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:

Recently I shared a collection of Easter egg knitting patterns, and as we all know chicks are what comes out of eggs, so it’s only right to share some chick knitting patterns too. Chicks are perfect for spring decor even when it’s not Easter time, and they are so cute and fun to knit, too.

This fluffy chick from Sincerely Louise can also be worked in less fuzzy yarn if you’d rather. It’s worked flat and seamed so it’s a good one for newer knitters who might not be comfortable working little projects in the round. You can grab the pattern on Etsy.

This little chick from Fluff and Fuzz on Etsy looks like it’s still wearing part of its shell! There’s also an option without the white details, and you can knit these little hats as well. They’re worked in DK weight yarn. (She also has a super cute tiny egg shaped chick in a half shell that’s a free pattern on Ravelry.)

If you want ta chick that’s even more in an egg, this egg-shaped chick from Purl Soho may be what you’re looking for. It’s worked in super fine yarn so you can make a bunch of chicks with a skein or two of yarn, or use leftovers to change up the colors.

Alan Dart has a cute pattern that includes two halves of a broken egg and a chick that fits inside. It calls for DK weight yarn.

The spring chick pattern from Barbara Prime is a sweet little bird shape that you could make as other birds worked in different colors. The pattern doesn’t specify yarn weight, so use whatever yellow (or other color you like) yarn you have on hand to make birds of different sizes.

Make a cute, fuzzy, felted chick with the Chick Wobblers pattern from Cindy Pilon (available on Ravelry). These little chicks come in two sizes and have an “internal wobbler” so when you try to tip them over they wobble back up.

Check out this White fluffy Easter Chick knitting pattern over on our Sister site Craftbits.com Fluffy Easter Chick Knitting Pattern.

Next Pattern:

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