Garter stitch is wonderfully squishy and reversible, but when worked in the round it comes with a small challenge. Because circular knitting is actually worked as a continuous spiral, the beginning and end of each round don’t meet at exactly the same height. This creates a visible “jog” where the knit and purl rounds join. Depending on your yarn and project, this jog may hardly be noticeable, or it may stand out quite clearly. Smooth yarns, solid colors and simple stitch patterns often make it more obvious.
There are several ways to try and make the transition to a new round as jog-less as possible. The lifted strand and p2tog method described in this tutorial, I found on the website of Susanna Winter (Talvi Knits). With this method, a strand of yarn between two stitches is lifted and worked together with the final stitch of the purl round. This creates a much smoother transition between rounds without changing your stitch count. Let’s take a look at how it’s done!
Materials used
Yarn: Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color Vintage Pink.
Knitting needles: I knit the swatch with tiny circular needles, but transferred it to this is a pair of straights for some of the pictures. I picked these up at the second-hand store when I started knitting, brand unknown.
A note before we start
Before we begin, garter stitch in the round is worked as follows:
Round 1: Knit all stitches.
Round 2: Purl all stitches.
In the swatch you see below, I’ve worked 10 rounds in garter stitch without doing anything to smooth the transition. Do you see how the garter stitches ridges on the left and right of the marker do not line up?
Knitting jog-less garter stitch in the round: lifted strand & p2tog method step by step
The modification on making the transition jog-less with the lifted strand and p2tog method is only worked at the very end of every purl round.
- Knit a round, then purl across the entire round until only one stitch remains before the beginning-of-round marker.
- Move the working yarn to the back of the work….
- …. then slip the final stitch purl-wise to the right-hand needle with the working yarn held at the back of the work.
Do not move the beginning-of-round marker yet!
- Locate the horizontal strand running between the slipped stitch and the first stitch of the next round. Insert the right-hand needle from front to back underneath this strand, in the same direction used when working a right-leaning lifted increase (M1R). Lift the strand onto the left-hand needle.
- Slip the last stitch back onto the left-hand needle.
You should now have the lifted strand, and the slipped stitch next to each other on the left-hand needle.
- Move the working yarn back to the front of the work again, and purl the lifted strand together with the slipped stitch (p2tog). Pulling the yarn just a little firmer than usual helps keep the join tidy without creating puckering.
- Work steps 1-6 for every 2 rounds that you work in garter stitch.
The result
After several garter ridges have been worked, the beginning of the round blends much more smoothly into the surrounding fabric. Instead of a sharp step between rounds, the transition becomes gently angled and far less noticeable. Like many jog-less techniques, this method is a visual improvement rather than a completely invisible join. Below, you can see a comparison between doing nothing to smooth the transition (the bottom 5 ridges) and using the lifted strand & p2tog method (the upper 5 ridges).
Thanks to my Patreon supporters for bringing you this freebie! Creating quality patterns and tutorials is a lot of work and resource-intensive. However, I find it important to give you free content like this tutorial. Thanks to the generous support of my Patreon supporters, I can make it happen. Thank you, patrons! Click here to join, or click here to read more about La Visch Designs on Patreon.
