Stitch Patterns – Three Examples of Ribbing

3Ribbings

All ribbing is a combination of knit and purl stitches across a row.  When you knit back on the next row, you knit the stitches as the face you, that is, knit the knit stitches and purl the purl stitches. The knit stitches form a ridge (or rib) and the purl stitches form a valley.  Ribbing is essentially a reversible fabric.  Ribbing is elastic crosswise and will stretch lengthwise and is most often used for sweater neckbands and bottoms and the cuff of socks.   Ribbing also “pulls in” naturally, so it will effect the shape of your garment.

One-By-One (1×1) Ribbing:

1x1Ribbing

This is knitted exactly as it says.  Knit 1 stitch, purl 1 stitch across the row.  (Remember to move your yarn from back to front as you knit and purl.)  If you are knitting this ribbing flat for a garment, you should be knitting an odd number of stitches, so that when the garment is seamed together the ribbing will appear to be continuous.   If you are knitting in the round, you should always have an even number of stitches.   This ribbing is the most elastic of ribbings.  It tends to look more loosely knit than stockinette stitch, and because it is so elastic, most patterns have you knit your ribbing on needles that are a size or two smaller than the body of the pattern.

Two-By-Two (2×2) Ribbing:

2x2Ribbing

This ribbing is made by K2, P2 across the row.  It is a multiple of 4 stitches, so when knitting a flat piece to be joined with another, you should be knitting a multiple of 4 plus 1 stitch so that the pieces will weave together correctly.  For knitting in the round, you would knit over a multiple of 4 stitches.  This is a popular ribbing and it works well for sock cuffs, but it is not as elastic as the 1×1 ribbing.

Three-By-One (3×1) Ribbing:

3x1Ribbing

This ribbing is also a multiple of 4 stitches:  K3, P1 across.  The rules for 2×2 ribbing also apply to this ribbing.  As you can see in the picture, this produces a wide rib with an almost invisible valley.  I have seen this ribbing used in sock patterns and it does give the socks and attractive looking cuff.

Other Ribbing Patterns: There are many other variations of ribbing, including Cabled Ribbing, Four-By-Two Ribbing, and Six-by-Three Ribbing.   I will include an example of Cabled Ribbing in a latter post on Cable Stitch Patterns.

Note: For information about tension issues with ribbing, see my post: Master Knitter Level I – Swatches # 1, 2, & 3.

Related Post

Site Make-Over CompletedSite Make-Over Completed

I have not been actively blogging since about 2014. Life has a way of intervening from time to time, and I stepped away from the task of updating my blog and website to focus on other things happening in my life.

I just finished updating my website pages with a new theme and color scheme. I have also updated links throughout. As often happens links change over time or become inactive. I hope you find the updates pleasing and that you will continue to check in to my blog from time to time as I plan on making regular posts going forward.

My next post will be the first of a series of posts discussing swatches. Swatches are one of those things that you learn to appreciate over time and I will be sharing what I have learned as I have grown as a knitter.

Three Stretchy Bind-off’sThree Stretchy Bind-off’s

All of us know the standard bind-off (K2, pass first stitch over, *K1, psso, repeat from * until all stitches are bound off). This is a useful bind-off and it works well for any number of knitting projects where you need a nice firm edge. You can occasionally have trouble with it, however, if you do it too tightly and most of us have experienced the frustration of a too tight bound off edge. Most often to correct this you simply need to bind-off more loosely by pulling your stitches out a little more when doing the passing over of the stitch.

Then, there are those projects where you simply need a much more elastic – or stretchy – bind-off. I discovered a couple of these stretchier bind-offs as I was looking for a different bind-off for my Crazy Zauberball Shawl. And I thought I’d post them here for future reference with some of my notes.
You see, I tried them all in the process of finishing the shawl and ended up doing the standard bind-off anyway because I was at the very end of my yarn and all three of the bind-offs used up more yarn. So, one thing to keep in mind with these more elastic bind-offs is that they are stretchy because they use more yarn.

The Elastic Bind-off
This is a very nice, stretchy bind-off. I will probably use it for toe-up socks and ribbed necklines.

To do the Elastic Bind-off:
Knit first two stitches, then * slip them back onto the left needle.
Then knit these two stitches together through the back loop.
Knit the next stitch and repeat from * until bind off is complete.

Here is a You-Tube video of this bind-off:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da40Z_YVr0Q&feature=related

The Lace Bind-off
This bind-off is also known as the Decrease Bind-off. It produces a very nice elastic edge that really looked nice on the edge of my shawl, but it takes about 2-3 times more yarn to complete than the standard bind-off. I would use this bind-off with any lace shawls or scarves.

To do the Lace Bind-off:
Knit together the first two stitches on the left needle, through the back loop.
Then slip the stitch now on the right needle back onto the left needle.
Repeat these two steps until the bind-off is complete.

Good pictures and explanation at Knitty.com. Here’s the link:
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer06/FEATsum06TT.html

Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-off
Many sock knitters swear by this bind-off. It does produce a super elastic edge, but I don’t think I would use it on a lace shawl.

This bind-off is nicely explained and demonstrated in an article on Knitty.com. Here’s the link:
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall09/FEATjssbo.php

If you haven’t tried any of these bind-offs, I recommend that you do. It’s always nice to have more than one method of finishing off your lovely knitted item. I’d love to hear from any of my readers about any other bind-offs they like/love to use. Just leave me a comment (and a link if you have one). Thanks!

Happy Knitting.

FO: Plain Vanilla Socks in Serenity Sock YarnFO: Plain Vanilla Socks in Serenity Sock Yarn

Plain Vanilla Socks knitted in Serenity Sock Yarn
I have finished my Plain Vanilla Socks knitted in Serenity Sock Yarn (Premier yarns), colorway Amethyst. This is the yarn that I wrote about in a previous post: “A Study of Pooling in a Variegated Sock Yarn”. As I discovered in my study of how this yarn pools, by using 54 stitches on size US 2 (2.75mm) needles, I got a “striping” effect as the yarn pooled. You can see the result in the picture above.

Serenity Sock Yarn is a variegated yarn with color changes that are fairly short and don’t necessarily produce stripes when the number of stitches increases. The yarn itself has a nice soft feel to it and it knits up nicely, but I did experience a tendency of the yarn to split at times. The yarn is 50% Merino Wool, 25% Bamboo and 25% Nylon and has sufficient stretch for a well-fitting pair of socks. Anyone planning on using this yarn should definitely knit a swatch with the number of stitches they are planning to use for their socks to see if it knits up in a way that they like.

There was a pattern printed on the inner label that called for a gauge of 9 spi on US 2 (2.75mm) needles. The pattern is based upon 64 stitches. Now, I got an spi of 6.25 on US 2 needles, which is a significant difference and I cannot speak to how it would pool at the stated gauge of 9 spi. I know that I knit more loosely and guess that in order to obtain 9 spi, I would have to use US 0 (2.25 mm) or US 00 (1.75 mm). I really prefer to knit socks on a little bigger needles. These socks were for me to wear around the house and they fit my feet perfectly.

Socks in Serenity Sock Yarn (on my feet)

As for the pattern used for these socks — I really didn’t use one. I knit a 3 X 1 ribbing for 1.5 inches, then switched to stockinette stitch and knit until the cuff measured 6.5 inches. I did a short row or mitered heel and then knit the foot and toe in stockinette and grafted the toe when I had 9 stitches remaining on each side of the sock. I used the Magic Loop method and knit the socks two at a time.