Knitting free course

Learn to knit: a free beginner course

Updated October 5, 2026 by Khokhar Sab

To learn to knit, buy smooth medium (weight 4) yarn and a pair of 4.5 to 5 mm needles. Cast on 24 to 30 stitches for a 6 inch swatch. Learn the knit stitch, then the purl stitch, then stockinette, and practice picking up a dropped stitch. Bind off, then learn gauge and finishing. Your first real project can be a hat in the round, with socks as the next step.

How long it takes to learn to knit

Knitting builds fabric from rows of loops held on a needle. All the stitches in the current row stay live on the needle until you knit them.

Sources differ on how fast it goes. Bob Vila says new knitters can learn the basics in a few hours. Sheep and Stitch warns that you probably won't get the knit stitch on your first or second try, and says the key is to keep trying.

This course has 12 lessons. Four of them teach the stitches on this page. The rest link to full guides on this site, and the last one is a real project.

Knitting for beginners: what you need to start

You need one ball of yarn and one pair of needles. Bob Vila adds scissors, a crochet hook for rescuing dropped stitches and a darning needle for weaving in ends.

• Yarn. Bob Vila calls medium-weight yarn ideal for beginners. Medium is weight 4 on the label, also called worsted. The Craft Yarn Council expects 16 to 20 stitches in 4 inches with it. Sheep and Stitch suggests cheap acrylic so that mistakes don't feel costly.
• Needles. Bob Vila suggests US 6 to 8, or 4 to 5 mm. The Craft Yarn Council pairs worsted yarn with 4.5 to 5.5 mm needles (US 7 to 9). Sheep and Stitch prefers wood or bamboo, since its grip stops stitches sliding off.

Some teachers start beginners on thicker yarn. Sheep and Stitch uses chunky yarn on 9 mm needles because it is easier to grip, and Clover's beginner lesson uses super bulky yarn on a 10 mm needle. The knitting needle size chart converts metric, US and UK sizes. The guide to types of yarn compares wool, cotton and acrylic.

How many stitches to cast on for a practice swatch

This course uses a practice swatch about 6 inches wide. The table runs that width through the long-tail cast-on calculator at both ends of the Craft Yarn Council gauge range for three beginner weights. The tail is the calculator's rough estimate from needle size, plus 6 inches for weaving in.

The needle sizes sit inside the Council's range for each weight. If your yarn label gives a gauge, use that instead.

Lesson 2: the knit stitch

Hold the needle with the stitches in your left hand and the empty needle in your right. Bob Vila describes a pencil grip and a knife grip for the needles, so use whichever feels relaxed. In the English style, the right hand carries the yarn. Bob Vila weaves it over the index finger, under the middle, over the ring finger and under the pinky. These steps follow Bob Vila and Clover.

1. Keep the working yarn at the back of the work.
2. Insert the right needle into the first stitch on the left needle, from front to back. The needles cross in an X, with the right needle behind.
3. Wrap the working yarn counterclockwise around the right needle.
4. Pull the right needle, with the new loop on it, back through the old stitch.
5. Slide the old stitch off the left needle. One knit stitch is done, and it sits on the right needle.
6. Repeat across the row. Then swap the needles between your hands and start the next row.

Lesson 3: the purl stitch

The purl stitch is the knit stitch done backwards. These steps follow Sheep and Stitch and Bob Vila.

1. Bring the working yarn to the front of the work.
2. Insert the right needle into the first stitch from back to front, so its tip points toward you.
3. Wrap the yarn around the right needle from front to back.
4. Pull the new loop down and back through the stitch.
5. Slide the old stitch off the left needle.

Yarn position is the difference between the two stitches. The yarn sits at the back to knit and in front to purl. When a row mixes knits and purls, the yarn moves between the needle tips each time you switch.

Lesson 4: garter vs stockinette stitch

Sheep and Stitch sums up the two stitches: "knits are Vs and purls are bumps." The two beginner fabrics come from how you combine them.

Garter looks the same on both sides because each purl bump is the back of a knit stitch. Sheep and Stitch explains that knitting every row flat puts a knit row and a purl row on each face in turn. Worked in the round, stockinette means knitting every stitch, because the right side always faces you. The hat and sock guides in the practice project both work it that way.

Lesson 5: fixing a dropped stitch

Sheep and Stitch describes a dropped stitch as one that falls off the needle. It leaves a ladder of loose strands as it runs down the rows. Catch it fast and slip a spare needle through it so it can't run further. Bob Vila fixes it with a crochet hook on the knit side.

1. Knit to the spot where the stitch dropped.
2. Insert the crochet hook into the dropped loop from front to back.
3. Find the loose strand of yarn directly above the loop. Catch it with the hook and pull it through the loop.
4. Repeat with the next strand up, one row at a time, until no strands are left.
5. Put the loop back on the left needle and knit on.

Sheep and Stitch shows the same fix with a spare double-pointed needle in place of the hook. You lift the stitch over each strand, row by row, until it reaches the main needle.

Your first knitting project

Once the swatch looks even, put the lessons to work on a real piece.

• A hat. The guide to knitting a hat covers a beginner beanie in the round, with cast-on counts for every size, ribbing and crown decreases. It uses the knit and purl stitches from this course, plus a short circular needle.
• Socks, as a next step. The guide to knitting socks adds a heel flap, a heel turn, picked-up gusset stitches and a grafted toe. The pick-up lesson above prepares you for the gusset.

The knitting gauge calculator turns your swatch into stitch counts for either project.

Common beginner mistakes

Sheep and Stitch lists these problems for new knitters.

• Dropped stitches. They show as a run down the fabric with a loose stitch at the bottom. Lesson 5 fixes them.
• Knitting too tightly. If you can barely get the needle into the stitches, push each new stitch onto the thick part of the needle before you tighten it. Sheep and Stitch also suggests going up a needle size, in 0.5 mm steps.
• Extra stitches and holes. These come from accidental yarn overs, which add a loop and leave a hole. Count your stitches at the end of each row.

Sources and further reading

• Bob Vila, How to Knit for Beginners: 6 Key Stitches to Know.
• Sheep and Stitch, How to Purl Stitch in Knitting.
• Sheep and Stitch, How to Fix a Dropped Stitch.
• Clover, Beginner Knitting: Casting On, Knit, and Purl Stitches.
• Craft Yarn Council, Hooks and Needles.

Supplies and beginner mistakes also come from Sheep and Stitch's How to Knit for Beginners guide.

Video tutorial

"How to Knit: Easy for Beginners" by RJ Knits, on YouTube. The video loads only when you press play.