How to Seam Garter Stitch

Garter stitch is an unsung (by many people) workhorse of knitting. It’s so easy to knit and quite meditative, and I love the chunky texture of the waves of garter stitch ridges.

But just because it’s easy doesn’t mean everything about it is simple.

Take knitting in the round, for instance. When you knit every stitch of every row flat, you get garter stitch, but knit every stitch of every round in the round? Stockinette stitch.

To make garter stitch when knitting in the round, you have to knit a round and purl a round. Most knitters like to work in the round to avoid purling, so this isn’t a great option.

(It is possible, though. I did this on a big cowl I knit many years ago.)

In addition to the purling being annoying, it’s also not ideal because switching between knits and purls at the beginning of each round makes a jog, much like the jog you get when you change colors knitting in the round. This little blip almost looks like a seam.

So why not just knit a project flat and seam it? That eliminates the problem of having to purl, and at least theoretically your sewn seam could be less visible than the faux seam of a project worked in rounds.

I say theoretically because I feel like people don’t learn how to seam garter stitch as regularly as we teach mattress stitch. Maybe that has to do with people abandoning garter stitch as soon as they learn how to purl? I don’t know.

Seaming garter stitch seems like it might be more difficult, too, because you don’t have those neat little vs to work into. But it’s not difficult once you know what you need to do.

I broke it all down in this tutorial about how to seam garter stitch. Because I used multicolored yarn the seam is more visible than it would be in a solid color, but that lets you see exactly what’s happening. And once you know what you’re doing you’ll have unlocked a whole new world of options for knitting garter stitch.

Do you love garter stitch as much as I do or do you tend to avoid it? I’d love to hear your thoughts. And check out some garter stitch knitting patterns if you’re inspired to knit more garter stitch now.

I don’t often share knitting patterns for pets, mostly because I don’t think of it. I don’t have a dog, and I’ve never knit for my cats except a knit couch and a little cat bed I made on a knitting machine, both of which were pretty much ignored.

I have shared some pet bed knitting patterns, and both hats and sweaters for dogs.

But I don’t think I’ve shared a pattern for a cat sweater, until now.

This one is the Bunny sweater by Sarah Zhou, so named because her cat is named Bunny, of course.

It’s a made to measure pattern because cats come in all shapes and sizes, and you can also use any yarn you like and whatever gauge you are getting with that yarn.

The design is knit from the bottom up, that is, from the tail side up toward the head. Pairs of decreases shape the body as you work toward the armholes, which are made by binding off a few stitches. Then the belly and the back are worked flat, then joined and worked in the round for the chest part.

There are some design options in the pattern, from the look of the photos they include using a contrasting color for the edging, working a scalloped edging, maybe a foldover collar? But of course you can add your own embellishments, stripes, make it in team colors or for a Halloween costume. I’m sure they’re quick to knit so you can make a bunch if you have a cat who is willing to submit to such torture.

Bunny looks like a very good and mostly tolerant girl; I don’t think either of my cats would be willing to wear a sweater. But if you make one (the pattern is available on Ravelry) and successfully get your cat to wear it I would love to hear about it!

[Photo: Sarah Zhou]

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