How to Knit a Scarf for Total Beginners
May contain affiliate links (what's this?)Learning how to knit a scarf can seem hard if you’re a total beginner. There are two needles to move around, and yarn that looks like it could snag into knots. It looks intimidating!
But the truth is that knitting is like any other skill. It’s no different than learning how to ride a bike or how to cook. All it takes is some time and practice.
The upside is that, unlike riding a bike or cooking, there’s no risk of skinned knees or charred fingers. Knitting is pretty safe. In fact, knitting has several health benefits!
All you need are your hands, some yarn, and a pair of needles.
Below you’ll find two video tutorials that walk you through how to knit a scarf step-by-step. The first video was published in 2016 if you can believe it!
It’s still relevant and useful even though it’s a bit lacking in video quality. It was one of the first videos I published on Youtube. I still remember shooting it in my parents bathroom under their skylight. (Those days I had no video lights, so I had to get creative!)
So last year I decided to shoot an updated scarf tutorial. In the time since I’ve published the original video I’ve gotten tons of feedback from viewers. I’ve tried my best to update the new video with these comments in mind.
The updated video has slower and more repeats. It covers materials; how to estimate the scarf width and length; how to join new yarn and knit a neat selvedge edge. I hope you enjoy it!
How to Knit a Scarf Video Tutorial (Original)
How to Knit a Scarf Video (Updated for 2025)
Learning how to knit a scarf is the best beginner project because it boils down to three simple steps:
Short, sweet and very do-able, these three steps make up your scarf journey. Get them under your belt and you can officially call yourself a knitter!
The updated video tutorial covers how to knit a scarf, with a few extra tips thrown in. Follow along at your own pace and re-watch sections if you need a review. Jump around the video chapters with these timestamps:
00:48 Materials
1:13 How Much Yarn Do I Need?
1:43 How Many Stitches to Cast On?
6:52 Knitting the Scarf: Row 1
11:30 Knitting the Scarf: All Rows
13:43 Revisiting the Scarf Width
14:18 Joining New Yarn
20:52 Choosing Scarf Length
21:22 Cast Off
26:25 Weaving in Ends
What Yarn Should I Use?
You can use any yarn that takes your fancy.
But keep in mind that the bigger the yarn, the better. My ideal yarn for beginners is a chunky weight. Bigger yarns are easier to grip and manipulate than lighter yarns. They’re less fiddly and they also knit up quicker.
Beware of light-weight yarns like lace or super fine yarn. Imagine knitting with sewing thread. That’s what knitting with lace is like. Do not do it. Not if you’re a beginner.
Not only will it take light years to finish your scarf, but lighter yarns require smaller needles. And smaller needles are harder to control.
Make things easy for yourself and choose a yarn that’s at least a medium weight if not larger. Not sure what yarn weight is? Check out this post I wrote all about the yarn weight family.
What Needles Should I Use?
Once you’ve chosen yarn, look at the yarn label. It will give you a recommended needle size.
Use this as a guide for choosing your needles. I typically go within 1mm of the recommended needle size. If the yarn label suggests a 5mm needle, I might also try out a 4mm or 6mm needle.
For beginners, I suggest using bamboo or wooden needles. They have more surface drag, meaning that they “grip” the yarn better and are less slippery to work with.
Materials Used in the Original Video
The sumptuous white scarf that you see in the photos was knit with:
- Yarn: 2 skeins of TJOCKT Martta the Merino in color Pearl (200 grams, 140m/153yds per skein)
- Similar yarns: MillaMia (2-ply merino), Lana Grossa Ragazza (1-ply merino), Malabrigo Rasta (beautiful hand-dyed 1-ply), Wendy with Wool (acrylic-wool blend, budget option)
- Needles: US 15/10mm knitting needles (similar)
Finished Scarf Measurements: width is 9.25″ and length is 65″
Materials Used in the Updated Video
- 4 balls of Debbie Bliss Super Chunky Merino in color Gold
- One pair of 10mm bamboo knitting needles
- Tapestry needle
- Tape measure
Instructions for White Scarf:
Cast on stitches 22 stitches
Slip first stitch, knit every row until scarf measures the length you desire. (My scarf measures 65″).
Cast off loosely and weave in ends with tapestry needle.
Knitting Mistakes & How to Avoid Them
Along the way you’ll make mistakes. It’s okay. Mistakes are part of the journey, so expect them. Embrace them. You need to make mistakes to get to your final destination (which, in this metaphor, is your scarf!).
If you drop a stitch, keep moving forward. Don’t look back. At first, the goal is to get the basic steps of the knit stitch down.
Once you’re comfortable with the knit stitch, your hands will naturally settle into the rhythm of knitting and you’ll make less mistakes. Think of your first ten rows as practice.
“One who makes no mistakes makes nothing at all.” – Giacomo Casanova Tweet This
Once you’re knitting comfortably, consider ripping back your work and starting your scarf fresh. You’ll be a lot more confident, and your scarf will have less mistakes in it.
Don’t think of your practice rows as “wasted.” It’s the practice that makes the perfect!
Helpful Knitting Resources for New Knitters:
- How to Knit: The Ultimate Guide (my favourite page!)
- 3 Beginner Mistakes and How to Fix Them (one of the most popular posts on this site)
- How to Join 2 Balls of Yarn
- The Yarn Weight Family
Grab a Friend & Knit Together!
Learning is more fun with friends! Do you have friends who are crafty or who want to learn how to knit a scarf?
🙂
Davina, I hope you post more videos. You are just an awesome teacher! I’m a newbie in the knitting world and just learned (and still learning) from you videos. Your instructions are so clear and the tips are amazing that I can actually follow you while watching!
I didn’t get the knit stitch at all! Could you make another one bu slowly. If you can that would be great. Also I just started today so this is a little okay a lot difficult. So any way can you possibly help me?
If I use one of the chunky Lion Brand yarns mentioned above, will I need the same amount of yarn as the Martta the Merino yarn you used in the video? Thank you.
Thanks Katherine! I plan on adding more videos in 2017 specifically for beginners, so do keep watching the YouTube channel! Any knitting project or technique in particular you’re eager to try?
I just got interested in knitting and was so happy to find your site/youtube channel, but I see you haven’t posted anything for quite some time. I hope you continue. I’m a teacher. I can spot good teaching from a mile away. You are an AWESOME teacher. If more teachers taught like you, this world would be a much better place. Wishing you all the best.
You are so sweet! Thank you! And I love your photo!
Egads! Didn’t mean to post such a big photo. Delete at your pleasure! 🙂
Hi. How do I add my next ball of yarn in? Just used up my first ball. This is a great video!! Enjoying knitting my scalf
Hi Davina – love your videos. Is it still possible to purchase the Martta the merino yarn through your site? Thanks
Hi Nancy, unfortunately I’m no longer selling the Martta. I think you can still purchase it through the tjockt.com website. Or you can substitute another super bulky yarn like Malabrigo Rasta or Lion Brand Thick and Quick.
Your video is really easy to understand and I have taken knitting as a new hobby! Thank you
Hi, nice blog!
Do you have any recommendation for yarn #3?
I’m looking for a nice and young scarf/hat to do with my already bought yarn 🙂
Thanks!
Thank you so much for this well done tutorial! Knit my first scarf and I’m giving it to my mom for Valentine’s day!
Thank you for the video. Totally clear and easy to catch up. My first time knitting a scarf. Althought it looks kind of horrible.
This tutorial is clear and encouraging!
It had all the information I needed to knit my very first scarf. : )
Highly recommended for beginners.
Your video is amazing!! 😍😍 I however do have one problem that I’m unsure how to fix or even the cause, this is my third attempt at the same scarf as yours but the yard between to the two needles continues to get longer when doing the knit stitch and then when I finish I end up with this large loop😮 can you help me figure out this problem?
This is just amazing video – perfectly detailed for beginners. My interest to Knit has increased top knotch. I will soon knit a scarf and post it here!
Thanks
You are great! My new hobby for my new milestone 60th birthday!
Do you have to slip the first stitch when doing this pattern? I seem to have missed that step, want to know if I need to rip the stitches I’ve already done and start over.
Slipping the first stitch will create a nice edge on the scarf. If you’ve forgotten for a couple rows, that’s okay. Just keep going! It’s not super noticeable in my opinion.
Thanks for this video and all your others, Davina! I have lots of Christmas presents to make!
Would you happen to have a video that takes the output of something like this (same stitch) and turns it into an “infinity scarf”?
Thanks!
I am a total newbie to knitting. I got encouraged to try it out when I saw your video. I just started working on the scarf. My question is, it did not say on your video what to do when you are at the end of the first skein and about to use the second skein, how would I connect the end of the first skein to the second skein?
Hi! There are a couple ways to join yarn. Two that I like are the Russian Join and the Spit Splice. I cover them both here: https://sheepandstitch.com/library/how-to-join-yarn-in-knitting-russian-join/ and here: https://sheepandstitch.com/library/how-to-join-yarn-with-the-spit-splice/ This is another way to join yarn that involves some weaving in: https://sheepandstitch.com/library/how-to-join-a-new-ball-of-yarn/ Hope that helps!
Thanks for this video . This is my 1st time knitting. If it wasn’t for this video I wouldn’t be knitting right now. I have been knitting my scarf for months now. Right now I am on my second ball of yarn and have 2 more left to go. My scarf is looking good so far. I really like your video on how to add new yarn. It’s so simple and easy to follow. Finally this video has helped me tremendously. So thanks so much for doing this video.