You’ve got needles and a ball of yarn, and you want to knit something. Good for you! But how do you get the yarn on your needles?

The trusty cast on!

Every knitting project starts with the cast on, so limber up your fingers. You’re going to learn an easy way to cast on in this video.

Knit Stitch

You’ve learned how to put stitches on the needle with the cast on. Good job! But we can’t just let them sit on the needle like bumps on a log. We’ve got to knit them up!

The knit stitch is the most basic and fundamental stitch – after all, it’s the namesake of the whole craft! Master the knit stitch and you can official call yourself a Knitter.

Purl Stitch

You’ve learned the knit stitch! How does it feel? You’re a Knitter now!

Now, you’re ready to meet its doppelgänger, the purl stitch. The knit and purl stitches make up the foundation of knitting. Master these two stitches and you can take on a world of stitch patterns!

Cast Off

With the cast on, knit and purl stitches under your belt, you’ve probably knit yourself a little swatch. Cool! At some point, you’ll want to get that swatch off your needle.

Enter the cast off.

The cast off is awesome because it means your project is done! All grown up and ready to enter the world!

2 Challenges for You

Look at you! You’ve learned the four essential knitting techniques. Now, you’re ready to knit something you can wear! Test out your new skills by knitting…

1. Simple Garter Stitch Scarf Using your new skills, knit a garter stitch scarf by casting on a number of stitches and knitting all of them, back and forth, until you’re happy with the length. Then, cast off. Once you’ve cast off, weave in your yarn ends.Then, you’re officially done with your garter stitch scarf! Woohoo! (Difficulty level: easy)

OR

2. The Cushy Cowl Build on these four techniques by introducing another essential skill – knitting in the round! – to make the cushy cowl, a seamless circle of garter stitch that you can loop around your neck. This option includes a free pattern and tutorial that walks you through all the steps involved, including knitting in the round and garter stitch in the round. (Difficulty level: slightly harder)