Welcome to knitting. Even if you have been here a while there is always something new about this craft – but almost all of it rests on a handful of stitch patterns.
Here are the five at the heart of it.
1. Garter stitch
Every row knitted. The simplest fabric there is, and still one of the most useful.
It lies completely flat, which is why it appears as a border on so many patterns – not decoration, but structure. It is reversible, both sides looking the same, and it is squashy and warm.
It uses more yarn than most stitches for the same area, and it is not the tidiest looking. But for a first project it is unbeatable.
2. Stocking stitch
One row knit, one row purl. The classic smooth knitted fabric, all Vs on the front and bumps on the back.
It is the default for most garments. Its one problem is that it curls – edges roll inward, because knit and purl stitches pull differently and every stitch here faces the same way.
That is why patterns give it a garter or ribbed border. Without one, it will not lie flat, no matter how much you block it.
3. Ribbing
Knit and purl alternating within a row – k1 p1, or k2 p2.
Ribbing pulls in and stretches out, which is why it appears at cuffs, hems and hat brims. It grips.
The more columns you alternate, the less elastic it becomes: k1 p1 is the stretchiest, k4 p4 is barely elastic at all and reads more as texture.
4. Seed stitch
Knit and purl alternating both within the row and between rows, so each knit sits above a purl.
It produces a bumpy, textured fabric that lies flat, is reversible, and looks considerably more accomplished than it is. Excellent for scarves and blanket borders.
It is slower than stocking stitch because you swap the yarn position for every stitch.
5. Lace and open work
Deliberate holes made with yarn overs, paired with decreases so the stitch count stays constant.
That pairing is the whole principle: a yarn over adds a stitch and creates a hole; a decrease removes one. Combine them in patterns and you get everything from a simple eyelet row to elaborate shawls.
Lace looks like nothing at all off the needles. It only becomes what it is meant to be when blocked – wetted and pinned out, often to half again its size.
What this adds up to
Knit and purl, in different arrangements, plus increases and decreases. That is genuinely the whole vocabulary, and everything elaborate is built from it.
