City Tweed
Headband with a twist
Need to keep your ears warm but not a fan of hats? This fashionable headband is perfect. It’s easy to adjust the finished width or length of this headband so that it fits your head just right.
Yarn weight: DK/Light Worsted
Suggested yarn: Lima by Drops
Easy Peasy Socks!
Making socks can be intimidating, but this pattern was made with the beginner in mind. If you can work in the round, decrease, and pick up stitches, you can make these socks.
Yarn weight: Worsted
Suggested yarn: Claudia’s Handpainted Worsted
Easy Knit Boot Cuffs
This pattern is excellent for learning (or improving your skills on) how to knit in the round using double-pointed needles. Alternatively, you can use the magic loop method. Your legs will stay toasty warm with this easy, handmade project.
Yarn weight: Worsted
Suggested yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease
On the Bias Throw Pillow
Lastly, don’t miss out on this fashionable throw pillow project to spruce up your living room. It’s perfect for the beginner. Plus, it’s an easy way to add your favorite color choices to your home.
Yarn weight: Bulky
Suggested yarn: Lion Brand Hue + Me
What to look for in an easy knitting pattern
But how can you tell if a knitting pattern is easy or not? Here are a few things to look for as you peruse around for the perfect project.
Simple stitch pattern
Many patterns will tell you right in the introduction what skills or stitches you’ll need to know. When you’re just getting started, look for simple stitch patterns, such as the garter stitch, stockinette stitch, or rib stitch.
Increases, decreases, and easy shaping
When you’re ready for something slightly more advanced than a scarf, seek out projects that utilize the skills of increasing, decreasing, and easy shaping. Shawls and hats are great beginner knitting projects that generally use these techniques.
Yarn weight
Some yarn weights are easier to knit than others. Worsted and Bulky tend to be the simplest to handle. After you get a few projects under your belt, you can start experimenting with heavier and lighter weights.
Easy colorwork
Colorwork in knitting is the technique of using multiple colors in your project. It may sound difficult, but it can really be quite simple. Stripes are one of the easiest types of colorwork for beginners. More complicated colorwork patterns will provide you with a color chart.
Clear instructions
Read through all of the instructions before getting started. Make sure you understand the techniques before jumping into your project. This will save you a lot of frustration as you knit.
Many knitting pattern instructions include pictures or even videos, so you can visualize exactly what you need to do.
Best Yarn and Needles for Beginning Knitters
Yarn
Worsted-weight yarn is the easiest yarn for beginners. Bulky yarn is a close second! With these yarns, you can easily see your stitches, and they won’t quickly get tangled like some lighter-weight yarns.
Each of the free knitting patterns below includes suggested yarn weights. Be prepared to see worsted and DK suggestions a lot! (Fortunately, there are also tons of options for yarn choices in these weights!)
Needles
Medium to large-sized knitting needles are best for beginners. They’re easy to work with and hold as you practice your stitches. Sizes 8-11 U.S. (5mm-8mm metric) are excellent choices.
As you knit different projects, you’ll want to have a collection of straight, double-pointed, and circular needles. You can purchase starter packs or needle collections to make sure you have a variety of sizes and types of needles.
More Knitting Ideas
If you like to knit, you may be interested in these related posts.
- The 12 Best Knitting Kits for Beginners
- How to Read Yarn Labels and Symbols
- Yarn Weights Guide and Chart
- How to Knit the Knit Stitch (k) for Beginners
- How to Knit: Complete Guide for Beginners
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