In this article I’ll list all the essentials that I recommend you’ll get to get started on your knitting journey. Some of those are not absolutely essentials and you can certainly substitute them in the beginning, in the end all you truly need is some yarn and a set of knitting needles. First off, I’ll list all of them and below I’ll go into more detail on each item:
Yarn, preferably super wash wool, acrylic, cotton or a blend of any of those in a light to medium weight
Knitting needles in the appropriate size for your yarn choice
Tapestry needle
Scissors
Stitch Markers (solid/split ring)
Measuring tape
Row counter
Neck light
Crochet hook
Yarns
First onto the choice that will probably feel the most overwhelming to you in the beginning – the yarn. To get started, I recommend either a wool blend or super wash wool yarn, or for a vegan alternative you could go with plant-based fibres such as cotton, linen or bamboo or use acrylic/polyester; keep in mind that plant-based fibres are more suited for summer whereas synthetics tend to lack breathability. Also note that using any blend of the yarns I mentioned will work equally well if not better.
An additional thing you should pay attention to when choosing your yarn is the yarn weight. This describes how thick the yarn is, meaning how much 100 meters of it weigh, so the higher that number the heavier/thicker the yarn. It can get quite confusing as different parts of the world use different names to describe those. To get started, I recommend using a Light (DK) or a Medium (Aran/Worsted) weight yarn, which will come out to anywhere between around 150-250 meters per 100gr.
In terms of colour, you’re of course free to choose whichever one you like best, however for the beginning I recommend sticking to a solid colour yarn that’s on the brighter side as this will make the individual stitches a lot easier to see.
Knitting Needles
After choosing your yarn, you’ll need to find knitting needles in the appropriate size, it should say somewhere on the yarn label which size to use. If you’re staying anywhere between a light and medium weight, it should be somewhere between 4.0 mm and 5.5 mm. For the beginning I’d recommend getting aluminium needles, as they make the yarn move on the needles more easily; if you are noticing that your yarn keeps slipping off your needles (which may happen especially with very smooth yarns such as cotton), you could also use bamboo needles. I would recommend getting circular needles as this allows you to not feel the weight of your project as much while you’re working it up, and with those you’ll be able to knit flat as well as knit in the round.
Tapestry Needles
Another item you’ll need is a tapestry needle, this is usually a blunt needle with a bigger eye. I prefer straight aluminium needles for most cases. There are also plastic ones, needles with a diagonal edge, blunt or sharp, etc., but don’t get overwhelmed – as they are relatively cheap, I recommend you buy the ones that are easily available to you, and as you continue knitting, you’ll find out your personal preferences.
Scissors
The last essential item on our list I’m sure you have at home, a simple pair of scissors. Again, there’s an overwhelming choice of options once you start looking, from thread cutters to yarn scissors to even jewellery that has a yarn cutter built in; but when I first started my pair of cheap kitchen scissors did the job just fine as well.
Optional Tools
In this second part, I want to list some items that you can certainly work without, but that will make your life significantly easier. First up are stitch markers – for knitting you’d typically use solid/split ring ones. You can however substitute that with a safety pin, a paperclip or even a scrap piece of yarn, though slipping a ring-shaped stitch marker over your needles will probably be easier.
The next thing I recommend getting, if you don’t have it already, is a measuring tape. This is less important if you’re making something straight like a scarf where exact measurements don’t matter as much, but as soon as you want to make fitted garments this will be essential to have. While we’re at the topic of measuring tools, a gauge ruler is another useful tool to have, this is usually just a straight ruler with cm and inches on either side and often includes holes to measure the size of your knitting needles.
Two things that will make your life a lot easier are a row counter and a neck light. I have neglected the importance of the second one for quite a long time, but as soon as I got my neck light, I regretted not buying one sooner. Especially if you like to knit in lower light, such as on the couch in the evening, it will make it easier to see your stitches (and therefore to spot mistakes) and reduce the strain on your eyes and even on your neck as you won’t need to be as close to your project in order to see what you’re doing. When it comes to getting a row counter, you’re free to choose whichever you prefer – generally they can be categorised as digital or analogue. Digital ones are usually worn around your finger and count up on a screen each time you press a button; whereas analogue ones are mechanical and count up by turning up a gear wheel at the press of a button, these are usually handheld. If you need to count rows, you can also do that on a simple piece of paper, a row counter will just make it more convenient.
Crochet Hook
The last thing I recommend you have on hand is a crochet hook. It doesn’t really matter which size, I typically have a 5mm one in my knitting project bag, but this is quite helpful if you need to fix a mistake in your knitting one or more rows below the one you’re currently working on. I will publish an article going in depth on this topic, in the meantime there are lots of tutorials for this already on YouTube.
Bonus item...
I know, I promised that would be the last thing, but the one thing I can’t live without for any project, be it knitting, crochet or any other craft, is a nice cup of my favourite tea or coffee. So get your favourite hot beverage, collect the things you need, and you’re ready to cuddle up on the couch and get going started!