Beginning Knitting-Best Knitting yarn for beginners

For someone who wants to learn to knit, beginning knitting is fun and exciting and you're probably wondering where to start.

Well let's start with the absolute basics like choosing some knitting yarn for beginners and let's not leave out some good knitting needles for beginners too.

How do you choose? 

You need both and there are loads of yarns and needles to choose from.

First of all I truly believe that you need to start with the very basics in the beginning. Why?

You're just getting started with knitting and it may end up not being your thing.  

And there's no point buying super expensive tools for knitting until you're absolutely sure you love it as much as I do.

So with this in mind this page is all about choosing the best knitting yarn for beginners and the best knitting needles for beginners and I'll help you choose both.

And don't worry, you're gonna love the amazing yarns and needles I have in mind!

Beginning knitting yarn for beginners

You'll find a huge assortment of knitting yarns out there. And choosing a great knitting yarn for beginners may feel a little overwhelming at first. 

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind when you're choosing yarn for a beginner knitter.

1. First look for a smooth kind of yarn like in the photo above 
2. And make sure to pick out a nice light color so that you can see your stitches better. 

Oh by the way, do you see those bamboo knitting needles in my picture above there? Yuppers when I knit flat I love using them!  :)  

So number 1 says to buy a smooth worsted weight yarn.  Here's a few you can check out on Amazon to get an idea. 

Any one of these yarns will be a great knitting yarn for beginners. I love them all and use them often.

Bernat super value yarn

Patons Canadiana yarn 

Red Heart Yarns  

You could also choose wool yarns. Knit Picks and Cascade yarns are some of my favorite places to buy wool yarns.

One of my favorite wool yarns is from Cascade Yarns.  It's called Cascade 220 Superwash. In fact I even made my temperature blanket with Cascade 220 yarn.

And KnitPicks! Oh how I love their yarns too like their Brava Worsted Premium Acrylic yarn.  It's beautiful too and soft.

Oh and remember point number 2 so choose a nice light color yarn too

so why not choose a really fat super bulky yarn?

Well some people do like using the reallly big knitting needles and bulky yarns and they may work for some people.

The thing is they are big and bulky and you may find it very awkward to work with fat needles and yarn when you're just starting out with knitting.

After all you're still learning how to hold your yarn and needles and trying to hang on to fat yarn and fat needles too -- well it can be tricky.

The same goes for fancy fleecy yarns and heavily textured knitting yarns. They are really fun to use but I'd wait until you're more comfortable with knitting first.

When you choose your knitting yarn check out the yarn label too. It's the piece of paper wrapped around your balll of yarn.  

It gives you important knitting information, like what it's made of, cotton, wool, acrylic and it'll tell you the size yarn it is, DK (3), Worsted (4), Chunky (5)

Are you wondering how to read yarn labels?  No problem. I made a page for that so that you'll understand.  Here is how to read yarn labels.

It's important to understand symbols on yarn labels and I'll go through it all with you.

Beginning Knitting Needles for beginners

The next basic but essential knitting tools you need to choose are some good knitting needles for beginners. 

And every knitter has their favorites to knit with and over time you will too.  Thing is you'll probably need to try a few kinds before you know what you like.

My favorite straight knitting needles are bamboo and the length is about 9 or 10 inches long. They're like a beginner knitting needle because they're shorter.

Actually you'll see them a lot in my knitting instructions too because their just plain comfortable to use.

I suggest the same for you that is try some bamboo straight knitting needles. They're warm in the hands and your stitches won't slide off very easily.

They're also shorter at 9 inches long. You don't need to start knitting with super long knitting needles. That'll come later on.

Plastic and aluminum can be more slippery and your knitting stitches can slip off the ends more easily. 

Some knitters prefer to have their stitches slide along the needles more easily so it really depends on how you knit and what your preferences are. 

You may love the bamboo needles or you may like knitting faster with the plastic or aluminum.

There are circular knitting needles too which you may prefer to try right off the bat and that's cool too.

I have two favorite interchangeable knitting needle sets I use and love both. 

They are Denise Interchangeable Knitting Needles and Knitters Pride. The links are to check them out. Knitters Pride did switch names to Knit Pro

Yes, I have the Knitters Pride Zing intertchangeable needles and the special Karbonz and a couple more. They're Dreamz and Nova Platina and on and on. 

Oh and Knit Picks has the greatest thing, this 'Try It' Needle Sets so you can see if you like their interchangeable needles. Go check that out. 

By the way the links for these knitting needle sets are not affiliate links of any kind. I just want you to know about these places to buy terrific knitting needles.  :)

I still suggest that you start with straight knitting needles too and I'd try a few different kinds. 

So I've given you some pretty good ideas about knitting needles and the ultimate choice is yours.

I'd still start small with some straight bamboo knitting needles to get you started and as you learn more and more try some other needles too

 Eventually you'll find some that work great for you or even for specific knitting projects. Have a little fun and see what you like.

Beginning Knitting Needle sizes for beginners

So I'm just going to do a little recap here on knitting needle sizes.  

So what is the best knitting needle sizes for beginners? I like US 7 (4.5mm), US 8 (5mm) or US 9 (5.5mm) with US 9 being my favorite and size US 8 being the runner up.

These sizes are often used for medium weight yarns and they'll feel the most comfortable in your hands.

Actually the size I use the most is a US 9 (5.5mm), they feel the best in my hands.

And just a note here. Some people do prefer to use super fat needles to start knitting with. That's fine if you like to use them but here's my thought.

I find my hands start to ache a little after awhile and the needles are kind of awkward. This is just my feelings about it, you may love them. It's your choice.

And knitting needle length?  Where would you start?

If you decide to buy straight knitting needles you may want to consider the knitting needle length too. 

They range in length from 7 inches which is usually used for children, and go up from there so between 8 - 14 inches.

I find the shorter lengths less cumbersome and much easier to use than the really long ones and I have four pairs of straights that are 9 inches in length. 

They're just perfect for small items and much easier to get used to, I really think you'll like them too.

Extra Note Of Interest: The size of the knitting needles and the size of the knitting yarn should compliment each other so:

• Really thin knitting yarn - really thin knitting needles and
• Really thick yarn - really thick needles

I created a little page about knitting needle sizes here to help you understand about the sizing. 

Plus you can download a nifty knitting needle size chart as well. Pop on over, I'll wait right here for you.

Even Oscar likes my straight knitting needles!

Happy Knitting!