A step-by-step guide to knitting the Beginner Beanie
Keep that cute head cosy with the perfect beginner beanie. You'll be ready for winter, and ready to wow the pants off your friends and family with your marvellous woolly creation.
Whether you're a complete beginner or have some experience, this guide will help you knit a bangin' beginner beanie and the best part? You only need to know one type of stitch!
Even if you've never knitted before, we'll take you from zero to knitting hero in no time 🦸♀️
When it comes to knitting, practice makes perfect
Before we start the pattern, we suggest you spend some time learning the basic stitches you’ll need to complete your beanie.
The Beginner Beanie is made in garter stitch which is made when you knit every stitch in every row. You'll want to be confident with the knit stitch before you start 🧶 You'll also want to get a hang of tying a slip knot and casting on your stitches (AKA getting your stitches onto your needles) as well as casting off to finish.
You can use the yarn that came in your kit to practice with. Once you've got these mastered you'll find the pattern a cinch!
Total beginner? 👩🏫
For a more comprehensive lesson on the basics of knitting visit our Learn How To Knit page.
💪 Remember learning a new skill can be a little challenging at first, and you’re bound to find yourself making some mistakes along the way. But as with learning anything, your brain and your hands slowly start to get the hang of it, muscle memory is created, and soon the thing you found tricky/daunting/scary is like second nature!
Onto the beanie!
⚡️What you'll need
Your kit comes with everything you'll need to make your masterpiece. In your kit you'll find;
- 12mm needles
- 1 ball of Cardigang Chunky Merino Wool
- A darning needle
- A Pom Pom maker
- Made by me tag
You also want to have a pair of scissors handy.
⚡️Test your tension
Before you start your project, make sure your tension (how tightly or loosely your knitting is) is juuuust right 🥣 We do this by knitting a “tension swatch”. It's a bit like goldilocks, if the tension is too tight, your piece will be too small, and if it's too loose it may not hold its shape and might be too big.
Gauge: If done correctly, your 10x10cm knitted swatch should be 8 stitches wide and 11 rows high when knitted in garter stitch on your 12mm needles.
To test this, jump on your needles - use the yarn and needles that came in your kit. Cast on 10 stitches, then knit in garter stitch for around 14 rows. Then measure a 10x10cm square and count your stitches and rows within that space to make sure you're knitting at the correct tension.
If you've got more stitches or rows than the instructions say you should have, your knitting is a little too tight, and if you've got less, your knitting is too loose. Adjust your tension by holding the yarn a little more tightly/loosely as you knit.
💡 We know knitting a tension swatch can seem like a bit of a drain, but it's really important because the difference of a few millimetres in your tension can lead to a finished piece this is quite different in size to what you intended.
🧶Time to get click-clacking and whip up your super-sweet beanie.
Our beanie is made out of one single rectangle of garter stitch. That means we'll cast on, then knit, knit, knit. Then we'll cast off and use our darning needle to sew the piece into our beanie shape.
Let's dive in 🤿
STEP 1: Cast on
First thing first, cast on your stitches. Make a slip knot to get started. Then you'll cast on your stitches until you've got 22 stitches on your left needle. Your stitches will run onto the tubing that connects your needles - that helps you squeeze the stitches on!
💭 Casting on, like many things in knitting, can be done in a number of ways so if you don't like the technique we suggested, you can pick any that’s right for you.
STEP 2: GARTER STITCH
You're going to knit in garter stitch for 53 rows. Garter stitch is the simplest stitch! It's created by knitting every stitch in every row - super simple hey?! 😎
This is what your piece will look like after you've completed the 53 rows.
STEP 3: CAST OFF
✔️ Time to cast all your stitches off your needle.
When you cast off the second last stitch you'll be left with one stitch on your right needle. Cut your yarn from the ball (give yourself about a 25cm tail) and thread the tail back through the last stitch to secure it.
SEWING TOGETHER
We're so close to being done! 🪡 Grab your darning needle we're going to sew our beanie together.
Line your cast on and cast off edges against each other to create a tube. The waves of the garter stitch will now run vertically, instead of horizontally as they were when the work was on your needles.
Thread your darning needle with about 30cm of yarn and sew the cast on and cast off sides together.
🎬 Follow the instructions in the video below.
Once you’ve sewn the edges together thread your darning needle with another length of yarn and collect all the loops on one end - you’ll have a loop for every row - and pull to gather the loops tightly to form the top of your beanie. Secure with a knot on the inside of your beanie.
SHAKE YOUR POM POM
Time to add the cherry on top of your beanie. Use your Pom Pom maker to create a nice big, fluffy Pom Pom.
Use your darning needle to secure the Pom Pom to the top of your hat and secure it with a knot on the inside. Weave in any loose ends and you're finished.
D.O.N.E! You've finished your beanie, well done! Epic work 🤩 If this was your first-ever knitting project or one of many, we hope you had a blast click-clacking and making your bangin' beanie💥❤️
In a bind and need a little more help?
Email us at stitchup@cardigang.com.au and we'll be able to help! Whether you're just starting out, or you've got a specific question or problem (dropped a stitch, no stress!), we're here to get you out of a bind.