15 Free Knitting Patterns You’ll Actually Want to Make (Beginner Friendly!)
If you’re hunting for free knitting patterns that are actually fun to make, beginner-friendly, and beautiful, you’re in the right place. I love supporting small creators, AND sometimes you just need a free option for a gift, practice, or using up your yarn stash. Below, I’ve rounded up my favorite free knitting patterns I’ve made (and loved), plus a few I can’t wait to cast on soon.
You can visit my Ravelry profile to view all these projects and my notes on them, including more details about the yarns I used.
Free Patterns I’ve Knitted
No-Purl Rib Hand towel by Purl Soho
A gorgeous and easy free dishcloth/hand towel knitting pattern. I made two as a housewarming gift, using Lion Brand Cotton Bamboo Linen in colors Hazelnut and Denim instead of the recommended yarn for a budget-friendly option.
Double-Thick Pot Holder by Purl Soho
The perfect free pot holder knitting pattern—quick, practical, and beginner-friendly! Make sure you are not using these to take out hot pans straight from the oven, there is no insulation! Keep them as hot pot holders on a counter or table only.
DK Weight Vanilla Sock by Kay Litton aka Crazy Sock Lady
If you want to knit your first pair of socks, this free sock knitting pattern is gold. Clear instructions + YouTube tutorials make it ideal for beginners PLUS it works up quick for a sock because of the yarn weight!
Winter Pine Hearts by DROPS
Adorable free Christmas ornament knitting pattern. I’m making these as gift toppers this year!
Worlds Simplest Mittens by Tin Can Knits
The most versatile free mitten knitting pattern! Written for different yarn weights, this pattern helped me feel more confident for my eventual drift into socks.
The Simple Thing by Melina Bell
A free scarf knitting pattern that’s basically the Sophie Scarf’s twin. I knitted this up in day for a friend of mine, super easy and super fast!
Beginner Dishcloths by Oh La Lana!
I think knitting up dishcloths is the BEST way to practice new stitches, cabling or lace work without the pressure of getting it right on a big garment. Plus, who does want to reduce their daily waste (i.e. papertowels!) and knitting up your own cotton dish cloths is a great way to be more sustainable. I have made several of these and use they ALL of the time.
Free Patterns I Want to Try
Cambridge Vest by Sara Ottoson
Dark academia lovers unit! This is the perfect dark academia knitting pattern — a texture vest reminiscent of tweed jackets and secret societies. This vest is a colorwork vest that utilizes slipped stitches to create that tweedy look which means you’re only ever knitting with one color at a time.
Cambridge Cardigan by Sara Ottoson
The cardigan version of the Cambridge vest!
Cloudburst Fingerless Mittens by Arienne Grey
There is something so lovely and chic about finger-less gloves with a simple yet beautiful lace pattern. I can’t wait to knit this free fingerless glove knitting pattern and wear them Christmas tree hunting!
Vibestørkle (Vibe Scarf) and Sorgenfri scarf by Guri Pedersen
Two free lace scarf knitting patterns that should knit up fairly easily with a DK weight yarn. You have to sign up for her emails on her website to get the free patterns and the site is in Norwegian so make sure your google translate is turned on to navigate!
See My Vest (Worsted) by Emily Bolduan
Striped sweater vests? Sign me up. I think this would be a great stash buster too!
Honeycomb Aran by Gayle Bunn
Live you Harry Met Sally dreams with this gorgeous free cable knit sweater pattern. It’s a goal of mine to at least attempt some cable work this year, and eventually I’d like to make a cabled sweater!
Julvanten 2024 Mittens by Maja Karlsson
Gorgeous colorwork mitten knitting pattern just in time for the winter season! It looks like past Christmas season mitten patterns are also free :)
Where to Find More Free Knitting Patterns
Always remember that your library likely has copies of various knitting books that you can borrow for free and knit for free. My library has a copy of Knitting for Olive’s book and it’s been a great resource for me to knit a free (to me) pattern! Ravelry also has over 300,000 free patterns!
Let me know in a comment here or on my instagram or tiktok if you make any of these free knitting patterns!