How to Delight the New Knitter in Your Life

This is the time of year when we hear from folks who are shopping for the new knitters in their lives. What would a new knitter like? An instant stash would be great, of course, but the main fun of having a stash is in the acquiring of it—skein by skein, with a story for each skein.

But we do have opinions—well-informed, road-tested opinions—about what new knitters need and want as they embark on the grand adventure of knitting.

If they’re anything like us when we started out, it’s pretty simple: a new knitter would like to drop everything and knit, dream about knitting, and discover everything there is to know about knitting.

Here are suggestions for feeding the fierce curiosity of a new knitter.

MDK Gift Card. Know this: the new knitter loves yarn. Our gift card sets up the intoxicating, wide-open horizon of shopping in the MDK Shop—for yarn and all the other amazing things we have on offer.

Skill Set Box of Joy. Our all-in-one dream box has everything a new knitter needs to get started: perfect yarn, excellent tools, and our concise book, Skill Set: Beginning Knitting.

We thought a lot about what tools to include. And three skeins of Atlas yarn will show a new knitter the beauty of good yarn.

Nine lessons, as clear as we could possibly make them, with swatches as the practice projects, and a hat too.

Our Box of Joy works for the knitter who hasn’t even begun, and it also works for someone who wants to keep going with simple colorwork, lace, and tons of pro tips. (Also: We made a companion video app for Skill Set—44 videos plus all the text of the book, only 99 cents! In the Apple App Store and Google Play.)

Field Guide Collection. Our ultimate rabbit hole of inspiration. A new knitter is fascinated by patterns—so many possibilities! And so many questions to ponder!

Our complete library of all 25 MDK Field Guides stars beloved designers, with dozens of easy and intermediate patterns. This one-time-only offer is way more than half off the cost of individual Field Guides, a smashing deal. Includes a Ravelry.com download code printed in each Field Guide.

Steel Storage Box.

A knitter needs tools. Many tools. Tiny tools. Keeping the essentials close at hand, in the cutest way possible, is one of the most fun things about knitting. These colorful steel boxes from Japan are the absolute cutest, and utterly practical for all sorts of uses, knitting-related or not.

Last but not least, for the new knitter who’s properly into it, this idea is sure to win a huge hug around the neck of the gift giver:

Tulip Interchangeable Needle Set.

A top-quality set like this may seem extravagant, but it is actually economical. It’s the sort of thing a new knitter won’t realize is a good idea until they’ve spent a lot of money on individual needles. We have sold a ton of these over the years, and we hear over and over that these are knitters’ favorite needles, that it’s such a well-designed set and they wish they’d bought it sooner. Made in Japan, just a beautiful set.

How About Something for You?

A year of mailbox fun is yours when you subscribe to our Field Guides for 2024. Three brand-new little books star superb designers. Get a super-special price when you subscribe by December 31. Plus: You’ll save an amazing 10% off every single Shop purchase. And events too. All year long! Read all about it here, and subscribe today.