Oh man, where did summer go? Looks like you're going to be spending more time indoors now, which means it's the perfect time to take up knitting! Knitting has gotten a bad rap over the years, probably because of its close association with grandmas. But grandmas make cupcakes too and you don't hate cupcakes, do you?
Knitting is about creativity, art and fashion. What isn't cool about that? If you're a complete beginner, knitting a scarf is an awesome way to get started. Check out how easy it can be!
Supplies for Knitting a Scarf
- Knitting Needles - These come in different sizes. Size 8 needles would work well for this project.
- Yarn - You're going to want about 100 yards of yarn for this project. You should look for a "worsted" yarn in whatever color you like. Talk to a salesperson for advice, if you're confused.
- Scissors
Casting On
"Casting on" is the first part of any knitting project and gets the yarn on the needle so you can get down to the business of knitting. This part is the trickiest part of the whole project to explain, but it's not nearly as complicated as it sounds.
Step One: Form a slipknot on your needle. You can make this knot by holding the tail end of the yarn in your left palm with your thumb and then wrapping the yarn from the ball of yarn twice around your left forefinger and left middle finger. Pull the yarn strand attached to the ball up through the loop between your two wrapped fingers to form a new loop.
Step Two: Now slide the right-hand needle into the loop on the left-hand needle, from front to back.
Step Three: The next step is to take the yarn attached to the ball and loop it over the point of the right-hand needle, going counter-clockwise. Make sure you don't loop the yarn over both needles or pull too tightly on your stitches. You want your loops to be tight enough to stay on the needle without sagging, but you don't want to pull it too tight, or knitting will be really hard.
Step Four: Now slide the right-hand needle back out from behind the left-hand needle, while keeping the loop you just made on the right-hand needle and the slip knot on the left-hand needle. Slowly slide the right-hand needle down so the loop gets close to the tip of the needle, but does not slide off. The right-hand needle will be coming out from behind the left-hand needle at the same time.
Step Five:When the right-hand needle just comes out from behind the left-hand needle, give the right needle a little push with your left index finger to push the needle in front of the left needle.
Step Six: Now slide the loop that's on the right-hand needle onto the left-hand needle, above the slip knot loop. Ta-Da! You've just cast on your first stitch!
Step Seven: Just keep repeating these steps until you have the right number of stitches on your needle. You're probably going to want about 30 stitches for this project, but you can make the scarf as thin or as thick as you like. Congratulations, you've just cast on!
- Click here for the instructions for knitting your scarf!
