Knitting Stitches for Beginners:  Complete Tutorials

Knitting Stitches for Beginners, by Janice  

Are you just getting started and think all of these knitting stitches for beginners look too difficult to tackle? 

Think again. 

There are many stitches that easy even for beginners.  But before I share these easy stitches, I want to take a look at all knitting stitches and classify them by difficulty level.

A woman is knitting with yellow yarnKnitting Stitches for Beginners

Knitting Stitches for Beginners 

There may be thousands of knitting stitches, but the good news is that there are only two basic stitches you will need to learn:

Knit Stitches

Purl Stitches

One must master these stitches if they want to knit.  But if all we did was make knit stitches, or purl stitches, alone, the fabric we create would be, well, boring.

That is why there are hundreds of variations of these two stitches that have been perfected over the years.  We normally call them knit stitch patterns.

The Knit Stitch or Garter Stitch Pattern

Let's start with the most basic stitch: the Knit Stitch.  If you create the knit stitch over and over again across the row and then in each subsequent row it is called the Garter Stitch Pattern. It's classified under the knit and purl category and it's reversible, which means it looks the same on both sides. To create this stitch, you simply knit every row. It produces a fabric with a textured, bumpy look that's flexible and sturdy.

Garter stitch done in beigeThe knit or garter stitch

Check out the tutorial for the garter stitch

Here's the tutorial for the garter stitch variations

The Purl Stitch

The purl stitch is just the opposite of the knit stitch and is normally not worked alone.  If all you make are purl stitches, you create a piece of fabric called the reverse stockinette pattern.

Find out how to make the purl stitch.  Once you've mastered these two stitches, the rest is easy.  The next set of knitting stitches for beginners use variations of these stitches to make a wide range of textured fabrics.

Purl stitch swatch also known as reverse stockinette worked in white yarnPurl Stitch Tutorial

Stockinette Pattern

If you combine one row of knit stitches and one row of purl stitches you get the stockinette stitch pattern.  

A swatch of stockinette pattern worked in white woolThis is the right side (public side) of the stockinette stitch.
The reverse or wrong side of the stockinette stitch pattern worked in white wool yarnStockinette Stitch: Wrong Side

Learn how to make the stockinette stitch.

Classification of Knit Stitches

Once you've learned how to make the knit and purl stitch, it's time to explore the many types of ways we combine them to create fabric.  I don't know if there is a technical classification of stitches, but I've seen catagories where stitches can be loosely organized:

Some are easier than others, with the knit and purl stitches being the easiest. In this article, I will give a brief explanation of all but concentrate on the knitting stitches for beginners.

Knits and Purls

Once you can make a knit and a purl stitch, and have tried the stockinette stitch pattern, you can begin combining the two stitches to create a wide variety of different stitch patterns.  Here are a few to try:

Andalusian knit stitch worked in whiteAndalusian Stitch
Knit bamboo stitch closeup (350-234 px)Bamboo Knit Stitch
Knit basketweave stitch (350 px by 234 px) closeup viewBasketweave Knit Stitch Link
Box Check Stitch Pattern worked in red yarnBox Check Stitch
Knit close check pattern worked in greenClose Check Pattern
Condo knit stitch worked in a varigated woolCondo Stitch
A swatch of the fleck stitch worked in blueFleck Stitch
Knit drop stitch pattern Drop Stitch Garter Pattern
The knit grid stitch worked in a varigated white yarnGrid Stitch Pattern
The knit Flying Geese pattern worked in dark tealFlying Geese Knit Pattern
Horizontal Welt Stitch swatch worked in purpleHorizontal Welt Stitch
The knit hurdle stitch pattern made with pink yarn.Hurdle Stitch
Knit Iron Stitch worked in dark pinkIron Stitch Pattern
Knit moss stitch pattern worked in blueMoss or Irish Moss
The knit pique stitch pattern closeup viewPique Stitch Pattern
Knit rice stitch pattern worked in 100% cotton yarnRice Stitch
Knit sand stitch pattern worked in greenSand Stitch Pattern
Knit seed stitch worked in white close up viewSeed stitch pattern
Seersucker knit stitch pattern worked in a thumbnail size 350-234 pxSeersucker Stitch
Thermal knit stitch swatch worked in redThermal Knit Stitch
Knit waffle stitch Waffle Stitch Link

Learn more about knit and purl stitches here.

Rib Stitches and Rib Patterns

This subset of knit and purl stitches, the Rib Stitches uses both knits and purls across the row to create a stretchy, textured fabric that is often used in hats, hems of sweaters, collars, and sleeve cuffs. 

There are many rib stitch pattern variations.

Rib Stitch done in red yarn.This is one type of Rib Stitch

Slip-Stitch Knit Patterns

The next catagory of knit stitches that can be mastered by beginners is called the Slip stitch knit patterns.  With these patterns, one new technique is introduced, the slip stitch.  This is a super easy stitch, actually no stitch at all.  To make a slip stitch, you move or slip one stitch from the left needle to the right needle without knitting or purling the stitch.  

Not only can you make some very interesting textured designs, but slip stitch techniques can also add color work to your repetroire of skills. 

They are a bit more complicated than simple knit and purl stitch patterns, but still well within the ability of beginners.

Linen stitch knitted with no.6 super bulky yarn and number 15 needles showing the wrong side.The linen stitch is one example of slip-stitch knit patterns.

Learn more about Slip Stitch Knit Patterns.

Reversible Stitch Patterns

When you make something that shows on both the right and wrong side such as a scarf, you will want to use a reversible stitch. These are easy patterns that look identical on both sides.  Not all knit stitch patterns are revesible, but many are.

Learn more about reversible knit stitch patterns.

Knit basketweave stitch (350 px by 234 px) closeup viewBasket Weave Stitch
Box knit stitch swatch in read yarn, thumbnail imageBox Stitch
Grid stitch closeup 350x234pxGrid Stitch
The knit hurdle stitch pattern made with pink yarn.Hurdle Stitch
The knit pique stitch pattern closeup viewFleck Stitch
Brioche Knit Stitch thumbnailBrioche Knit Stitch
Knit close check pattern worked in greenClose Check
Garter stitch pattern worked in beige yarn, thumbnail imageGarter Stitch
Knit Iron Stitch worked in dark pinkIron Stitch
Knit sand stitch pattern worked in greenSand Stitch
Knit seed stitch worked in white close up viewSeed Stitch

Cable Stitches

Entire books have been written about making cables and the number of different cable patterns boggles the mind.  Cables are created by knitting stitches in the wrong order, thereby giving you the twist you see in cables. 

Creating cables is not difficult but can be a little cumbersome getting used to hold needles along with cable needles as you knit along a row or round.  I would not consider this technique to be truly beginner friendly, but it may not be as difficult as you might suspect. It does require practice like any other knitting technique to get it looking great.

Knitted Cable Patterns

Learn more about Cable Stitches.

Knit Lace Stitches

Knitting lace can be very intiminating for beginner knitters and rightly so.  Lace is created by working a variety of different techniques, usually yarn overs and knitting increases or knit two together (K2tog).

Here's an introduction to lace knit stitches for the absolute beginner.  Learn what it takes to create lace, the pros and cons, and how to create simple lace designs using just knit, purl and decreases stitches.

Learn how to make simple Knit Lace Stitches.

The knit garter lace stitch pattern worked in purple.Knit Garter Lace Stitch

Textured Knit Stitches

Many sources add an additional catagory of stitches, textured knit stiches, that may or may not overlap other stitch patterns.  These stitches add a visual and tactile component to the fabric.  Once you've mastered the basic stitches with a few additional skills, textured knit stitches could be your next challenge.

Last Words

If you are just beginning your adventure with knitting, it can be overwhelming to know what stitch to learn next.  This article has outlined some of the most common knitting stitches from the most beginner-friendly to the more advanced.  Once a beginner has mastered the knit and purl stitches, it's time to move onto the next level of textured, ribbed, reversible, slipstitch, lace or cabled stitches.  It's safe to say that there is always something new to learn.  

Happy Learning, Happy Knitting.

Janice

Knitting Stitches for Beginners
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A sample swatch of garter, stockinette, and seed stitches

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