garter stitch

how to work the knit and garter stitch

by La Visch Designs
How to work the knit and garter stitch

In this post, I’m going to show you how the knit and garter stitch is worked. The knit stitch is the basis of most knitting stitches and therefore often the first one beginning knitters start with. When knitting a flat piece in the knit stitch only, you get a fabric in what’s called “garter stitch”. Usually, a piece knit in garter stitch will be shorter and wider than the same amount of stitches and rows worked in other types of stitches. Garter stitch has a wonderful texture, is very squishy and elastic and best of all: it lies flat when knitted back and forth! Truly a wonderful stitch to have in you knitter’s tool box

In this post, I’ll show you how to work both the basic knit stitch and the ins and outs of garter stitch when worked back and forth (flat). Working garter stitch in the round also involves purling and will, therefore, be addressed in a different post.

Working the knit and garter stitch back and forth step by step

1. I’m starting with a number of stitches already cast on. What you see here, is done with the knitted on cast on.

How to work the knit and garter stitch - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

2. To start, take your second needle and insert the tip into the stitch with the needle under your main needle. Insert at an angle so your needles cross as pictured.

How to work the knit and garter stitch - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

3. Hold the crossed needles together, take the yarn connected to your ball and wrap it around the bottom needle. Begin by going around, and then over. Depending on your knitting style this can be done with either your left or your right hand. The end result is however always the yarn wrapped around the needle as pictured.

How to work the knit and garter stitch - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

4. Take the bottom needle and bring it back through the stitch pulling the yarn with it.

How to work the knit and garter stitch - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

5. Now slide of the original stitch you inserted your needle in (step 2) and tighten the yarn a bit. In the above picture, you see the original stitch on the right of the second needle. You have now knit a knit a stitch!

How to work the knit and garter stitch - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

6. Repeat steps 2-5 until you’ve worked all stitches on your main needle. The second needle which now has all the stitches on it looks something like this:

How to work the knit and garter stitch - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

7. Now switch the knitting needles around: the needle containing all the stitches becomes the main needle and the empty one becomes the second needle. I know I could also call them the left-hand and right-hand needles, but this could become confusing for those holding their needles differently.

How to work the knit and garter stitch - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

8. Make sure your yarn is behind the needle and again follow steps 2-5 until you’ve worked all stitches on your main needle. The second needle now again has all the stitches on it:

How to work the knit and garter stitch - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

9. When switching needles again, you can now see the characteristic ridges of garter stitch starting to emerge:

How to work the knit and garter stitch - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

10. When I’ve knitted a couple of more rows we have a small swatch of garter stitch fabric! And this is how to work the knit and garter stitch.

How to work the knit and garter stitch - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

Tips & tricks

  • Garter stitch comes out in ridges and each ridge is 2 rows. To know how many rows you’ve knit you can just count the ridges and then double the number.
  • Garter stitch looks the same on both right side (RS) and wrong side (WS) rows. There is, however, a trick to determine what side you are: Did you see in the picture with step 1 above where the yarn tail from casting on was? With the first row, I knit (which is usually called the RS) the yarn tail was on the bottom left. This means that every time I have my knitting on the main needle and the yarn tail is on the bottom left, I’m about to knit a RS row. You can of course also use a stitch marker or safety pin to see easily which side is what.
  • In this tutorial, I showed you how to work garter stitch by working knit stitches on every row. By purling every row, however, you also get garter stitch!
  • If you want to work in multiple colors, you should know that in garter stitch, if you switch colors on a right side row, there will be a line across the wrong side where you can see the loops of stitches connecting. This can, of course, be a design feature. If you don’t want this line visible, make sure to start the new color with the RS facing.

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toscane

Toscane

Toscane: a lovely chunky lace shawl, named after that gorgeous burned orange color so often found in the hills of Tuscany. This particular color was achieved by dyeing the Ístex Léttlopi yarn with madder. Dye your own with the tutorial or choose one of the many available colors. Toscane is a fast, top-down knit and bound to become a favorite!

Written and charted instructions are included for the lace body of the shawl.


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Difficulty level

This shawl is knit from the top down, starting with a garter tab cast-on. Stitches used include knit, purl, yo, k2tog, skp, double decreases, make 1 with a backward loop, as well as knitting through the back loop. This pattern is therefor suitable for the intermediate knitter.

Size and finished measurements

One size (easily adjusted): Wingspan of 177 cm (69 ½ inches) and a depth of 75 cm (29 ½ inches), measured after blocking.

Pattern details

  • Gauge is not critical in this design. For the sample shawl measured after blocking: 9.2 sts / 18.8 rows = 10 cm (4 inches) over lace pattern.
  • Pattern languages included: English and Dutch (Dit patroon omvat zowel een Nederlandse als een Engelse versie).
  • Digital PDF has 4 pages in the English version and 5 in the Dutch version (letter size).

Materials

  • 400 m (437 yds) Ístex Léttlopi (100% wool; 100 m (109 yds) / 50 g). Substitute any aran weight wool yarn for a similar result.
  • 5 mm (US 8) / 80 cm (32 inches) circular needles.
  • Yarn needle
  • 2 stitch markers to indicate the center stitch
  • 22 stitch markers (optional)

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elena half hap

Elena Half Hap a design by La Visch Designs

Worked in this lovely rustic yarn by Moeke Yarns, the Elena Half Hap makes for a wonderful cozy shawl. Perfect to wrap up in on a chilly day. Elena is made in the tradition of the shawls from the Shetland Isles, making for a very interesting construction.

Elena starts at one corner of the center triangle and increased until big enough. Stitches are then picked up along the edges and the stunning striped border is worked outwards. Finish the shawl with a gorgeous edging that is knitted on sideways and attached to the live stitches of the border as it is being worked.


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Size and finished measurements

Size S (L): Wingspan of 185 (215) cm (72 ¾ (84 ½) inches) and a depth of 91 (105) cm (35 ¼ (41 ¼) inches), measured after blocking. The shawl shown is in size L.

Difficulty

Stitches used include knit, skp, yo as well as various increases and decreases. Due to the lace patterning, combined with the applied border this pattern is suitable for the intermediate knitter.

Pattern details

  • The Elena Half Hap is worked flat back and forth.
  • Gauge is not critical in this design. For the sample shawl measured after blocking: 10.5 sts / 12.5 rows = 10 cm (4 inches) over body pattern in the center triangle. This is a relatively loose gauge for an airy fabric.
  • Pattern languages included: English and Dutch (Dit patroon omvat zowel een Nederlandse als een Engelse versie).
  • Digital PDF has 8 pages (letter size).

Materials

  • Yarn: Moeke Yarns Elena (100% wool; 330 m (361 yds) / 100 g) in the following colors and amounts:
    MC: 255 (290) m (278 (318) yds) / 77 (88) g in Natural
    C1: 241 (290) m (264 (318) yds) / 73 (88) g in Gray
    C2: 152 (244) m (166 (267) yds) / 46 (74) g in Coral
  • A circular needle size 4.5 mm (US 7), 80 cm (32 inches) long.
  • Yarn needle
  • 2 stitch markers to indicate the center stitch
  • 1 removable stitch marker to mark the RS (optional)

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cinematic

Cinematic by La Visch Designs

Cinematic is a simple but stylish triangular shawl knit sideways in garter stitch. With it’s generous size of 215 cm (84 ½ inches) along the upper edge and a depth of 52 cm (20 ½ inches) it is perfect to wear as an elegant scarf.

Eyelet rows and stripes in a contrast color, combined with a gradient yarn, make for a highly customizable accessory. Wear it with a shirt and jeans for a casual look or with that little back dress for a more dramatic look.


Pay what you want: (minimum €6.50)

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Size and finished measurements

Finished dimensions of the sample Cinematic shawl: 215 cm (84 ½ inches) along the upper edge and a depth of 52 cm (20 ½ inches), measured after blocking.

Difficulty

Stitches used include knit, purl, yo, k2tog and kfb. This pattern is suitable for the beginning to intermediate knitter.

Pattern details

  • Worked flat back and forth.
  • Gauge is not critical in this design but should be on the loose side. For the sample shawl measured after blocking: 16 sts / 34 rows = 10 cm (4 inches) in garter stitch.
  • Pattern languages included: English and Dutch (Dit patroon omvat zowel een Nederlandse als een Engelse versie).
  • Digital PDF has 2 pages for the English version and 3 pages for the Dutch version (A4 size).

Materials

  • Yarn: MC: 460 m (503 yds) / 100 g Uilenstad Swifter Sokkenwol [75% Wool, 25% polyamide] in “Sweet Pink”.  CC: 210 m (230 yds) / 50 g Sockenwolle Treviso [75% Wool, 25% polyamide] in gray. Substitute any fingering weight yarn in a gradient for the MC and any solid color for the CC for a similar result.
  • Size 4 mm (US 6) / 80 cm (32 inches) circular needles were used for the sample shawl.
  • Yarn needle

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