When we are looking for an all-over stitch pattern with rich texture and moderate stretch, fisherman’s rib (also known as half brioche stitch, or half English rib) is almost always a good choice.
This stitch is a result of a happy marriage between brioche stitch and “knit 1, purl 1” ribbing, and it gives us the best of both worlds – cozy puffiness of brioche, and the neat structure of 1×1 ribbing.
The fabric formed by fisherman’s rib feels fantastic and looks great on both sides – a perfect combination for hats, scarves, cowls, sweaters, well, pretty much, anything.
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Another benefit of this stitch pattern is that it is very easy to knit. Whether you use this stitch on a project worked back and forth, or the one worked in the round, there are only two simple rows or rounds to repeat.
Let’s see how we can knit fisherman’s rib step by step. We’ll also discuss the logic behind this stitch pattern. Once you understand how this stitch is formed, you will be able to knit it with your eyes closed.
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 to cast on method, the long-tail cast on works well in most cases.
ROW 1 (RIGHT SIDE)
The first stitch of every row is an edge stitch, so we start by slipping 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 ].
The first part of the pattern repeat is quite straightforward – knit 1 stitch.
The second part is not difficult either. First, we bring the yarn to the front of the work, over the needle and to the back to make a yarn over.
Then we insert the tip of the right needle from right to left into the first stitch on the left needle, and ease the left needle out slipping this stitch purlwise to the right needle.
We can make the second part of the pattern repeat even 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 edge stitch, and we are going to 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 repeat these simple steps until we get to the last stitch of the row.
The last stitch is the edge stitch, 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 instructions to the end of the round.
That’s how simple it is. Work these two rounds, and your project will get the rich texture of fisherman’s rib.
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 a compressed 1×1 ribbing on one side of the work, and a lot like brioche stitch on the other side.
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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.
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This and 41 other in-depth tutorials are part of Knitting Collection #6.
