Learn how to knit a Heart for Valentines

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Learn how to knit a heart for valentines and beyond! These little knitted hearts are a great project for knitting beginners. All you need is a little yarn and off cuts as stuffing and off you go. A free Heart Knitting Pattern for you! Part of our extensive collection of Heart Crafts.

2 knitted hearts and knitting needles
This free heart knitting pattern was first published in Jan 2014 and republished and updated for your convenience!

These instructions are brought to you as part of our Valentine’s Day guest post series that I have shared with you, my lovely readers, over the years. We love exploring craft basics, from crochet, to knitting, and sewing and encouraging people to have a go at these traditional crafts! I am not a pattern writer myself, so it is lovely to have some relevant guest writers to share tutorials with you!

What can I use my knitted hearts for?

There are many ways you can use this easy heart knitting pattern, for example

  • they make lovely heart ornaments as is – make them in all sorts of colors and hang them from a Valentine’s Day tree or some branches in a vase. They would also look LOVELY as part of your Christmas tree ornament collection
  • string them up and turn them into a knitted heart garland or as part of heart bunting!
  • turn your knitted heart into a heart bookmark, heart keychain or heart backpack charm
  • pop them into your kids’ pockets, so they can give them a little squeeze if they need some love and comfort whilst at school! You could fill them with lavender to make them extra sensory too!

This knitted heart pattern only requires basic stitches – purl and knit. It is a great way for beginners to learn to decrease and increase stitches too – i.e. knit 2 together etc. So wonderful project for beginners to progress in their knitting!

Over to our guest poster…

How to knit a heart

We love Heart Crafts all year round. Whether you are crafting for Valentine’s Day, making something for Mother’s Day or getting ready for Christmas.. you can never go wrong with a cute Heart Craft! Today, we have Liz from Me and My Shadow sharing her How To Knit a Heart craft. A free knitted heart pattern, perfect for Heart Ornament making or for Knitted Heart Bookmarks!

Thank you so much to Maggy for having me over here on Red Ted Art during this love-fest!  I usually blog over at Me and My Shadow where I craft, upcycle and generally try to make the most of the resources I have.  I love vintage style and am happiest when surrounded by pretty china and homemade cake!

I’m not a natural knitter (as you can see from the pictures!) but this project is very much suitable for a beginner, and I think is fairly forgiving too.  There’s something quite quirky and rustic-looking about them so don’t worry too much if you make a mistake. And anyway, your loved one will appreciate the effort you’ve made I’m sure. More experienced knitters might want to experiment with changing colours, stripes or different stitches.

I’ve made lots of these and filled a glass bowl with them.  Or, you can incorporate a hanging loop and use them as decorations around the home.  Or add one to your Valentine’s gift as a finishing touch to the wrapping.

Supplies needed for your knitted hearts:

To make this knitting project you won’t need much!

  • a pair of straight knitting needles to go with the thickness of your wool… needles of 4.0 mm and 4.5mm in size tend to be standard guage for dk yarn
  • yarn or wool in desired colors. This is great for using up “odds and ends” of yarn
  • yarn needle for closing up the heart
  • a little stuffing – can be toy stuff, old pillows or even scrap yarn (we tend to save ours from other projects – such as pom pom making)

As always, work with any supplies you have and avoid making any unnecessary purchases

Your free knitted heart pattern:

We decided to write out the pattern in full and avoid abbreviations such as k2tog, k2 or p2, p2tog, in order to make it easier for beginner knitters to follow!

1. Cast on 2 stitches and leave a long trail (this can be crochet chain stitched into a loop at the end if you require).

2. Row 1: knit into front and back of stitch (making 2 stitches where there was one), knit to last stitch, knit into front and back of stitch.

3. Next Row 2: purl 1 row.  Repeat these 2 rows 6 times in total (14 stitches).

UPDATE – to make clear, Step 3: Repeat rows another 5 times, making it 6 x (knit1, purl1, increase at both ends) in total and therefore 14 stitches

4. Row 3: Time to decrease some rows! knit 2 stitches together, knit 5 and turn, leaving 7 stitches on the needle.

5. Row 4: We continue to decrease – purl 2 stitches together, purl 2, purl 2 stitches together.

6. Cast off 4 stitches.  Cut a long piece of wool (about 10 inches) and weave through the back of the piece to reattach to the other side where you left off.

7. Row 5: knit 5, knit 2 stitches together.

8. Row 6: purl 2 stitches together, purl 2, purl 2 stitches together.

9. Cast off 4 stitches.

You should now have one heart.

How to knit a heart! These knitted hearts are super cute and easy to make. Oh the possibilities.. ornaments, bookmarks, key chains, garlands.. what would YOU make from it?! #hearts #knitting #knittedheart #howtoknitaheart
Your first knitted heart half is finished

How to make a filled knitted heart

Now to make your heart filled.. you will need to repeat the whole pattern to make a 2nd knitted heart.

Tidy up your loose ends by threading through the wrong side and hide away any tail ends.  

If you want a hanging loop, leave a long tail and chain stitch one of the yarns near the top, and fold over into a loop to secure when you stitch around.

With the wrong sides together, use a tapestry needle and matching coloured cotton to stitch around the edges, leaving a small gap to stuff wadding inside of your knitted heart, before finally closing up.

FINISHED.

As mentioned there are lots of ways you can now “use” your finished heart to decorate with.

I hope you enjoy making these and that you found this pattern instructions easy to follow! I find that these hearts are quite addictive once you’ve mastered the first one.

For more heart themed crafts you might like from Liz:

More heart projects to browse:

Easy Heart Crafts

If you think video tutorials for this heart knitting pattern would be useful, do leave me a comment and I will see what I can do! In the meant time enjoy this free knitting pattern. Can’t wait to see how many of these you make! Do tag me on instagram, so I can see.