Knit Stitches: 66 Recommended Stitch Patterns & Knitting Videos

Learning different knitting stitches is such fun! As a beginner you start with the basic knit and purl stitches. Then you can advance to all sorts of interesting and beautiful knit stitches. Here are some of the most popular knit stitch patterns and how to do them. Happy Knitting!

Knit Stitch Summary: 66 Different Types of Knitting Stitches

Here are the stitches in the stitch knitting library in alphabetical order. Click on the links to see a description of what they’re good for, and a tutorial.

While there’s over 350 stitches to choose from, we’ve selected the best.⁽²⁾

Basic Knitting Stitches

• Garter
• Knit
• Purl
• Seed
• Stockinette
• Reverse Stockinette

Intermediate Knitting Stitches

• Andalusian
• Bamboo
• Basketweave
• Bobble
• Diamond Honeycomb
• Diagonal Seed
• Double Moss
• Easy Lace Stitch
• Flag
• Granite
• Honeycomb
• Irish Moss
• Large Stacked Triangle
• Linen
• Little Granite
• Netted
• Seersucker
• Tiles Stitch
• Tile Squares
• Waffle
• Wide Basket Weave

Advanced Knitting Stitches

• Basket Loop
• Bubble
• Butterfly
• Caterpillar
• Chevron Seed
• Chinese Wave
• Cross
• Cut Diagonal
• Daisy
• Diamond Brocade
• Diagonal Chevron Zigzag
• Double Fleck
• Embossed Leaf
• Flower
• Hurdle
• Lattice Seed
• Little Raindrops
• Long Raindrops
• Mesh
• Ornamental Daisy
• Parallelogram
• Pennant Pleating
• Pique Triangle
• Quilt
• Raspberry
• Rope
• Sea Foam Wave
• Spring Bobble
• Star
• Tassel
• Tumbling Moss
• Wide Chevron Zig Zag
• Window
• Zig Zag

I reviewed, fact checked and updated this post on Sept 25, 2024.

What Are The Basic Stitches & Stitch Patterns In Knitting?

The most basic stitches in knitting are the knit and purl stitch. There’s evidence to show former has been around since the 5th Century!⁽¹⁾

These two main stitches in knitting are essential for beginners to learn. The more you repeat doing knit and purl stitches, the more confident you’ll become.

Here are some of the most common knit & purl patterns. Each with video tutorials, or detailed information in the example with written instructions in the stitch pattern guide.

Do you have an interest in practicing these options in a small size swatch piece? I recommend using a size US 7 wood or plastic knitting needles and some kind of worsted weight basic knitting yarn like acrylic, wool, or cotton.

I’ve used swatches that I practiced knitting textured stitches, to create a lap blanket. It was so much fun to do and although the pieces weren’t the same size, it turned out ok.

Use a bright colored yarn, so you can see the stitches. Darker colors are difficult to see.) Use affordable yarn brands with options at a lower price, as they’re good for practicing.

Try a brand shop like Knit Picks. Many of their products (like thread and yarn) and tools in various sizes are affordable, and rated five stars. Sometimes yarns are on sale, and they offer free shipping. You need an account to purchase from them. Always test your gauge to save you more hassle.

Some stitch methods have different characteristics when you knit in the round. For example to create stockinette stitch in the round you only have to knit all rounds, not alternate with a purl row.

There are also other groups of knitting stitch patterns, like eyelet knitting stitches, brioche knitting stitches, rib knitting stitches (the rib stitch), broken rib stitch – (the broken rib doesn’t have the same amount of horizontal stretch as regular rib), purl rib stitch, 1 rib stitch, 2 rib stitch, twisted rib stitches, rib stitches are used for cuffs and neck band. There are cable twisted stitches, and cable knitting stitches.

Note: There are also loom/machine (tuck) stitches, but they’re not covered in this post’s content. This talks about hand knitting. It’s also difficult to recreate these stitches in crochet.

Garter Stitch – Excellent For Beginners

Garter stitch is the most common of the different knitting stitches out there, and the one you should learn first. The knit garter stitch is the foundation of all other ones.

It’s not just for beginners, as more advanced people love this stitch type for simple garments. It’s a knitter’s favorite! Garter stitch is used in techniques and designs for childrens’ and baby clothes, cowls, mittens, beanies, home decor, and cardigans.

It’s easy because it returns the same result with any number of stitches. Great for a beginner! (Start the row with a loose slip stitch for neater edges.) The name of these knit stitch patterns comes from the stretchy, elastic bands used to hold up stockings. Creates a stretchy textured fabric.

• Method – Use k1 for every row.
• Abbreviation – g st
• AKA – Plain Stitch

Here’s my free knitting video tutorial.

Seed Stitch: Combination of Knit Purl

These knit stitch patterns are combinations of alternating knit purl stitches to create an interesting texture. One row is k1, p1 and the other row is p1, kl and this is simply repeated. Looks lovely as part of dishcloths designs, interesting jackets.

You can cast on even number of stitches or an odd number of stitches. It doesn’t matter. Good for a gift too! AKA – Sand Stitch, Dot Stitch. In my swatch above, I use a garter stich border for the sides.

Stockinette Stitch

Another basic one, this is probably the most recognizable. “Knit” is on the right side of the fabric and “purl” is on the wrong side of the fabric. (The knit ones look like a v when you work them.) Remember the edges curl.

Using two stitches, it’s often used as a background for complex designs, colorwork items, or motifs. Simple hats are quick to knit up using stockinette stitch, particularly when knitting in the round.

• Method For The Stockinette Stitch knitted flat (not in the round)
• Knit one row, purl the next row, repeat until you reach your desired length.
• Abbreviation – St st
• AKA – Stocking stitch

Reverse Stockinette Stitch -Using Knit & Purl

This is the same as stockinette, but the pattern is made in the reverse order. You get the purl stitches on the right side and the knit stitches on the other. It’d make lovely things like a top or cowl. I created a cowl in mohair/silk yarn pictured above using the reverse stockinette stitch. It’s like wearing a cloud around your neck!

• Method – Purl one row (the first row), knit the second row, continue until you reach your desired length.
• Abbreviation – Rev St st
• AKA – Reverse Stocking Stitch

Knit – Intermediate Knitting Stitches

Now for the rest of the stitches. Again, they’re organized by category and in alphabetical order to make it easier for you to find a stitch pattern to try.

Andalusian Knitting Stitch

These have a vintage twist on the classic stockinette. It’s named after a region in Southern Spain.

Bamboo Stitch Pattern

I made a beautiful infinity scarf for a Japanese friend using this pattern. It creates a thick and cozy fabric. Some designers use this for a fisherman’s sweater or cardigan.

An elegant stitch pattern resembling bamboo stalks uses slipped stitches and yarn overs. This stitch uses a lot of yarn, and looks lovely with garter hems.

Basketweave Stitch

A unique stitch creating a woven look without being super complicated. Again, the basketweave stitch is a combination of knit stitches and purl stitches.

Bobble Stitch

A lovely, if slightly complicated raised stitch pattern! A great way to bring life to simple projects. (AKA: Bubble stitch.)

Diamond Honeycomb Stitch

A beautiful diamond-shaped pattern using slipped stitches to create a look reminiscent of honeycomb. Create lovely pieces of work for your family or friends with knitted diamonds.

Diagonal Seed Stitch

A textured variant of the seed stitch. Each lot of slanting rows on the material are pleasing to the eye.

Double Moss Stitch

A variant of the seed stitch, the Double Moss stitch is a textured and durable pattern is perfect for garments like hats and face cloths.

Easy Two Row Repeat Lace Stitch

This is a great beginner lace knit stitch pattern. It gives you practice with yarn overs on both a knit row and purl row. A great introduction to lace knitting stitches. Thanks to So Wooly,

Flag Stitch

A triangle pattern using a variant of stockinette to create the little flag shapes. This version would make an excellent motif.

Granite Stitch

A textured stitch resembling little interlocking chains of boulders.

Honeycomb Stitch

This brioche-inspired pattern takes its name from its similarity to beehives.

Irish Moss Stitch

Often confused with seed stitch, the moss stitch knit stitch patterns are equally beautiful, but a different pattern entirely. Follow the tutorial with step-by-step instructions. Makes a lovely design for washcloths.

Large Stacked Triangle Stitch 

This simple-looking and beautiful pattern is a bit difficult, but it’s worth it for the lovely results. It produces what looks like alternating large triangles. These fabrics are great for pillows, a baby blanket, and bags. (The structure is a little fiddly because of all the decreases and increases.)

Linen Stitch

A simple knitting pattern producing an appearance reminiscent of linen fabric, hence its name the linen stitch. Adds some lovely sophistication to any method.

Little Granite Stitch

A great way to make an intricate design with a few stitches. It creates the impression of small bumps (granites) in horizontal bars on the body of the fabric.

Netted Stitch: More Open

An interesting texture created with a variety of purl stitch patterns, knitting stitches together, and yarnovers. This makes an open lattice-style fabric resembling lace or cobwebs.

Seersucker Stitch

It creates rows of raised diamond shapes bordered by stockinette sections. This 8-Row repeat pattern looks complicated but is a simple combination of knits and purls.

Tiles Stitch

This repeating pattern alternates knitting and purling. I recommended it for big knitting projects such as blankets, sweaters, shawls, or throws.

Tile Squares Stitch

It’s nearly identical to the previous stitch. Still, it creates a tiled pattern of squares with a divider of garter every few sections.

Waffle Stitch

A lovely textured pattern resembling the surface of a waffle, hence the name! It would be great for a sweater.

Wide Basket Weave Stitch

This stitch is similar to the classic basket weave. The alternating “weave” knitting patterns are much wider than usual.

Knit – Advanced Knitting Stitches

Want to level up your skills and become a pro? Try these series of stitches! Though they may be difficult at first, the trick is patience and lots of practice.

Basket Loop Stitch

A unique spin on the classic basket weave. Instead of straight lines ‘woven’, the vertical ones are straight, and the horizontal ones are curved.

Bubble Stitch

A lovely, playful pattern with a 3D texture.

Butterfly Stitch

A slightly complicated pattern repeat involving slipped stitch to create the look of pretty butterflies fluttering across the fabric!

Caterpillar Stitch

This textured pattern gets its name from the resemblance of a caterpillar. It uses lines of garter interspersed between stockinette stitches. The lines look a bit like ruffles or waves on the fabric.

Chevron Seed Stitch

This stitch produces a wavy pattern like zigzags or raised seeds. It’s called chevron seed because it’s similar in appearance to seed stitching.

Chinese Wave Stitch

A pretty wavy pattern resembling waves of water. The mesh design would make a great produce bag for shopping!

Cross Stitch

Want to create something knitted that looks like it’s woven? Try using this technique to make a woven knitted fabric.

Cut Diagonal Stitch

This produces diagonal ribbing lines from one side of the fabric to another in alternating directions, and it’s reversible too! Increase the number of cast on stitches to make a larger swatch.

Daisy Stitches

A pretty, flower-inspired design perfect for springtime knits! Great for beginners looking to try something a little more challenging. A lovely textured stitch pattern take a look at this tutorial.

Diamond Brocade Stitch

A lovely repeating diamond pattern bordered by a beaded rib stitch look.

Diagonal Chevron Zigzag Stitch

The diagonal zigzag stitch is a combination of knit and purl stitches. An inventive pattern for socks or afghans! Advanced beginners will love doing this.

It produces unusual alternating diagonal lines from one edge of the fabric that’s wavy in appearance.

Double Fleck Stitch

This produces a feature of small alternating rectangular knitting patterns in a checkerboard fashion. A simple-looking but timeless texture.

Embossed Leaf Stitch

This is a unique, textured pattern. It produces an amount of small, raised bumps resembling the surface of leaves. Here’s a tutorial.

Flower Stitch

Spruce up a simple stockinette pattern with flower motifs!

Garter Checkerboard Stitch

A unique pattern alternating stockinette and garter stitch. This is one of several variations of the classic basic stitch. The result is a checkerboard-like fabric with raised bumps. I love how it plays with textures and shape. Flat ridges in the middle. It’s reversible too!

Fancy Diamond Stitch

A pretty, raised diamond pattern. It looks like a complex design but is great for intermediate knitters. Here is an excellent tutorial.

Herringbone Stitch

This pattern is similar to the basket stitch, but it produces raised lines resembling small alternating diagonal flecks. It’s popular for garments, home décor, and blankets.

Hurdle Stitch

This stitch produces raised vertical lines and flat ridges in between, hence the name hurdle.

Lattice Seed Stitch

This pattern looks like a lattice window, hence the name. In between the latticing is the seed stitches texture. It’d be great for scarves and shawls or other accessories. Read the written pattern carefully so the structure stays even.

Little Raindrops Stitch

This creates a wavy, raindrop-looking pattern. It’s great for garments or pillows as it’s not reversible. Here’s a great tutorial page by Kristen McDonnell. She has many excellent tips.

Long Raindrops Stitch

Similar to the previous pattern, this one is also not reversible and produces wavy lines with a droplet-like appearance. Use any yarn materials you like in your knitting!

Mesh Stitches

A vintage, airy fabric perfect for knitting produce bags for your shopping trips!

Ornamental Daisy

This lovely, floral-inspired creation adds a little interest to garter backgrounds.

Parallelogram Stitch

This produces a lattice-like pattern with parallelograms instead of blocks.

Pennant Pleating Stitch Knitting

This stitch pattern produces an interlocking triangle texture with ridges.

Pique Triangle Stitch

The Pique stitch creates a 3D effect of miniature triangles by alternating knit and purl stitches. The triangles are knit in stocking stitch, which showcases their details.

Quilt Stitch

Who says you need to learn another craft when you can achieve the same effect using a fiber art you’re already familiar with? Try this stitch.

Raspberry Stitch

A textured, staggered bobble stitch resembling a raspberry. A great way to add dimension to various projects. It’s also called Trinity Stitch or Blackberry Stitch. I enjoyed making the above dishcloth incorporating this stitch.

Sea Foam Wave Stitch

A beautiful dropped stitch with a lovely texture!

Spring Bobble Stitch

A lovely springtime-themed twist on the classic bobble stitch.

Star Stitch

A lovely, if slightly complicated stitch pattern.

Tassel Stitch

A stitch design involving slipped stitches to create something truly unique.

Tumbling Moss Block Stitch

A great texture for garments, this stitch produces a dense knit of tumbling blocks resembling moss. It’d look lovely in a green yarn!

Wide Chevron Zigzag Stitch

This produces a chevron-like stitch pattern with repeating zigzag lines horizontally across the fabric. It’s a lovely look! Here’s how.

Window Stitch

This produces rows of knit stitches and purl stitches. The result is an elegant, lattice-like fabric resembling a windowpane. Here is an excellent tutorial.

Zig Zag Stitch

This uniquely shaped stitch is an interesting twist on the classic garter texture.

Knit – Cable Knitting Stitches

Basic Cable Stitch

This is a knitting technique where you twist the stitches intentionally to create a variety of wonderfully textured knits. The end result of this repeat stitch is lovely. Here’s a basic one to try, though it gets quite fiddly! I love cabling.

Diagonal Basketweave Stitch

A slightly complicated variant on the basketweave, but the result is beautiful. The selvage edges are garter stitch. This uses skills beyond the knitting basics and will add to your knitting techniques.

Rope Stitch

A delightfully simple cable knitting pattern using the PC2R cable, purl and knit stitch. Here’s my tutorial on how to do it. Two rows are repeated and you knit every alternate row.

Conclusion

There are so many different types of knitting stitches out there! (Others include Fair Isle and Norwegian knitting.) Hope you enjoyed this list of knowledge and found your favorite new stitch to practice. Happy knitting and have fun learning new knitting skills!

If there’s a knitting stitch pattern I forgot to add, please let me know in the comments. (Your email address is never published.)

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References

1. Chamberlain, John. “Modern knitting stitches.” Journal of the Textile Institute Proceedings 25, no. 6 (1934): P197-P206.
2. Turner, Sharon. Knitting Stitches VISUAL Encyclopedia. Vol. 28. John Wiley & Sons, 2011.