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 rarely understand why something becomes a trend in crafting. Gnomes and geese are both cute I guess, but I never thought we’d be making them for all seasons. (See, for example, this collection of gnome knitting patterns, or these knit geese.)

Another one I don’t totally understand is sardines or little fish more generally. Sure, they’re cute, and the shape is fun, but I had no idea when I was sharing this pattern for a fish-shaped pouch last year that it would become a hugely popular pattern that people are still searching for on the site. It is pretty cute, though, so if you weren’t around then or don’t remember you should got check it out.

Recently another fishy knitting pattern crossed my monitor: the little knit fish from Classical Songbird Designs.

Just as the name suggests, these fish are little, about 4.5 inches or 11 cm from end to end. They look like little sardines and take about 12 yards of sock yarn to make.

You can even make a two-tone fish and use just 6 yards of each color.

This sounds to me like just about the perfect use for the yarn that’s left over after knitting a pair of socks, or a mini skein or several that have been sitting around unused in your stash.

The fish are knit flat in one piece, which makes it easy to stitch on the eyes with more yarn or embroidery floss before stuffing, and you can stitch up the sides while you stuff (though it’s not a very big piece so you could probably stitch and then stuff, finishing with the end of the tail).

Because I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one wondering, I measured an Altoids box and as the pattern is written the fish are a little too big to fit in it (the box is about 4 inches/10 cm long). But you could make the fish a little smaller if you want to make a box of them. Or just make a fishy bag to put them in!

You can grab the free pattern for the little knit fish at Classical Songbird Designs.

[Photo: Classical Songbird Designs.]

Have you read?