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Principles of Knitting

The Comprehensive & Timeless Guide

june hemmons hiatt

completely revised & updated

Methods and Techniques of Hand Knitting

The

The P

rinciples of K

nittingju

ne h

emm

on

s hiatt

Aword-of-mouth

phenomenon

since its original

publication, with a

passionate and loyal

following, The Principles

of Knitting has served as

a treasured resource for

an entire generation of

knitters. Now completely

revised and updated,

this long-awaited new edition contains indispensable information for every

knitter, from the beginner to the most experienced, on all aspects of the craft.

Written in clear, direct language, The Principles of Knitting is like

having a knitting mentor by your side, ready to answer any question in

a comprehensive, reasoned, and informed manner. June Hemmons Hiatt

includes instructions for all facets of knitting, from the most basic skills

to the most advanced techniques, and offers suggestions for best practices

as well as alternatives and innovations.

The Principles of Knitting provides the inspiration and instruction to

help every knitter gain the knowledge and confidence needed to produce

unique, beautifully crafted garments, accessories, and household items.

It is the one reference guide no knitter should be without.

The definitive book of knitting techniques

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171

chapter 10

The Stitches

T he structure of a knitted fabric is deceptively simple—no more than little interconnected loops of yarn called stitches. But these loops can

be confi gured in a great many ways, and as their form is changed, so is their character, with each one contributing something different to the fabric of which it is a part.

A “stitch technique” is used to give each stitch a particular shape in the fabric; it consists of a specifi c way to insert the needle into an existing stitch and wrap the yarn around it in order to make a new one. This chapter introduces the techniques used to make all the stitches, from the most fundamental to the most specialized. As the alphabet stands to language, these stitch techniques are to knitting, and they can be varied or combined in one way or another to create a multitude of decorative and practical patterns.

Included are instructions for how to do the techniques, a description of the structure, characteristics, and behavior of the resulting stitches, and typical ways in which they can be used in patterns. The material is organized into groups of related stitches and their variations and, by necessity, the discussion of each one is approached as if the reader has never encountered it before. This begins with the Knit and Purl techniques, which are the foundation for all the others.

Because the information is presented in such an elementary way, more experienced knitters may be tempted to skip past the initial material on Knit and Purl and some of the other basic techniques that are already familiar. However, I want to encourage everyone, regardless of skill level, to read through even those instructions because the discussions make explicit certain aspects of the basic stitches that are often taken for granted, and these fundamentals have implications for all the other techniques. In doing so, you might glean only one or two new insights, but these could prove valuable.

Once you are familiar with these techniques and

understand how they can be applied, you will be able to learn any new stitch pattern more quickly and will fi nd it easier to prevent and correct common errors as you work. In addition, if you are interested in designing, a knowledge of the characteristics that each stitch technique imparts to a fabric will help you select a pattern that is suitable for a particular yarn and garment style.

For novice knitters, the necessary organization of the material presents some challenges. In order to learn how to do these stitches, you must already understand how to hold the yarn and needles and cast on the fi rst stitches. If you have not already done so, therefore, read the section If You Are a Beginner (see the Introduction to the Second Edition), which includes recommendations for the Knitting Methods and Casting-On techniques that are easiest for a beginner to use. There is also information there on various terms used here that may be new to you.

To work your way through this material, cast on 20 or 30 stitches to make a small practice swatch. Relatively short single-point needles are easiest to use for something small like this, and it is best to work with a medium-thickness, light-colored yarn so you can see the stitches clearly; it also helps if the color of the needles provides some contrast with that of the yarn. The instructions are written for working fl at, but information is included for adapting the techniques as necessary when working circular (for more information, see Circular and Flat Knitting). The illustrations show the yarn held to the right, but stitch formation is the same if the yarn is held to the left (see Knitting Methods).

The Knit and Purl Stitches

Before we go on to the details of the basic stitches, it will be helpful to give some consideration to the word “Knit,” which has its origins in the word “knot,” and which is used in so

172 Part Three: Decorative Techniques

many different ways it can lead to some confusion. Knit is the name of the craft, it is what we do when we make a fabric in this way, and it is the generic name of the most basic stitch form, the simplest shape the loop can take in the fabric.

Furthermore, every stitch in the fabric has two “faces,” each with a distinctively different appearance. The way the basic stitch looks on one side of the fabric is called Knit; the way it looks on the other side is called Purl.

In other words, while it is common to speak of a “Knit stitch” or a “Purl stitch,” these are not different stitches, but merely two aspects of the same one. If you use the technique that makes a Knit stitch, the Knit face of the stitch will appear on the side of the fabric facing you, while the Purl face of the stitch will be on the other side of the fabric; if you use the tech-nique that makes a Purl stitch, the Knit face of the stitch will appear on the other side of the fabric. While there are many specialized techniques described here, they can all be thought of as variations of this basic stitch form, and all of them will also have both Knit and Purl versions.

The material on Knitting Methods has a full discussion of the different ways the yarn and needles can be held. What is de-scribed here is the direction in which the work progresses, the position of the stitches on the needles, and the details of how the yarn and needles are moved in order to manipulate them.

The Standard method of working, described fi rst, is the most common one; it is the method that most pattern instruc-tions, including those in this book, assume you will be using. The needle holding the existing stitches is held in the left hand and the work progresses across the set of stitches, one-by-one, from right to left.

The Reversed Method is used less often, but works just as well: the existing set of stitches is held in the right hand, and the work progresses from left to right instead. The motions re-quired to make the stitches are different, but their position on the needle and resulting form in the fabric are exactly the same.

The third method, Turned Stitches, is combined with the Standard Method in one way or another rather than being used by itself, and an understanding of how it works is very important. Some aspects of it are used in specialized ways to facilitate working various stitch techniques, and the Purl ver-sion is used for all purposes by many knitters as their standard way of working.

Also included here are instructions and information about the most basic stitch patterns that are made up of just Knit and Purl—Stockinette, Reverse Stockinette, Garter Stitch, and Ribbing. These are such essential patterns that they appear in almost every knitted garment, and an understanding of their structure and characteristics is not only important for this reason, but because it will help clarify the nature of patterns made with other techniques as well.

Standard Knit and PurlFor this method, the needle bearing the set of stitches is held in the left hand, with the tip pointing to the right; the second needle is held in the right hand with the tip pointing to the left. To make a new stitch, moderate tension is placed on the yarn, the right needle is inserted into the fi rst stitch on the left needle and the yarn is wrapped around the tip, which is then used to draw the strand of yarn through the stitch.

The new stitch is held on the right needle and the original one is “discarded,” meaning it is dropped from the left needle into the fabric. As each stitch is worked and discarded in turn, there will be one less stitch on the left needle and one more on the right needle; the supply of yarn will always emerge from the last new stitch made.

When all the stitches have been worked and discarded in turn, you will have completed one “row” (for defi nition, see below); transfer the now-empty needle to your right hand, and the needle bearing the new stitches to your left hand, and begin the next row.

Here are the details of how to make these two forms of the basic stitch.

Standard Knit StitchTo make a Knit stitch, always hold the yarn on the farside of the needle and work as follows:

1. On nearside, insert right needle tip from left to right into center of fi rst stitch on left needle and allow it to pass under needle to farside. Needles cross each other within stitch, with right needle tip on farside of left needle.

2. Wrap yarn up between needle tips and then over right needle to farside.

3. Use right needle tip to draw wrapped yarn up and back through center of stitch toward nearside; simultaneously use left needle tip to lift original stitch over yarn and drop it on farside. Maintain new stitch on right needle.

4. Repeat these steps until all stitches have been worked and discarded.

Standard Knit Stitch: Step 2. Wrap yarn around right needle tip.

Standard Knit Stitch: Step 3. Draw yarn through stitch.

Standard Knit Stitch: Step 3. Discard original stitch below right needle.

Chapter 10: The Stitches 173

Maintain even tension on the yarn as you work, and be careful not to drop a stitch from the left needle before drawing a new stitch through because it will come undone (unravel), and re-vert to a strand of yarn, as could one or more stitches below it.

Notice that the discarded Knit stitch lies below the right needle and encircles the base of the new stitch; the top of the stitch is on the farside and only the two sides of the stitch are visible. The yarn passes into it from farside to nearside on the right, travels over the needle to form the new stitch, and then reenters the Knit stitch from nearside to farside; from there it passes to the ball of yarn. The strand of yarn that lies between two stitches is called the “running thread.”

When you look at the Knit stitch in the fabric, all that can be seen are the two sides of the loop forming a little V-shape. The stitch is narrow at the bottom where it emerges from the stitch below and wider at the top where the next stitch is drawn through it in turn.

Standard Purl StitchTo make a Purl stitch, always hold the yarn on the nearside of the needle, and work as follows:

1. On nearside, insert right needle tip from right to left directly into center of fi rst stitch. Needles cross each other within stitch, with right needle tip on nearside of left needle.

2. With both needles now in stitch, wrap yarn down between needle tips, and then under right needle toward nearside.

3. Move right needle tip down and back to draw wrapped yarn through stitch toward farside;

simultaneously use left needle tip to lift original stitch over yarn and drop it on nearside.

4. Repeat these steps until all stitches have been worked and discarded.

Notice that the yarn passes into the discarded stitch from near-side to farside, over the needle to form the new stitch, back through the stitch from farside to nearside and then to the ball of yarn.

The only part of a Purl stitch that is visible in the fabric is the top of the discarded stitch; it looks like a small horizontal strand and is called the “Purl nub.” Just below and to each side of the Purl nub is another pair of strands that look just like it; these are the running threads that belong to the new stitch above.

Making a Knitted FabricOnce you are familiar with how to make the basic Knit and Purl stitches, the next thing to understand is how they are used to make a fabric. Here are some basic defi nitions:

Stitch Form

The stitches on the needle are “neutral”—they do not yet have a distinctive shape, or “form.” It is only when a technique is used to manipulate a stitch in some way and it is discarded into the fabric that it becomes a Knit or Purl, or one of the

other kinds of stitches described below.

Stitch Position

In European-derived knitting traditions, the standard posi-tion, or “mount” of a neutral stitch on the needle is with the right side of the stitch “leading” on the nearside of the needle and the left side of the stitch “trailing” on the farside.† In some

Standard Purl Stitch: Step 2. Wrap yarn around needle.

Standard Purl Stitch: Step 3. Discard original stitch.

Standard Purl Stitch: Step 3. Draw new stitch through.

Standard Knit Stitch.

Standard Purl Stitch.

OriginalNeutralStitch

NewNeutralStitch

RunningThread

DiscardedKnit Stitch

Stitch terms.

Original Neutral Stitch

New Neutral Stitch

Discarded Knit Stitch

RunningThread

† These terms were coined by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts, who uses them to discuss the differences between European, Middle Eastern, and some contemporary methods of knitting in Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts and Deborah Robson, Knitting in the Old Way: Designs and Techniques from Ethnic Sweaters (Fort Collins, Colo.: Nomad Press, 2004).

174 Part Three: Decorative Techniques

other knitting traditions and for some special techniques, the stitch is positioned with the left side “leading” on the nearside and the right side “trailing” on the farside; see Turned Stitches, below, for more information, and also the discussion in Knit-ting Methods about the Turned Left-Hand Method and the Combined Method.

Rows, or Rounds

The process of drawing new stitches through the entire set of stitches on a needle, one after the other, is called knitting a “row.” As the work progresses, the neutral stitches remaining on the fi rst needle, and those that have been given a form and dis-carded into the fabric, are all part of the same row. The new set of stitches that accumulate on the second needle are part of the next row.

Within the fabric, a single row normally consists of a set of stitches that are formed with a continuous strand of yarn and sit side-by-side in a horizontal line. There are exceptions—in some cases individual stitches may occupy more than one row, and in many color patterns the stitches in a row are made with more than one yarn.

A knitted fabric is constructed from the bottom up; with the stitches of each row drawn through the stitches of the row below. A series of rows, one on top of the other, constitutes the length of the fabric.

Path of Yarn

In a fl at fabric, the yarn travels through the rows in a zigzag path, from right to left on one row, left to right on the next. In a circular fabric, the yarn travels in a spiral path, always in the same direction, and a row is often referred to as a “round.”

Because the yarn travels from stitch to stitch horizontally, a basic knitted fabric has more stretch widthwise than it does lengthwise. When it is stretched from side to side, the run-ning threads borrow yarn from the stitches and elongate; the stitches become shorter and wider, and the spaces between them enlarge.

Stitch Columns

The individual stitches are also aligned vertically, each one emerging from the one below it. A single set of stitches related in this way is referred to as a “stitch column,” and a series of stitch columns sitting side-by-side constitute the width of the fabric.

The fabric is less expansive in the vertical dimension be-cause the stitches in each column are not connected by a

continuous strand of yarn; they are related only by virtue of their position. Nevertheless, when stretched lengthwise, the stitches will become somewhat taller and narrower and the stitch columns will draw closer together.

Reversed Knit and PurlThis is an alternative knitting method that is no more than a mirror image of the one above, with the needle bearing the existing stitches held in the right hand; the new stitches will accumulate on the left needle. The structure of the stitches in the fabric is the same as with the standard method.

Some knitters prefer this method and use it all the time. Others use it for fl at knitting in combination with the Stan-dard method, working from right to left on one row and left to right on the next. Even if you do not use this method of-ten, it can be very useful to know how to do so when working on something very narrow because there is no need to turn at the end of a row; for more information, see Bi-Directional Method.

The only diffi culty in using this method is that any instruc-tion for how to work a particular technique, in this book or any other, will be written for the Standard Method, de-scribed above, and will need to be “translated” for use with the Reversed Method. However, even complex patterns gen-erally include only one or two specialized techniques that will pose a challenge in this regard, and knitters who use the method regularly become fairly adept at making the changes needed.

Reversed Knit StitchHold the needle bearing the existing stitches in your right hand and the second needle in your left hand; with yarn held on farside work left to right, as follows:

1. On farside, insert tip of left needle from left to right into center of fi rst stitch.

2. With both needles now in stitch, wrap yarn over left needle from farside to nearside and then down between needle tips and back toward farside.

3. Pull new stitch through toward nearside and hold on left needle; discard original stitch from right needle.

Reversed Purl StitchHold needles as described above, but with yarn on nearside, and work as follows:

1. On farside, insert left needle tip from right to left into cen-ter of fi rst stitch and then under right needle to nearside.

2. With both needles now in stitch, wrap yarn up between the two, over top of left needle, and down on nearside.

3. Pull new stitch through and hold on left needle; discard original stitch from right needle.

A stitch column.

A row.

Chapter 10: The Stitches 175

Turned StitchesThe Basic Knit or Purl techniques described above are done with all the stitches on the needle in standard position, and the right needle tip held on the nearside of the left needle when inserted into a stitch. However, if the right needle tip is positioned on the farside of the left needle when it is inserted into a stitch that is in standard position, the discarded stitch will twist on itself instead of lying fl at and open in the fabric. This is done for decorative reasons in some stitch patterns (see Twist Stitches); but when not wanted, it is an error.

Some techniques require the neutral stitches on the needle to be “turned,” with the left half of the stitch on the nearside of the needle. When a Turned Stitch is worked, the result is the opposite of what happens with a stitch in standard position; if the right needle is positioned on the nearside of the left needle when inserted, the stitch will twist on itself; if it is positioned on the farside, it will not.

There are two ways to turn a new stitch on the needle.An individual stitch can be turned as needed using the Slip

Stitch technique. This may be done to twist the stitch in a decorative pattern, but more commonly it is used as one step in more complex stitch techniques where it is used instead to prevent this.

The method discussed here, however, is used to turn all the new stitches of a row by changing the way the yarn is wrapped around the needle. In European-derived knitting traditions, this is normally done only when making an entire fabric in a Twist Stitch pattern. However, it is the standard way of work-ing in some other knitting traditions where it does not have that effect, and the two are sometimes combined by knitters who hold the yarn on the left beause it makes it easier to work Purl and doing so produces a more consistent fabric; see Turned Left-Hand Method, and Combined Method.

Regardless of which method you use, you will fi nd it very useful to understand the relationship between the position of a stitch on the needle and how a stitch is formed because it is a signifi cant factor in many stitch techniques; the material on Slip Stitches and Twist Stitches will also help make this clear.

The following instructions specify whether to work into the stitch from the nearside or farside of the left needle; most pub-lished pattern instructions use the terms “Knit back,” or “Purl back” for the latter; for more information on the terms used in this book, see Terminology.

Knit OverWith this method of wrapping the yarn on the needle for a Knit stitch, the new stitches will be in turned position on the right needle, while those discarded into the fabric will be nor-mal Knit stitches.

There are two options: the fi rst is used when you start with

the existing stitches in standard position on the needle; the second, when they are in turned position.

Stitches in Standard Position

• On nearside, insert needle from left to right into stitch, slide tip under left needle to farside, wrap yarn over right needle, down between needle tips and back to farside; pull new stitch through and discard stitch on left needle.

In other words, Knit stitch nearside, wrap yarn over.

Stitches in Turned Position

• On farside, insert needle from right to left into turned stitch, wrap yarn over right needle, down between needle tips and back to farside; pull new stitch through and discard stitch on left needle.

In other words, Knit farside, wrap over.

Purl UnderThis produces the same result, but in Purl; the new stitches will be in turned position on the right needle, while those discarded into the fabric will be standard Purl stitches in the fabric.

Here again, there are two options for how to wrap the yarn on the needle depending on whether the existing stitches are in standard or turned position on the needle.

Stitches in Standard Position

• On nearside, insert needle into fi rst stitch from right to left as to Purl, wrap yarn under right needle tip, and then up between needle tips to nearside; pull new stitch through and discard stitch on left needle.

In other words, Purl nearside, wrap under.

Stitches in Turned Position

• On farside, insert needle into center of fi rst stitch from left to right; slide tip below left needle to nearside. Wrap yarn under, then up between needle tips to nearside. Pull new stitch through and discard original stitch.

In other words, Purl farside, wrap under.

Knit Over with stitch in Standard Position.

Knit Over with stitch in Turned Position.

Purl Under with stitch in Standard Position.

Purl Under with stitch in Turned Position.

176 Part Three: Decorative Techniques

Basic Knit and Purl PatternsMany complex decorative stitch patterns are made up of no more than Knit and Purl stitches that are combined in a va-riety of ways. Lest you think that a fabric made with just two stitches must be rather plain, consider that there are exam-ples of exquisite knitting in the textile collections of muse-ums done in just that way. It is fair to say that you need only Knit and Purl stitches to equip you for a lifetime of knitting, but I certainly would not want to discourage you from learn-ing about all the others discussed below and in the following chapter.

In the meantime, here is a small group of the most fun-damental Knit and Purl patterns: Stockinette, Garter Stitch, Ribbing, and Seed Stitch are used more often than any oth-ers. They are commonly used for entire garments, for borders, or serve as the background for other stitch or color patterns.

Stockinette and Reverse StockinetteThe Stockinette pattern has only Knit stitches on the side of the fabric that will be visible in wear or in use; Reverse Stocki-nette has only Purl stitches on the side that will be visible. Since these are two sides of the same stitch, the pattern names merely distinguish the respective sides of the fabric, or specify which side is to remain visible when worn.

The patterns are done in a slightly different way depending on whether you are working a fl at fabric, or a circular one.

Stockinette Worked Flat

1. Knit all stitches on left needle to make one row.2. Transfer right needle, now bearing new stitches, to left

hand, giving it a half turn so needle tip is to right. Transfer empty needle to right hand, tip pointing left. Purl sides of discarded stitches are now below needle in left hand.

Sixteenth-century silk waistcoat, Brocade pattern with embroidery. Norsk Folkemuseum, Oslo, Norway.

Chapter 10: The Stitches 177

3. Purl all stitches on needle to make next row.4. Alternate rows in this manner, always working Knit when

there are Knit stitches below left needle, and Purl when there are Purl stitches below left needle.

Reverse Stockinette is simply the other side of the same fabric and, therefore, done in the same way.

Stockinette Worked Circular

• Knit every round.

The Knit face of the fabric will always be on the nearside as you work, the Purl face of the fabric on the farside.

You could, of course, work an entire Reverse Stockinette fabric by Purling every round; however, most people prefer Knit to Purl. Therefore, if you want Purl on the outside, sim-ply work in Knit and turn the fabric inside out before fi nish-ing the garment.

Of course, if you are making stripes of Reverse Stockinette within a fabric that contains other stitch patterns, it will be necessary to Purl every round.

Stockinette Characteristics

Stockinette seems to have earned its name because it tradition-ally served as the smooth, utilitarian pattern used for stock-ings, but it is by no means restricted to that. It is, by far, the most common stitch pattern in knitting, and for good reason.

General Appearance

In appearance, a Stockinette fabric has a vertical effect overall, which is produced by the V-shapes of the Knit stitches lined up in columns. While attractive enough on its own, Stocki-nette also serves as the neutral background for a wide variety of more highly textured and decorative stitch techniques. It is also used for most color patterns, because it is quiet and does not compete for attention with the design.

With Reverse Stockinette, the Purl nubs and their compan-ion running threads dominate visually, and together they cre-ate a rough surface texture and a strongly horizontal effect that draws the eye to the rows.

While Purl is less often used as the primary pattern on the outside of the fabric, it certainly can be, and it is particularly effective at enhancing the qualities of highly textured yarns. More often, however, Reverse Stockinette is used in combina-tion with Knit, as well as with many other stitch techniques that produce a smooth decorative effect, for the contrasting surface texture it provides.

There are two characteristics of a Stockinette fabric that are important to take into consideration. One is the tendency of the fabric to curl at the edges, and the other is the challenge of working it with a suffi ciently even tension.

Fabric Edge Curl

Left to its own devices, the edge of a fabric done entirely in Stockinette will curl, and it becomes apparent why if you consider what a stitch looks like from the side.

A stitch is narrow at the bottom where it is pulled through the stitch below; at the top it is arched back and widened out where the stitch above is pulled through it in turn. Think of the stitch like a little soldier at attention, heels together, shoulders thrust back, and chest puffed out.

With all the stitches in this posture the fabric is placed under a certain amount of tension and the side edges of the fabric will curl toward the Purl face. This curl is strong enough that a very narrow fabric will form a tight scroll shape; a wider fabric will fl atten in the middle and the curl will be evident only at the sides. A similar but opposite effect can be seen at the top and bottom edges; they curl toward the Knit face of the fabric, as if the little soldiers had slumped over, and were standing at ease.

This tendency to curl is occasionally something of a nui-sance, but it is easily tamed by using some combination of Knit and Purl stitches for borders at the edges. In mixed pat-terns of that kind, the Knit stitches on the outside of the fabric lean back, and the Purl stitches lean forward; each cancels out the effect of the other and the fabric will lie fl at.

On the other hand, the curl can also be taken advantage of to add a charming design element to a garment. Several rows of plain Stockinette worked at the top or bottom edge of a fabric create a decorative effect called a Rouleau, the French word for “roll.”

Stockinette showing curl at bottom edge.

Stockinette with curl at side edges.

178 Part Three: Decorative Techniques

Tension

Stockinette is so commonplace and seemingly so easy to do that knitters typically underestimate its challenge. In fact, it is one of the most diffi cult stitch patterns to handle successfully because the smooth surface betrays any uneven tension or er-ror in technique.

It takes practice to develop the skill of maintaining suffi -ciently even tension on the yarn to do justice to Stockinette; even slight differences in stitch size will be more obvious in this fabric than would be the case in one with more surface texture. While you are learning to knit, therefore, it helps to work with more softly spun or textured yarns, or ones with variegated colors, because these tend to hide any irregularities.

Uneven tension is particularly troublesome for many knit-ters when working fl at, since it can be diffi cult to maintain even stitch size on alternating Knit and Purl rows. The prob-lem is most evident on the Purl side of the fabric, where you will see what looks like pairs of closely set rows separated by wide “gutters,” which are really rows of enlarged stitches that were worked at a looser tension.

Knitters who work with the yarn on the right fi nd it relatively easy to adjust their tension on Knit and Purl rows to even out stitch size. Knitters who work with the yarn on the left, how-ever, use very different motions for Purl than those that are used for Knit, which makes this adjustment somewhat more diffi cult, although with practice it can be done; another solution is to use Purl Under instead; see Problems with Tension or Yarn Twist in the chapter Knitting Methods for more information.

Garter StitchThe Garter Stitch pattern consists of one-row stripes of alternating Knit and Purl, and the fabric looks exactly the same on both sides.

Garter Stitch Worked Flat

• Knit every row.

Garter Stitch Worked Circular

• Knit one row and Purl the next.

It is also possible to work Garter Stitch in the round entirely in Knit; however, it requires two balls of yarn and working in-side and outside rows as for a fl at fabric; for more information, see Stitch Patterns in the chapter Circular and Flat Knitting.

Garter Stitch Characteristics

A fabric done in Garter Stitch lies very fl at, because the curved posture of each stitch in the Knit rows is balanced by the op-posite curl of each stitch in the Purl rows. This alternating curl compresses the fabric, giving it great vertical elasticity and re-silience. As a result, a Garter Stitch fabric has far more rows per inch than a Stockinette one, it will be considerably thicker, and it requires considerably more yarn and, it must be said, time, for an equivalent size fabric.

It is common to assume that the gauge of Garter Stitch is balanced, with twice as many rows as stitches. While this may be true when the fabric fi rst emerges from the needles, and de-pends upon working at a consistent tension, it is not a stable characteristic, since the gauge may change radically with wear. There are several reasons for this, such as the size and weight of the garment, whether the fabric was knit fi rmly or not, and the type of yarn used (with resilient wool holding its shape better, for example, than cotton). These factors can be taken into consideration in the design process; see Drop: The Effect of Gravity, and also Weighted Gauge Measurement.

Garter Stitch is often used for entire garments, particularly because its inherent resilience provides some fl exibility with size and fi t. This is also an asset when it is used for the border of a fabric done in another stitch pattern, since it is relatively easy to adjust it to fi t the adjacent fabric with the applica-tion of a little steam, making it less important to take gauge differences into account. These characteristics, as well as the fact that Garter Stitch is so easy to work, ensure its utility and popularity.

Horizontal RibbingYou can also make horizontal stripes of alternating Knit and Purl that are wider versions of Garter Stitch. Because of the fabric’s tendency to curl, the smooth Knit rows will be slightly recessed, and the textured rows of Purl will protrude, which compresses the fabric and gives it a strong surface texture.

However, these stripes are at their boldest when they

Horizontal Ribbing. Stripes contain different number of rows. Garter Stitch at bottom.

Garter Stitch fabric. Alternating rows of Knit and Purl on both sides.

Reverse Stockinette with uneven row tension.