How to knit a scarf – Useful tutorial video

Introduction

Hey! I am Davina from sheepandstitch.com, and today we're going to learn how to knit a beginners scarf step by step. This tutorial is for beginners and newbies that are not completely new to knitting.
We are going to go through the steps together, and it is going to be a lot of fun.

So you just need a little refresher, or if you've always wanted to knit, then this program is for you. And if you are already a seasoned knitter think about sharing this course with someone who has yet to experience the joy of knitting.

Share the love! And bring them into the fold that is knitting. Yeah? Okay, let's start knitting. 

Choosing our yarn and needles

Today I'm knitting with two skeins of TJOCKT Martta the Merino, which is a super delicious merino yarn. It's a one ply and a bulky weight, so it'll knit up. I mean, look that is, right? And this is a color. And you can get these at sheepandstitch. com. I am also knitting with a pair of 10 mm needles. Now yarn and the needles that you use can be anything that you have around. 

You don't need to use a needle or this specific yarn. So the yarn that I'm knitting with is a bulky weight yarn. 

Because it gives you something to hold onto this is nice and thick and easy for beginners. I would advise that you use the yarn which requires needles that are at least 5 millimeters in size. Anything smaller than that is tough to control for a beginner. You want to stay away from yarns like this. This is a sock weight yarn. And as you Can see, it's really fine.

It's going to be harder. Stay away from yarns that are thin like this. You'll want a moderate weight, all of the way up to a bulky weight. Hence the rule is bigger yarns are better for beginners. So what sort of needles should you use? 

The best place to look is your yarn label. My yarn tag here informs me that the cables I should use are between 10 and 15 mm. So when you're selecting a needle size, look to your yarn label and use their recommended needle size. So as soon as you've obtained your yarn and needles, you're ready for the first leg of your trip, which is projecting on! Woohoo!

The Cast On

So we're going to cast on. Now casting on means, we're going to receive our yarn on our needles. At the moment, our yarn and needles are separate from one another, and we don't need that. We will need to get our yarn so that it can be knit into by us; we are not going to wrap our yarn.

That won't do. 

We are in need of a way to create stitches onto our needle. So that's what casting on does. Make a slipknot, and we're going to take our yarn. We're going to go in 7 or 8 inches from the tail end of our yarn here, and then we're going to make a slipknot at this time. So I'm going to make a loop with my yarn like this. So no loop and now we have a loop.

We'll make a loop with our yarn, and we'll take the end of our yarn and move behind that loop. Then we're going to pick on on that strand of yarn. Choose through that and then pull. And now we've got a slipknot. So let's do this. I will go in about 7 or 8 inches, and I'll undo that slipknot and make a loop that is simple. I move that I've just made and taken my end and then choose that strand of yarn through and pull out. And now I have a slipknot. 

I'm going to take my needle and put it through the slipknot that I made. But the slipknot is loose. It's flopping around. It is not staying stationary. So I want to tighten this up. Pull them together, and I will take these two strands of yarn, and that is going to tighten up my slipknot. So you can see it is sitting nice and snug, snug as a bug on my needle. Perfect. So today this slipknot has made up my first stitch. This is my very first cast on stitch.

 Pretty cool, right?

 But we need to cast on more stitches onto our needle because we do not need. Do we need a scarf that's this right? We will need to cast on more stitches. So what I am going to do is take my finger because I do not want this to be rolling about and put it down on my very first stitch here.

 I want it to remain in place. Lets put our finger down, and we can begin casting on. So make a gun form and I'm going to take my left hand. I'm going to go under that strand of yarn. So this is. It's not my tiny tail here. 

I will take my hand, make a gun, go underneath that strand of yarn that's attached to my ball of yarn and then I will turn it over to the left. So you can see that I have made a loop on my finger.

Pick up that loop off of my finger and I'm going to use my needle. And I will drop it off on my needle and pull down. Cool. So now I have just made one stitch. I have cast on my stitch. Let's continue doing this. We are going to cast on a few more stitches. I'll take my left hand and make a gun and go underneath that strand of yarn and then turn my hand to the left. And you can see that I have made a loop with that finger. I'll use my needle.

And then pull down. There we go. 

So here is our third stitch. One, two, three. Three stitches that we have cast on. Pretty cool, right? So we'll continue doing this -- creating a gun with our left hand, going underneath that strand of yarn and turning it to the left. Just like that. Then pull down, and I am going to take off my hand. 

Now a thing to remember is that when you're doing this, sometimes it will get tricky picking up that loop of yarn. The loop travels up on your finger. Ah! But if you realize that you're having trouble picking up that yarn loop, you can hold your yarn in place. Pull down. So as you get comfortable doing this, you can go fast. 

And when I do it I am just going like that. Fast. Now the official title for this cast on method is the loop cast on. I realize that this method is suitable for beginners. It's not as involved than some. So continue casting on stitches, and throw about 15 stitches and then we will take stock of our stitches. Happy casting on. This is the first leg of your trip. 

You've only got to go as soon as you've completed this. Cast on your stitches and meet me back here. if you need to buy a set of circular knitting needles then read our review .

The Knit Stitch

So you have cast on 15 stitches onto your needle. Now let's take stock. So I will spread out my stitches like this and take a look at the width of my stitches. So essentially if we start knitting now, our scarf will be this width. If you're happy with this width great. We can start knitting next. But if you believe your scarf is too wide, then you can take off a number of your stitches.

Let's say I wanted my scarf to be wide, then I'd pop off a few my stitches just. Pop them there we go. And now my scarf is a little thinner. Let's say you want your scarf then you'd cast on stitches. Let's stay a scarf that is broad is wanted by me. Let's say I want the exact same width. Let's say I want a thick scarf would cast on 22 stitches. And you can see here that is a large wide scarf. But I kind of love that. I love the coziness of a scarf.

Let's proceed to another leg of our journey, which is the knit stitch. But before we continue, if you are looking for awesome knit stitch pattern books, then follow the link to read our review.

When we work the stitch, very exciting!So, we are going to use our right needle. And we are going to enter the stitch from the bottom to the top. Then I'll take my yarn and move in the back. Then I will pull that strand of yarn that I just looped around my needle on my left needle through this stitch, and I will push through my needle and push it off the needle. If you didn't catch that the first time, don't worry. We'll go over this a couple more times, and you can go back in this article. 

So let's do this again. I'm going to take my right needle and go into the stitch on my left needle and just push on my needle. Just like that. And you can make enormous moves. That's fine since you're just learning the steps right now. Then I'll take my yarn and move my right needle around in the back to the front, and then I will pull the loop that I've just made through the stitch in my left.

You can see that loop there. I want to grab that in my needle, so then and I will push through my needle drop that stitch. Cool. So I knit two stitches. So as we knit our stitches, we are transporting them from the needle to your right needle. They're migrating over from here to here as they are knit by us. Let's keep going. 

Now when you hold your yarn you can loop it around your finger the way I am doing. But if this procedure is making you nervous, you can just grab your yarn. It is possible to just grip it. Totally fine. We're just worried about getting the steps down and then we could work on the finesse and the technique of holding your needles. But we're just concerned with measures. So in case you wish to do a caveman grip. So we will go to our stitch from the bottom to the top. So push your needle through. Then we move to the front in this way in the back and take our yarn.

We'll pull that strand of yarn through our stitch and then drop it off the needle. You can repeat this to yourself as you knit. Go to the top from the bottom. Wow, that was a huge one. We are going to push and then go to the front in the back and take our yarn. We'll pull on that loop that we made through our left stitch. There it is! 

So we'll catch that guy, push our needle through and then drop it. So that is all there is to the knit stitch. Bottom to the top. Yarn to the front from the back and then we'll pull through that loop. There's our man. And we will grab that with our needle and drop it off the left needle. When you're first starting out so, don't worry if you feel clumsy. You can use all kinds of methods. 

The majority of the people each will grip their yarn like this, and that's fine. You only want to get down the steps first. So, going from the bottom to the top, using your yarn to go to the front from the back, and then dropping it off the needle and picking out that loop. 

These are the actions involved with knitting. And I only want you to get acquainted with the steps and then you can worry about how to hold your yarn in a way that's more efficient and how to hold your needles. That sort of stuff, we could work on that. Consider it like dancing. When you're learning how to dance you would like to get down the choreography. 

You need to get the steps down and then you can work on strategy and have more style and panache. But when you're first starting out, you merely need to understand the steps. So it is with knitting precisely the same. 

So work on the knit stitch, and you will want to knit all the stitches on your needle. 

Then we can move on to another step.

Next Row and Pep Talk

So now I'm nearing the end of my row. I've just gone two stitches left on my needle. Let's knit into these two stitches. Decide on that stitch through and then off the needle, and then I will go to the front in the back. And here's my final stitch. Oh my gosh. So, here's my last stitch and there we go. Woohoo! We knit your first row. Pretty awesome, right? Look at this row that is gorgeous. 

As soon as you've completed your first row, you can turn your needle. I'm going to take my needle and bring it to my left hand, and take my "naked" needle, the needle that doesn't have stitches on it, into my right hand. So that is what you do when you complete a row of knitting. You always transfer it back. Your left hand is for all your stitches. So now we are going to do the same thing that we just did. We're going to keep on knitting to our stitches. 

The yarn goes from the back to the front, and then we will pick that loop up, push it and then drop it off. So that is all there is. We would keep on knitting. Learning is like learning a new language a lot. If this is the first time, your hands have never held needles and yarn and tried to control them at the same time.

In the same way that when you are learning a language, you wouldn't expect to be fluent in a day, you can't expect to be an expert knitter in every day, even if you practice a lot. Your hands will need to get accustomed to the rhythm of knitting, and that takes a little time and practice. So don't be discouraged if your first few rows are slightly funny and there some holes in them. Just take the time to practice. Give it some time if you make mistakes, and do not be worried. Your hands are wise. As you practice, they'll make their way around your yarn and needles. 

How to hold your needles (once you are familiar with the knit stitch)

After your hands are comfortable holding your needles and talking the language of knitting; then you can hold your needles in a way that is less clumsy. I hold my yarn is I will take the one that's beside my finger, my right hand and this finger, and I will catch my yarn and wrap it.

You'll be able to wrap it around once or twice. It doesn't matter. I usually go in this way. So I'll take my finger and go around my yarn once like this. I'll use this finger and proceed underneath that strand of yarn. When I knit my stitches, I move my hand up. 

Wrap it around my yarn, and then I will move up my hands and go through the stitch like this.

That way I'm moving my hand, and I'm not grabbing my yarn. I'm just moving my hand. I am just moving my hands upwards and grabbing the yarn and pulling it through in one fluid motion. I'll show you the way my yarn is wrapped around me. Here's my finger.

Wrap it around and underneath that yarn and take this finger. This gives the yarn a little bit of tension, and when I knit, I drop it off and move my hands up. And move up my hands and catch the needle and just move it and select it off.

When you're first starting out, do not feel bad about entering your needle holding your yarn like this, going all of the ways round and pulling it through. Okay? It is okay.

You have to learn the measures and then you can work on how you want to hold your needles and all that stuff. So continue until your scarf is the length, knitting that you like, and you'll be an expert in the stitch.

Slipped Selvedge

Now if you like the look of the clean edge here, well it is quite simple to achieve that. All you will need to do is slip the first stitch of every row.

As you normally would do like this rather than knitting it, when you reach the first stitch of your row, you would place your needle as if you went to knit, and then drop it off the needle.

Continue knitting the remaining stitches. That is all there is to have a clean edge. I'm nearing the end of my row here, and here's the last stitch. I'm going to turn my work. 

On the row's first stitch, I'm going to slip it. I'll go as if I was planning to knit it, and then slide it right off. And that is all there is to getting a nice clean edge. Just slip the first stitch of each row.

The Cast Off

Hey! Look at my scarf! It super long. 

Have a look at this sea of knit stitch. I can't wait to wear out this. For the next step I'm ready to throw off my stitches. So that you can use this in public what casting off means getting your knitting off of your needles.

You don't need to walk around with a pair of needles. That's weird. A superior conversation starter, but still weird. So we want to receive our scarf off of our needles, and that is what a throw away will do. So we are going to knit two stitches.

We will go one, knit one, and then knit two. So we are going to take our needle and go into the first stitch that we knit. Bring it on our second stitch. Here we go. I will drop it. I've only cast off one stitch now. I have one stitch left on my needle. The other switch has been cast off right here.

As we move on and this can be seen by you. So now I 've got one stitch on my needle, and I'm going to knit another stitch. To the castoff, you must have two stitches on your needle that is right.

Bring it and go underneath that first stitch and then I'm going to take my needle. I'm going to go over. Now I have brought it over, and I once again have one stitch on my needle and my second stitch has been cast off right here.

Let's do this again. We would work across our whole row in this way. I have two stitches on my right needle, and I will bring my left needle. You can tighten that stitch by pulling in your yarn if you're worried falling off your needle when you bring it over. And now your stitch here is tight from the needle, and it won't fall off because you are pulling tight on this yarn if you pull on your stitch over it.

We would keep on doing this. you've got two stitches on your needle that is right knit one stitch. Go into that first stitch which you knit and bring it. And that is all. Two stitches on your needle that is right bring your needle into that stitch and then over your sew just like this. And if you're worried you can always use your hand to grab hold of your stitch, so it will not fall off.

You can now see its throw from our needle and that as we've cast off, this is the advantage of our knitting. It looks really beautiful with this edge that is wonderful here. And that's what happens as you cast off. You're binding off your stitches so that they are secure and they won't unravel. We'll knit up this last stitch.

Now I have one stitch, and you can see that the rest of my row has been cast off, and it looks good! I can't wait to wear this scarf. So now we have one stitch left on our needle, and we're going to get our scissors out. So I've got a pair here.

I'm going to cut off my end, but I'm going to leave five or six inches of my end. I'm going to cut. So now I am going to bring my end and bring it to the front of my needle. Then deliver it, and I'm going to take my stitch and then just pull it through. Woohoo! I will pull. And now I cast off my scarf. Can yo believe it? My scarf is off the needles, and I can wear it out into the world.

Except for one thing, which is this yarn tail here along with the yarn tail at the beginning of our work. We need to weave in this end neatly and so that it's nice and concealed into our scarf. So we are going to do that next. Remeb

Weaving in Ends

So here's my end. I want to knit this into my scarf so that it is undetectable and secure. I'm going to use a tapestry needle. You can get this at most craft stores. It's pretty cheap and convenient. 

If you're planning on doing some more knitting, you will want to invest in a tapestry needle. I will take my yarn's end and then push it into the eye of this needle. And now we're going to weave this end into our work. So the great thing about this fabric is that it's all these little bumps inside, which is great for camouflaging items. Go into a small bump that's near my end, and I'm going to take my needle. 

I'm going to go into one that's close by, and I'll pull it down to make it even. I'll go to the left of it into this next bump, and I will go down one of these bumps. I am going down and up. I am not pulling. 

I am just keeping the tension as the knitting. I am going to go up into one of those bumps, and then I'm going to go down into one of these lumps. That good. I'll go a more time in here.

That seems reasonable to me. After I do so, so that the tail end is not pulling at the fabric, I like to stretch it out a bit. Let's look on the opposite side. It appears this side. The entire point of this is to secure it and to hide the tail end.

 So now I'm going to take my scissors out and cut that tail end off.

Wrapping up

Now you can wear your scarf out stay warm and enjoy! And that's the way you knit beginner scarf. Thank you so much for reading! Visit sheepandstitch.com to drool over yummy yarn, knitting kits and our every popular pattern tutorials. Okay, that’s it for me. I’m Davina of sheepandstitch.com. Have a fabulous day and happy knitting!