rick-rack

tutorial: knit rick rack rib in the round

Knit rick rack rib in the round - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

I’ve written it before in this tutorial on how to knit the rick rack rib flat: sometimes a less boring finishing of a project than plain old 2×2 rib is just what the doctor ordered. In this post, I’m going to show you how to knit rick rack rib in the round.

As with the flat worked version of this stitch, the characteristic zig-zag texture is obtained by the knitting the stitches in a different order than they appear on the needle. Rick rack rib worked in the round is knitted as a multiple of 3 stitches.  The main difference with the flat worked version is, of course, that there are no WS rows when working the round.

In short, the instructions for this stitch worked in the round consist of the following 2 rounds:

Round 1: *Purl 1, skip the first stitch, knit in the back loop of the second stitch (do not slip this stitch off the needle), knit into the front loop of the first stitch and now slip both knitted stitches of the needle; repeat from * to end of the round.

Round 2: *Purl 1, skip the first stitch, knit in the front loop of the second stitch (do not slip this stitch off the needle), knit into the front loop of the first stitch and now slip both knitted stitches from the needle; repeat from * to end of the round.

Repeat rounds 1 and 2 to the desired height.

How to knit rick rack rib in the round step by step

Round 1
1. Purl 1 stitch.

Rick rack rib in the round - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

2. Skip the first stitch and insert your needle int the second stitch on the needle in the back loop.

Rick rack rib in the round - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

3. Wrap the yarn around the needle as usual…

Rick rack rib in the round - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

4. … and pull through to complete knitting this stitch. Do not slip this stitch off the left-hand needle just yet!

Rick rack rib in the round - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

5. Knit into the front loop of the first stitch that you skipped in step 2.

Rick rack rib in the round - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

6. Then slip both knitted stitches from the needle. Do you see how the 2 stitches combined slant to the left?

Rick rack rib in the round - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

7. Repeat steps 1 to 6 the end of the round.

Round 2
8. Purl 1 stitch.

Rick rack rib in the round - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

9. Skip the first stitch and insert the needle as if to knit in the second stitch on the left-hand needle. This can be a tad fiddly!

Rick rack rib in the round - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

10. Twist the right-hand needle so that is behind the left-hand needle and wrap the yarn around.

Rick rack rib in the round - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

11. Next pull the yarn through, but do not slip this stitch off the needle just yet!

Rick rack rib in the round - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

12. Knit the first stitch that you skipped in step 9….

Rick rack rib in the round - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

13. ….then slip both knitted stitches from the needle. The 2 knitted stitches combined in this round produce a right-slanting result!

Rick rack rib in the round - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

14. Repeat steps 8 to 13 to the end of the round. And this is how to knit rick rack rib in the round!

On the outside of the work, it will look something like this:

Rick rack rib in the round - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

In case your project ends with rick-rack rib, you can bind-off after row 2 by binding off in purl 1, knit 2 pattern.

tutorial: knit rick rack rib in the round Read More »

tutorial: knitting rick-rack rib

Knitting rick-rack rib a tutorial by La Visch Designs

To finish a sweater, ribbing is obviously the preferred choice: its fabric does not roll and it gives quite an elastic finishing. Sometimes, however, I find knitting yet another 2×2 rib or variant thereof just so… boring. For giving your project that tiny bit of “je ne se quoi” instead of regular ribbing, try the rick-rack rib.

The nice zig-zag texture that is so characteristic of this stitch is obtained by the knitting the stitches in a different order than they appear on the needle. In this post, I’ll show you how to knit this variation on regular ribbing when knitting it flat. Pointers on how to knit this stitch in the round can be found in this tutorial.

Rick-rack rib worked flat is knitted as a multiple of 3 + 1 stitches. For this example, I have cast on 19 stitches.

In short, the instructions for this stitch worked flat consist of the following 2 rows:

Row 1 (RS): Purl 1, *skip the first stitch, knit in the back loop of the second stitch (do not slip this stitch off the needle), knit into the front loop of the first stitch and now slip both knitted stitches of the needle, purl 1; repeat from * to end of the row.

Row 2 (WS): Knit 1, *skip the first stitch, purl the second stitch (do not slip stitch of the needle), purl the first stitch and now slip both knitted stitches from the needle, knit 1; repeat from * to end of the row.

Repeat rows 1 and 2 to the desired height.

Knitting rick-rack rib flat step by step

Row 1
1. Purl 1 stitch.

Knitting rick-rack rib a tutorial by La Visch Designs

2. Skip the first stitch and knit the second stitch on the needle in the back loop. Do not slip this stitch off the left-hand needle just yet!

Knitting rick-rack rib a tutorial by La Visch Designs

3. Knit into the front loop of the first stitch that you skipped in step 2. Then slip both knitted stitches from the needle.

Knitting rick-rack rib a tutorial by La Visch Designs

4. Purl 1 stitch.

Knitting rick-rack rib a tutorial by La Visch Designs

5. Repeat steps 2 to 5 to the end of the needle.

Row 2
6. Knit 1 stitch.

Knitting rick-rack rib a tutorial by La Visch Designs

7. Skip the first stitch and purl the second stitch on the left-hand needle. Do not slip this stitch off the needle just yet!

Knitting rick-rack rib a tutorial by La Visch Designs

8. Purl the first stitch that you skipped in step 7. Then slip both knitted stitches from the needle.

Knitting rick-rack rib a tutorial by La Visch Designs

9. Knit 1 stitch.

Knitting rick-rack rib a tutorial by La Visch Designs

10. Repeat steps 7 to 9 to the end of the row.

On the right side of the work, it will look something like this:

Knitting rick-rack rib a tutorial by La Visch Designs

And this is how it looks on the back:

Knitting rick-rack rib a tutorial by La Visch Designs

In case your project ends with rick-rack rib, you can bind-off after row 2 by binding off in purl 1, knit 2 pattern.

tutorial: knitting rick-rack rib Read More »