Fisherman's Rib

The last few knitted projects I have finished recently have all been in fisherman's rib.  I absolutely love the texture, and the effect when alternating stripes of two different random yarns is very pleasing.  It keeps me enthralled until well after midnight, and with two nieces having babies within a few weeks of each other this spring, I have been churning out little cardigans at a rate of knots.

I shall soon be ready to post instructions for the cardigan, but before doing so, here are the instructions for the stitch.  There is more than one method, but this is the method I prefer.

The first picture shows the back of the work.  Essentially, it is knit one purl one rib, but with a slight difference.  There is nothing unusual about the purl stitches.

However, for the knit stitches, the needle is not only put through the stitch, but also the yarn that was carried over the needle on the previous row.

On the next row, the knit stitches are worked in the normal way, and the yarn brought forward as if ready to work the next stitch as a purl.

The stitch is not actually worked, it is just slipped from the left to the right hand needle.

Then the next knit stitch is worked.  Because the yarn has been left at the front of the work, it has to be carried over the needle, and over the slipped purl stitch, to go round the back to make the knit stitch.  This row is very quick to knit, because half the stitches aren't being worked, just slipped.

If you have never tried this stitch before, knit a little sample square.  It is really quite easy.