Simple knit and purl stitch combinations can great great rustic texture.
Welcome to the second post in our knitting stitch exploration series this week. We started off yesterday with an introduction to garter stitch and seed stitch, which make for easy and neat edge stitches as well as simple “all over” texture. All week we’re using these lovely and light Panda Bamboo needles, and today we’re using some more basic worsted weight wool to go along with them. If you’d like to practice some new “beyond beginner” basics, grab your needles and yarn and we’ll learn some more knit and purl stitch combinations.Knitting textured stitches increases your knitting confidence.
Moss stitch is similar to seed stitch but is worked over 4 rows instead of just 2.
Knit and purl combinations can give us some lovely rustic looking fabric. The swatch pictured above is done in moss stitch, which is a kind of vertical extension of seed stitch. It can be used for a simple “all over” stitch pattern, or as a partner to cable patterns. Cabled sweater patterns will often use seed stitch or moss stitch at the sides, to give a rustic visual sense.
Moss stitch is worked as follows, over an even number of stitches:
- Row 1: *K1, p1. Repeat from * to end.
- Row 2: *K1, p1. Repeat from * to end.
- Row 3: *P1, k1. Repeat from * to end.
- Row 4: *P1, k1. Repeat from * to end.
To try it out, simply cast on 30 stitches for a swatch (or another even number of stitches), and keep working over this four-row pattern. It’s a lovely stitch for wool yarn, especially at this time of year!
Double seed stitch is just what it sounds like – seed stitch times two! Worked over a repeat of four stitches and four rows.
Our second stitch pattern for today is double seed stitch. This is just what it sounds like – seed stitch times two! Seed stitch is repeated over 2 stitches and 2 rows, but double seed stitch repeats over 4 stitches and 4 rows.
Cast on your own swatch of 32 stitches (or another multiple of 4 stitches), and work as follows:
- Row 1: *K2, p2. Repeat from * to end.
- Row 2: *K2, p2. Repeat from * to end.
- Row 3: *P2, k2. Repeat from * to end.
- Row 4: *P2, k2. Repeat from * to end.
Like moss stitch, double seed stitch is versatile enough to appear alongside complex cable patterns or on its own. Can you imagine casting on for a baby blanket in this pattern using some chunky yarn? It would be very quick and look very cozy.
The number of stitch combinations out there in knitting world can seem endless at times. Trying a new one each week for a month or two would be a simple way to “up your game” and understanding what your stitches look like on the needles while working in a pattern. In tomorrow’s post we’ll try out some more stitch patterns that get just a bit more complicated. More knit and purl stitch combinations make knitting textured stitches a lot of fun!
