As a beginner knitter I was always searching for free patterns to try. I was afraid I wouldn’t understand a pattern if I bought it because those were for people who knew what they were doing!

Fortunately some clever people do write up patterns and share them for free. Some of these people are designers who also sell patterns. Free patterns can also be poorly written, so be careful there. Read through a pattern before beginning and see if it makes sense. Or go to Ravelry and see what other pattern users have to say. If the free pattern gets bad reviews it may be best to move on and find another.

ABOVE: The World’s Simplest Mittens by Tin Can Knits is truly simple. What I like is that the pattern is written for four different weights of yarn including, fingering, DK, worsted, and chunky. Use up leftover yarn and create your own unique winter hand-warmers! (PLEASE NOTE: I added the design myself. The basic pattern has no design included.)

BELOW: Arizona Flip Flop Socks is a free pattern I used to make these divided toe socks for my daughter. There is no heel to knit so they are pretty simple. Personally I would never use them, but they might make a fun gift for someone you know.

BELOW: The Snow Day hat is a free pattern offered by Purl Soho. In fact they offer many free patterns on their site. I knit this hat as one of my first projects and gave it to a friend for their new baby girl. I changed the pattern a bit and you can read my blog post here.

Perfect Newborn Socks is a free pattern which I knit for a friends granddaughter. I do not find socks especially fun to knit as they use DPNs. But baby socks knit up quickly and these were fun to make. Read my Blog post here.

Shawls are very good practice for beginner knitters.

Not only are free patterns helpful for beginners, we get a chance to try out different yarns and see what we like. When I began to get serious about knitting I quickly discovered that there was a lot to learn. See how to Cast On for a shawl with Garter Tab.

ABOVE: The No Fuss Shade-Loving Shawl is one of my first knits. I think I made it right after the Spindrift Shawl, which is also free if you sign up for a shawl workshop which is basically e-mails. I also switched out yarns as I went because I preferred Malabrigo over Madeline Tosh for softness. I should have made it a little larger but I was anxious to see a finished project.

ABOVE: The Scrappy Bias Shawl was free and fun to knit. I used up colors of sock yarn to create my own version of a fade where similar colors blend into each other. Then I did an i-cord bind off which was good practice and looked neat.

BELOW: The Honey Cowl is a free pattern of slipped stitches and can be made small or larger to wrap twice (mine).

Espace Tricot Offers Many Free Patterns

If you want to knit a first sweater, Espace Tricot (link goes to Ravelry page) generously offers many free patterns. They have hats, shawls, scarves, and more to choose from. I have knit Calliope and Turtle Dove – pictured below.

If you want to look around some more for free patterns, read my blog post that has more ideas and links to free stuff. Cowls and shawls are perfect projects for a beginner. Choose some that have repetitive stitches to give you practice. My favorite beginner projects are long scarves, cowls and hats.

More About My Knitting Projects