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!

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Sometimes I feel like knitters get intimidated to try new things because they think they need to start with a big project. Your first time working in the round doesn’t need to be a sock, and your first colorwork doesn’t need to be a sweater, for example. You can find little projects that use the skills you want to learn to build your confidence before you move on to something that requires more time commitment.

This adorable knit bunny, for example.

The colorwork bunny from Knit Picks was designed by Amy Munson and is a kind of bowling pin shaped bunny complete with a knit hat, contrasting inner ears and a little stranded colorwork on its body. Note that the ears are attached the the hat not the bunny, but you could stitch them to the bunny if you’d rather.

It’s worked from the bottom up and also has a tiny pompom tail you can’t see in the picture but it’s a really cute touch. There are a variety of little fair isle patterns to choose from to make the best bunny for you.

The bunny comes out about 8 inches tall (or just over 20 cm) and use several colors to complete the colorwork, depending on the design you choose.

You can purchase the pattern by itself from Knit Picks, or make a kit that includes sport weight yarn in all the colors you need for your creation. There are gray and brown options for the main body of the bunny, but of course if you’re using your own yarn you can make it whatever color you like.

Once you’ve tried colorwork (maybe also working in the round and shaping if those are skills you haven’t used before) in a little project like this you’ll be ready to take on something bigger in no time.

Check out the pattern on Knit Picks.

[Photo: Knit Picks]

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