Why knitting suits country living

Few things feel more like a British home than a wool blanket folded over the back of an armchair, or a pair of thick cushions on a window seat watching the rain come in. Knitting gives you those things, and it gives you something to do with your hands on a dark evening when the curtains are drawn and the kettle is on. The lovely thing is that you do not need talent or patience to begin. You need one ball of chunky wool, a pair of needles and an hour of an evening. Start simple, finish something useful, and the skill builds from there.

Choose chunky wool and the right needles

Beginners do best with chunky or super chunky yarn. Thick wool grows quickly, so you see real progress in a single sitting, and the stitches are big enough to read without squinting. Choose something smooth rather than fluffy — a plain chunky or aran in a light or mid tone. Dark navy and black are miserable to learn on because you cannot see where the stitch is going. Cream, oatmeal, soft grey, moss green or a gentle blue are far kinder.

Needle size is usually printed on the ball band. Chunky generally wants 6mm to 8mm needles, super chunky 8mm to 10mm. Wooden or bamboo needles suit beginners better than metal, which can be slippery in warm hands. A 100g ball of chunky is normally enough for one scarf, so buy two if you want it generous.

• A tape measure, for checking size as you go
• Blunt sewing needle with a large eye, for weaving in loose ends
• Small scissors, kept in the same basket so you are never hunting for them
• A washable project bag — a cotton tote is ideal

Your first project: the simple scarf

A scarf is the classic first make because it is a rectangle, it does not need to fit anything, and nobody minds if it is a little uneven. Using 8mm needles and chunky wool, cast on 30 stitches. Then knit every single row until the scarf measures about 150cm, or until the wool runs out. This is called garter stitch, and its great advantage is that it lies flat and does not curl at the edges.

Two things worth knowing from the start. Keep the tension even by letting the wool flow through your fingers rather than tugging at it. And when you cast off, do it loosely — a tight cast-off edge will pull the whole scarf out of shape. Weave the loose ends into the back of the work with your blunt needle, and you have a finished, wearable piece of handmade comfort.

Cushion covers: your next step up

A cushion cover teaches you more without being difficult. The simplest version uses stocking stitch, which means one row knit, one row purl. Stocking stitch curls at the edges, so either work a border of five garter stitches at each side, or plan to seam it anyway.

For a 40cm cushion pad, aim for a front panel about 42cm square — roughly 55 stitches across in chunky wool on 6mm needles, depending on your tension. Then make a second panel the same size. Place them right sides together, stitch round three sides with a simple back stitch, turn it the right way out, ease the pad inside, and close the fourth side with a neat slip stitch. If you would rather not sew, knit one long rectangle about 42cm by 85cm, fold it in half and seam two sides — the fold becomes the opening, and a trio of buttons closes it.

Practise your tension before anything fitted

Tension, sometimes called gauge, is simply how many stitches and rows you work to make 10cm. Every knitter is different, and this is the single reason a handmade cushion comes out baggy or a hat comes out tiny. Before you knit anything that has to fit, knit a square of about 15cm in your chosen stitch, lay it flat, and measure 10cm across the middle with your tape measure. Count the stitches inside those 10cm.

If you have more stitches than the pattern states, your knitting is tight — go up a needle size. If you have fewer, go down. It feels like a chore for the first project or two, but it becomes second nature, and it is the difference between a home comfort and a disappointment.

Where to go next

Once a scarf and a cushion are under your belt, you have knit, purled and seamed — which is most of knitting. Good next projects include a chunky hot water bottle cover, a tea cosy, a simple hat worked on a circular needle, or a blanket built from squares that you knit at your own pace and join later. Learn to increase and decrease, and cables are only a short step beyond that.

Look after what you make. Wool should be washed by hand or on a cool wool cycle, squeezed rather than wrung, and dried flat on a towel away from radiators and direct sun. Keep it away from a hot tumble dryer at all costs. A well-cared-for wool cushion will outlast three shop-bought ones, and it will still look like the evening you sat by the fire and made it.