Knitting

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Fun with Garter Stitch

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wacing fingers wildflower knitsWhen we’re new knitters, the first thing most of us do is knit something made with garter stitch. And we usually pretty quickly abandon “knit every stitch of every row” because, frankly, it can be kind of boring. But there are reasons to keep coming back to humble garter stitch: it’s fast, it has built-in texture, it doesn’t curl and you can do things to spice it up should you want to.

I happen to be working on a scarf right now (a rare non-book bit of knitting, for a good reason that I’ll share probably later this week) that I’m working in garter stitch with a row of elongated stitches every few rows to make the yarn go further, make the scarf a bit less stifling and to add interest in the knitting and the wearing.

I also just came across this cute Waving Fingers Scarf from Wildflower Knits, which uses regular cast ons and bind offs to make “fingers” of fringe along one edge of the scarf. The sample was worked in Plymouth Kudo (another self-striping beauty), but any self-striping yarn you like (including Noro!) would make quick and beautiful work of this easy scarf.

How do you feel about garter stitch? Spill it!

[Photo by Wildflower Knits.]

Comments

  1. Hi Sarah!
    Just wanted to add that this is a great project for beginners because they get lots of practice casting on and binding off! Thanks for posting!
    Kennita

  3. There is so much to recommend about garter stitch – in addition to the list of positives you’ve already written I would add that garter stitch projects are fabulous for when you just want some “stitch therapy”. I just love pieces with big runs of knit stitch – time to zen out (zone out) and sort through the day.

Have you read?

Knit a Log Cabin Blanket with All Your Scraps

I guess I must have had this pattern on my mind, because I had chosen this log cabin blanket recipe to write about, promptly forgot about it and a couple of weeks later started knitting a log cabin blanket using all my pink yarn. 

It might stay pink if it makes it to baby blanket sized, or I might add in some pastel green and blue, too, to make a bigger blanket. We’ll see. I’m also holding several strands of yarn together to make a kind of bulky yarn, which means it’s deeply satisfying how much yarn is used even as the project is still relatively small. 

In Kristen Finlay’s version, DK weight yarn scraps (or fingering/sock yarn held double) are used to make a simple scrappy log cabin blanket that’s lighter weight than my version. Log cabin is a great technique for knitters of any skill level because it’s worked in garter stitch. The only not completely basic technique you need for log cabin knitting is picking up stitches. 

If you’ve never worked a log cabin knitting project before, this is a good introduction, and it is really nice to use all your yarn scraps in one big project you’ll use for years to come. 

If you use a lot of DK weight yarn you can keep building on it whenever you finish a project, or if you use more worsted weight you can do the same thing with it, it will just be a little bigger starting out than the pattern calls for. How big it gets is totally up to you. 

I have really been enjoying working on my log cabin project, and it’s my current sitting at my desk and need a break knit (do you have one of those or is it just me?). 

Ready to start your own log cabin blanket knitting project? You can grab the free pattern from Kristen Finlay on Ravelry. 

Need more log cabin inspiration? Check out more log cabin knitting patterns. 

[Photo: Kristen Finlay]