Bubble Stitch

If you’re looking for maximum “squish factor,” the Bubble Stitch pattern is about to become your new favourite.

This stitch is fully reversible and highly textured. You can tell from the photo above that it truly has three dimensions. This makes it perfect for cozy knitted blankets, scarves and cowls.

The best part? It looks impressive but is actually very easy to knit. With only knits, purls and yarn overs forming this texture, you’ll be able to knit this stitch pattern even if you are a beginner.

THIS STITCH IN A NUTSHELL

• Level of difficulty – Easy
• Reversible? Yes
• Textured? Yes
• Best for – Scarves, shawls, blankets, cowls.
• Stitch multiple – 10 stitches + 2 stitches for keeping the sides from stretching.
• Row multiple – 16 rows

VIDEO TUTORIAL
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WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS

CAST ON

Cast on a multiple of 10 stitches + 2 extra stitches. We’ll place one of these additional stitches on each side of the work and will treat them as a part of the pattern. These stitches help keep the “bubbles” at the sides from stretching too much.

If you want to make nice-looking side edges, add 2 or more stitches for selvedges. You can use simple selvedges like these ones, or go for a more decorative solution, like the edging described over here.

I’ll make my swatch with only one pattern repeat and no selvedges. So I’ll cast on 10+2=12 stitches.

SETUP

First, we’ll knit two setup rows that are necessary for keeping the “bubbles” at the bottom of the swatch from falling apart.

Setup row 1 (right side): purl 1, [ knit 5, purl 5 ], repeat the brackets to the last stitch, knit 1.
Setup row 2 (wrong side): purl 1, [ knit 5, purl 5 ], repeat the brackets to the last stitch, knit 1.

These two rows are identical, but I wrote them out separately to avoid confusion. 

As to the right and wrong sides, this stitch looks exactly the same on both sides. But it helps to keep track of the rows as we work on the project. The right-side rows are odd numbered, and the wrong-side rows are even numbered. 

To make sure you can tell them apart, attach a locking stitch marker or a safety pin at the beginning of a right-side row.

PATTERN REPEAT

Row 1 (right side): purl 1, [ {knit 1, yarn over} work 5 times, purl 5 ], repeat the brackets to the last stitch, knit 1.
Row 2 (wrong side): purl 1, [ knit 5, purl 10 ], repeat the brackets to the last stitch, knit 1 = 5 additional stitches per each repeat.

For the next five rows, we’ll be knitting the knit stitches and purling the purl stitches. Here’s how it happens row by row:

Row 3 (right side): purl 1, [ knit 10, purl 5 ], repeat the brackets to the last stitch, knit 1.
Row 4 (wrong side): purl 1, [ knit 5, purl 10 ], repeat the brackets to the last stitch, knit 1.
Row 5 (right side): purl 1, [ knit 10, purl 5 ], repeat the brackets to the last stitch, knit 1.
Row 6 (wrong side): purl 1, [ knit 5, purl 10 ], repeat the brackets to the last stitch, knit 1.
Row 7 (right side): purl 1, [ knit 10, purl 5 ], repeat the brackets to the last stitch, knit 1.

Now we come to a row where we’ll drop the extra stitches. If at some point you lost count of the rows, here’s a way to recognize that it’s time to get rid of extra stitches and finish off the bubble:

a) You are about to start a wrong-side row (the stitch marker is on the other side of the work).

b) When you look at the reverse stockinette side of the “bubble”, there are 6 ridges above each yarn over.

Just a precaution – before dropping a stitch, trace it down to make sure it leads to a yarn over. We don’t want to drop a live stitch that starts at the cast-on edge!

Row 8 (wrong side): purl 1, [ knit 5, {drop 1, purl 1} work 5 times ], repeat the brackets to the last stitch, knit 1.

Now the fun part – pull the fabric to unravel the dropped stitches all the way down to yarn overs.

The first set of bubbles is finished. Well, in my tiny swatch it’s just one “bubble”, but if you make a swatch with several pattern repeats, you’ll get one “bubble” per each repeat.

In the next row, we’ll set the scene for the next set of “bubbles”. This time they will appear in the purl section of the repeat.

Row 9 (right side): purl 1, [ knit 5, (purl 1, yarn over) work the instructions in the parenthesis 5 times ], repeat the brackets to the last stitch, knit 1.
Row 10 (wrong side): purl 1, [ knit 10, purl 5 ], repeat the brackets to the last stitch, knit 1.

Now it’s time for the mindless 5 rows – simply knit the knit stitches and purl the purl stitches.

Row 11 (right side): purl 1, [ knit 5, purl 10 ], repeat the brackets to the last stitch, knit 1.
Row 12 (wrong side): purl 1, [ knit 10, purl 5 ], repeat the brackets to the last stitch, knit 1.
Row 13 (right side): purl 1, [ knit 5, purl 10 ], repeat the brackets to the last stitch, knit 1.
Row 14 (wrong side): purl 1, [ knit 10, purl 5 ], repeat the brackets to the last stitch, knit 1.
Row 15 (right side): purl 1, [ knit 5, purl 10 ], repeat the brackets to the last stitch, knit 1.

Just as we did in row 8, we will drop the additional stitches and finish off the “bubbles” in row 16. It is also a wrong-side row, and by this time there should be 6 ridges of reverse stockinette above the yarn overs.

Row 16 (wrong side): purl 1, [ (drop 1, knit 1), work the instructions in the parenthesis 5 times, purl 5 ], repeat the brackets to the last stitch, knit 1.

Unravel the dropped stitches and enjoy the look of the second set of “bubbles” you created.

Repeat these 16 rows until you make as many “bubbles” as you need.

BIND OFF

When you are ready to bind off stitches or change to a different stitch pattern, make two extra rows to keep the last “bubbles” from stretching too much.

Finishing row 1 (right side): purl 1, [ knit 5, purl 5 ], knit 1.
Finishing row 2 (wrong side): purl 1, [ knit 5, purl 5 ], knit 1.

As you’ve probably guessed, these rows are exactly the same as the setup rows.

VARIATIONS

The most exciting thing about this stitch is that in a sense it is a technique that can be applied to a different number of stitches. That will result in texture with bigger or smaller “bubbles” depending on the number of stitches we use.

The rule of thumb is:

The number of stitches in each “bubble” equals the number of “mindless rows” (like rows 3-7 and 11-15 in the swatch we’ve just made).

Here’s a photo of two swatches. The one on the right is knitted with a 6-stitch pattern repeat. Each “bubble” is 3 stitches wide and is made over 6 rows (3 of them are the rows of “mindless knitting”).

Have fun experimenting with this stitch pattern.

Use it as an all-over stitch on a scarf, cowl, or blanket. Or, add it to a section of your project for an additional pop of texture.

PATTERN CARD

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