Fisherman’s Rib Stitch

What can turn a humble “knit 1, purl 1” ribbing into a luxurious, highly textured stitch pattern? Yarn overs!

Fisherman’s rib stitch (also known as half brioche stitch, or half English rib) is a great example of this simple trick.

Add a yarn over to every other stitch in every other row and you get a vivid texture that works well for hats, scarves, blankets, sweaters, and pretty much any project we decide to make.

Let’s see how we can knit fisherman’s rib back and forth and in the round.

THIS STITCH IN A NUTSHELL

• Level of difficulty – Easy
• Reversible? No
• Textured? Yes
• Best for – Hats, sweaters, cardigans, scarves, blankets
• Stitch multiple – 2 stitches
• Row multiple – 2 rows / rounds

VIDEO TUTORIAL
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WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS

FISHERMAN’S RIB WORKED BACK AND FORTH

Fisherman’s rib is formed on an even number of stitches. While this stitch pattern forms a gorgeous texture, the side edges of the project do not look neat and tidy. That’s why it is better to add one selvedge stitch at each side of the work.

That means that we will cast on an even number of stitches, but two of those stitches will be treated as selvedges.

To make the swatch featured in the photos, I cast on 12 stitches – 10 stitches for the main fabric + 2 edge stitches.

The easiest and most common type of edge stitches used with the fisherman’s rib are slip-stitch selvedges. We make them by slipping the first stitch of every row purlwise with the yarn at the back of the work and purling the last stitch of every row.

As for the cast-on method, the long-tail cast on works well in most cases.

ROW 1 (RIGHT SIDE)

The first stitch of every row is a selvedge stitch. We slip this stitch purlwise with the yarn at the back of the work.

Then we work the pattern repeat – [ knit 1 stitch, make a yarn over and slip 1 stitch purlwise with the yarn at the back of the work ].

We can make the second part of the pattern repeat easier and faster when we bring the working yarn to the front of the work so that it lies on the left needle and insert the right needle under this strand and into the first stitch on the left needle in one move.

Then take the left needle out of the stitch, leaving both the stitch and the strand (that now becomes a yarn over) on the right needle.

Work the pattern repeat until you get to the last stitch of the row.

This is the second selvedge. Purl it.

ROW 2 (WRONG SIDE)

We start by slipping the first stitch purlwise with the yarn at the back of the work.

Then we work a simple pattern repeat – [ knit 2 stitches together, purl 1 stitch ].

The two stitches that we are knitting together will be the yarn over created in the previous row and the stitch that we slipped right after we made that yarn over. These stitches stay together, as you can clearly see when you spread the stitches on the needle.

After we knit the yarn over + stitch duo together, we purl the next stitch.

And we work this pattern repeat until we get to the last stitch of the row.

The last stitch is a selvedge, and it gets purled.

Repeat these two rows to form a gorgeous fisherman’s rib texture.

As you make more rows, you will notice two things:

(1) We always work in the 1×1 ribbing pattern, knitting the knits and purling the purls.

(2) We make yarn overs over purl stitches in one row, and we get rid of those yarn overs by knitting them together with their paired stitches in the next row.

Understanding these two simple truths makes knitting fisherman’s rib a breeze. Even if you don’t remember the pattern instructions, you know that you should “knit the knits and purl the purls”.

If you see yarn overs clinging to every other stitch on your needle, you know that in the next row, you should work these yarn overs together with their “friends”.

If the stitches on your needle are all lonely, it is time to add a “yarn over friend” to each purl stitch in the next row.

This logic is the same for the fisherman’s rib stitch worked in the round.

FISHERMAN’S RIB WORKED IN THE ROUND

After you cast on an even number of stitches and arrange the stitches for working in the round using any of your favourite methods (double-pointed needles, one circular needle, two circular needles, or one long circular needle used with the magic loop technique), work a simple two-round repeat described below.

ROUND 1

This round is almost the same as the Row 1 we made when we worked back and forth. The only difference is the absence of selvedges. Seamless fabric doesn’t have open side edges, so there is no need for adding edge stitches.

We start this round by working the same pattern repeat as the one in Row 1 – [ knit 1 stitch, make a yarn over and slip 1 stitch purlwise with the yarn at the back of the work ].

Repeat the instructions in the brackets to the very end of this round.

ROUND 2

This is the round when we get rid of the yarn overs formed in the previous round. We do it by purling each yarn over together with its paired stitch.

Knit stitches are independent of any yarn overs, and we won’t change this status quo – we’ll simply knit each knit stitch as we come across it.

The pattern repeat in this row is – [ knit 1 stitch, purl yarn over + stitch duo together ].

Repeat these steps to the end of the round.

This is how simple it is. Work these two rounds, and your project will get the rich texture of fisherman’s rib.

When it is time to bind off stitches, do it after you finish row or round 2 of the pattern. There won’t be any yarn overs on the needles after that row or round, and it will be easy to use any bind-off method the same way as we do when we bind off stitches in other stitch patterns.

No matter whether you choose to use this stitch pattern on a project worked back and forth or the one worked in the round, the fabric will look a bit like compressed 1×1 ribbing on one side of the work and a lot like brioche stitch on the other side.

GIVE IT A TRY!

Take any medium-weight yarn in a light colour and needles in a size recommended for this yarn and cast on 12 stitches.

Follow instructions for Row 1 and Row 2 of the pattern until you make 10 rows.

Look at the texture of your swatch, stretch it to see how elastic it is, and notice the difference between the right and the wrong sides of the fabric.

What is the first project that comes to mind? When you submit your choice in the fully anonymous poll below, you will see what other knitters picked.

PATTERN CARD

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