How to Knit Fisherman’s Rib

Back in 2021 I knit a fisherman’s rib scarf for my daughter’s teacher, and the post about it was one of the most popular on my blog last year.

So I’ve been thinking about fisherman’s rib in order to share more content about it, and I thought I would share some of my findings with you.

First, fisherman’s rib is worked by knitting into the row below. What this does is it pulls the yarn from that stitch up as you work it, making the stitches extra thick and squishy. It’s different from brioche, though it looks similar, but the texture of brioche comes from yarn overs worked together with stitches to give them more heft.

If you need help learning the technique, there’s a great video from Heidi at Hands Occupied on YouTube you can check out.

Fisherman’s rib, like other ribbing stitches, is non-curling and made my alternating knits and purls. It’s worked on an odd number of stitches when worked flat or an even number when worked in the round. It’s super stretchy horizontally so you’ll want to use a stretchy cast on and bind off so that the stitch can stretch as much as it wants to (especially if you are using it for cuffs, the leg of a sock or a hat band).

The trickiest part when it comes to knitting fisherman’s rib is increasing or decreasing in the stitch, as you would want to do if you were finishing the top of a hat. Some patterns switch from fisherman’s rib to regular ribbing when shaping needs to take place (you can also do decreases on a larger needle so the stitches are still somewhat large compared to regular ribbing). This is shown in this hat pattern from Work 4 Idle Hands, for example.

I found a video from Garn Studio showing how to work multiple stitches into one knit stitch for Fisherman’s Rib, which could be a good option if you’re working a hat from the top down, for example. Their method involves working a yarn over and going into the same stitch again, which gives you the knit and purl stitches for the next row.

I’ve definitely going to experiment with shaping in Fisherman’s Rib and would love to hear if you have a technique you use for it!

Next Pattern:

Chicks don’t necessarily have anything to do with Easter, but they are a popular motif this time of year. I’ve shared some chick knitting patterns before, but it seems like time to share some more.

I love this little bitty fuzzy chick from Gray Bear Akswokrat on Etsy. It’s worked flat and the pattern includes photos to help with assembly.

This funny chick has a flower on its head, but you could use a different embellishment or just leave it off if you don’t like it. This pattern is from Midaami292, and it is also worked flat and uses four colors of yarn. The yarn used on the sample is DK weight and makes a chick that’s 26 cm, or a little more than 10 inches tall.

Fluff and Fuzz has another adorable chick pattern, this time adorned with a little hat and scarf, perfect for those places where it’s still chilly at Easter time. This one calls for DK weight yarn in four colors and uses straight knitting needles for working flat. The chick comes out to 20 cm tall including the hat (that’s about 7.8 inches).

Chicks make a great shape to cover a chocolate orange, and you can find three different chick chocolate orange covers in this pattern from Carol Connelly (available on Ravelry). You can knit up a chick that’s still hatching from the egg, a round one with feet and a fuzzy full bodied chick. They use DK weight yarn and are worked flat from the bottom up.

Frugal Knitting Haus has this adorable mama hen washcloth with scrubby chicks that you can buy on Ravelry or their website. It uses regular worsted weight kitchen cotton yarn for the hen and a scrubby yarn for the chicks.

Maybe my favorite of all, though, is Jan the little chick purse, a pattern on Ravelry from Cristina Tonarelli. It’s exactly what it sounds like: a little purse made with a coin purse clasp in the shape of a chick. It uses worsted weight yarn and the instructions are made for working in the round, but it includes instructions for working flat as well.

Check Out This Sweet Easter Chick Basket

Eggs, Cozies and Chicks to Knit for Easter

Fun Easter Knitting Patterns

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