Ribbing is one of the most versatile stitch patterns in knitting. It is stretchy, it looks nice on both sides of the work and it doesn’t curl. The downside is – ribbing is very sensitive to tension. If our knitting tension is not perfect, ribbing instantly gives us away.
Another property of ribbing that often causes issues is its elasticity. It is a must for sock cuffs and brims of close-fitting hats, but it might stretch too much and get out of shape on button bands, sweater cuffs, and even scarves.
There is an easy way to deal with both issues by making a slight change in the way we form “knit 1 purl 1” rib.
In this tutorial, we’ll see how we can make ribbing tighter and neater when we knit back and forth and when we work in the round.
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TIGHTER AND NEATER 1X1 RIB KNITTED BACK AND FORTH
Just like the classic “knit 1 purl 1” ribbing, the “tighter” 1×1 rib is formed over an even number of stitches. Because the pattern repeat includes slipped stitches, it is better to add selvedges to each side of the project.
You can use any type of selvedge stitches you like. In my swatch, I will use the “slip-stitch selvedge” method described on page 10 of the “Neat Side Edges” book.
This type of edging is formed by one stitch at each side of the fabric. That’s why I added two stitches to the eight stitches I cast on for the swatch.
If you use a type of edging that is formed by two or more stitches at each side edge, cast on additional four or more stitches.
ROW 1 – RIGHT SIDE OF THE WORK
This row is the same as the pattern row we work when we knit the classic 1×1 ribbing. The only difference is the selvedge stitches at each side of the fabric. To make slip-stitch selvedges, we’ll slip the first stitch and purl the last stitch of every row.
Here’s how the right side row is knitted:
Slip 1 stitch purlwise with the yarn at the back of the work (this is our first selvedge).
Knit 1 stitch and purl the next one.
Repeat the sequence of “knit 1, purl 1” until you get to the last stitch of the row.
The last stitch is the other selvedge. Purl it.
ROW 2 – WRONG SIDE OF THE WORK
In this row, we’ll knit the knits and slip the purls with the yarn at the front of the work. But, of course, we start with the selvedge stitch.
Slip the first stitch purlwise with the yarn at the back of the work.
Knit 1 stitch.
Slip 1 stitch purlwise with the yarn at the front of the work.
Continue to knit the stitches that look like knits and slip the stitches that look like purls until you get to the last stitch of the row.
Purl the last stitch.
As you repeat these two rows, you will see that slipping every other stitch on the wrong side of the work makes the ribbing tighter and keeps it from stretching out. At the same time, the purl stitches we slip in the second row turn into gorgeous elongated knits on the right side of the work.
This type of ribbing does not look exactly the same on both sides of the work. It looks very much like a tighter version of the classic 1×1 rib on the wrong side of the fabric, and it shows off beautiful chains of elongated knits on the right side.
If you only want to reduce the elasticity of the ribbing without changing its look, work row 2 as your right-side row to show the “classic-ribbing-looking” texture on the right side of your project .
But if you also want to make the ribbing in your project neater, work row 2 as the wrong-side row to bring the lovely elongated knits to the right side of the fabric.
TIGHTER AND NEATER 1X1 RIB WORKED IN THE ROUND
Because circular fabric does not have side edges, there is no need to worry about selvedge stitches. We simply cast on an even number of stitches and arrange them on the needles using any kind of setup that allows us to work in the round.
As you see from the photo, I’ll make my swatch using one long circular needle and the magic loop method.
ROUND 1
The first round is very similar to the Row 1 of working this type of ribbing back and forth, but this time we don’t have any selvedge stitches.
Knit 1 stitch, then purl 1 stitch.
Repeat this sequence to the end of the round.
ROUND 2
In this round, we’ll slip every other stitch, but unlike the instructions for Row 2 of the fabric worked back and forth, we’ll purl the purls and slip the knits with the yarn at the back of the work.
Because the first stitch from the tip of the left needle is a knit, we start by slipping it purlwise with the yarn at the back.
The next stitch looks like a purl, so we purl it.
Repeat this sequence to the end of the round.
As you work these two rounds on and on and on, you will see that the knit stitches on the right side of the work arrange into neat lines while the wrong side looks a lot like the classic 1×1 ribbing.
Now you have a choice – a classic ribbing for the parts of your projects that need to be extra stretchy, or the “tighter and neater 1×1 rib” method for button bands, sweater cuffs, scarves and other areas that benefit from the ribbed texture but with a neater look and without an excessive stretch.
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This and 41 other in-depth tutorials are part of Knitting Collection #6.
