Garter stitch
Knit every row. Two rows make one visible ridge, the fabric lies flat without a border, and it's the same on both sides.
Updated August 12, 2026·5 min read
Garter stitch is knit every row, flat. That's the whole instruction. It's the first fabric almost everyone makes, and it stays useful long after you've moved on, because it does three things stockinette can't: it lies flat, it looks the same on both sides, and it stretches vertically.
How to work it
- 1Cast on any number of stitches.
- 2Knit every stitch of every row. Turn the work at the end of each row and knit back.
- 3After two rows, a raised ridge of bumps appears across the front. That ridge is your unit of counting.
In the round it's different
Knitting every round in the round gives you stockinette, not garter. To get garter in the round you alternate: knit one round, purl one round. The rule flips because you never turn the work, so the same face is always toward you.
How it compares
| Garter | Stockinette | 1x1 rib | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Worked flat | Knit every row | Knit a row, purl a row | K1, P1 across |
| Curls? | No | Yes, badly | No |
| Reversible? | Yes | No | Yes |
| Stretch | Vertical | Little | Horizontal, strong |
| Rows per inch | Roughly double stockinette | Baseline | Close to stockinette |
| Yarn used | Highest | Lowest | High |
That row-count difference catches people out. Garter is a dense fabric vertically, so a garter scarf takes noticeably more rows and more yarn than a stockinette one of the same length. Budget an extra ball.
Where it earns its place
- Scarves and blankets, where both sides show and curling would ruin the piece.
- Borders on stockinette pieces — four to six rows and stitches of garter cancels the roll.
- Shawls worked on the bias, where garter's stretch drapes better than stockinette.
- Dishcloths and anything in cotton, where the texture gives some scrub.
- Baby blankets, because there's no wrong side to worry about.
If it goes wrong
- A smooth stockinette band appears in the middle of your garter.
- You purled a row instead of knitting it. Since garter reads the same either way, this shows up as a flat patch. Rip back to the error — there's no way to fake it in place.
- Your rectangle is turning into a trapezoid.
- You're adding or losing stitches at the edges. Count the stitches every ridge for a while. Accidental yarn-overs at the start of a row are the usual culprit; keep the yarn behind the needle when you begin.
- The edges look loopy and loose.
- Slip the first stitch of each row knitwise. That gives a chain edge, one chain per ridge, which also makes stitches easy to pick up later.
- Your garter scarf is much shorter than the pattern says.
- Garter row gauge varies more between knitters than stitch gauge does. Measure the length as you go rather than trusting the row count.