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K2P2 Ribbing by Binka Schwan
Skill Building Summer 2022
This article will discuss how to seam double rib using mattress stitch. A previous article in the Skill Building series, published in the Spring 2021 issue of Cast On, discussed mattress stitch. Please refer to this article to learn this technique as it will not be discussed here. Arenda Holladay also has a video on how to seam double rib to supplement this article.
Mattress stitch is very strong and, when worked correctly, the seam will be invisible as the knit rows line up across the seam line in stockinette fabric. And if the knit rows in double rib are lined up across the seam line, the mattress stitch is the perfect technique to produce an invisible seam and to maintain the K2P2 stitch pattern. But a little bit of planning may be needed to use mattress stitch for seaming K2P2 ribbing.
Most knitwear designers will write patterns so that stitch patterns will flow across a seam line. This is especially important in the double rib pattern. Unfortunately, not all designers plan for this. If you decide to work a pattern with double rib that needs to be seamed, please read the pattern and make certain that maintaining the stitch pattern has been taken into consideration. You can easily modify the pattern before starting your project, but once the pieces are knit, it is too late to make this change.
Usually, the multiple for the double rib stitch pattern worked flat is 4 stitches plus 2. This means that you would repeat the K2P2 pattern until the last 2 stitches. The additional stitches would be worked as two knits. The pattern for the multiple of 4 stitches plus 2 would read:
Multiple of 4 sts + 2
Row1 (and all RS rows): *K2, p2; rep from * to last 2 sts, k2.
Row 2 (and all WS rows): P2, *k2, p2; rep from *.
This stitch pattern is balanced with two knit stitches (on the right/public side) both at the beginning and at the end of each piece to be seamed.
Figure 1 shows two double rib swatches side by side using the above stitch pattern. The piece on the right ends with k2 and the piece on the left begins with k2. When these two pieces are seamed, a knit stitch on each side will be used as the seam allowance and the K2P2 pattern will be maintained across the seam. I have pinned the swatches, so this is easier to see. The pins on the right piece are placed between the second to last column of stitches and the selvedge column, and the pins on the left piece are placed between the selvedge column and the second column of stitches. This allows for the selvedges to be turned under in the seam allowance and two knit stitch columns to be seamed together to produce the double knit columns in the K2P2 pattern.
To begin the seam, use either the Figure 8 start described in this article or the Alternate Seam Start that was described in the Spring 2022 issue of Cast On in this article. I have chosen to use the Alternate Seam Start in preparation for mattress stitch for all double rib swatches shown in this article. See Figure 2.
Figure 3 shows the start of mattress stitch after the Alternate Seam Start, and Figure 4 shows mattress stitch continuing up the swatch. You can see that the double rib pattern has been maintained across the seam.
One problem with using mattress stitch for seaming K2P2 rib with this stitch configuration is that the seam may be firm and not have the same elasticity as the surrounding stitches. Also, the two knit stitches on either side of the seam may be more obvious or “stand out,” especially if there may be a tension problem in the double rib. This is due not only to the firmness of the actual seam but also to the fact that the knit columns are flanked by purl columns, making it stand out even more. I use this method of seaming K2P2 rib, but it is not my favorite. Figure 5 shows the completed seam, seen from the public side.
If the seam is too thick for your liking using the above stitch pattern, there is an alternate stitch pattern that can be used. It is still the same pattern multiple of 4 stitches plus 2, but if the order of the plus 2 stitches is changed, the seam will become invisible and the elasticity of the surrounding fabric is maintained. One of the plus 2 stitches would be worked at the beginning of the row and the second of the plus 2 stitches would be worked at the end. The stitch pattern multiple is still 4 stitches plus 2 but would read:
Multiple of 4 sts + 2
Row 1 (and all RS rows): K1, *k2, p2; rep from * to last st, p1.
Row 2 (and all WS rows): K1, *k2, p2; rep from * to last st, p1.
Note that with this stitch pattern there would be 3 knit stitches at the beginning of each piece and 3 purl stitches at the end of each piece. Mattress stitch can still be used with this stitch pattern while maintaining the double rib across the seam line. A purl stitch on the right swatch would be seamed to a knit stitch on the left swatch. This is the technique that I prefer for seaming double rib as the seam is not bulky, the rib pattern is maintained across the seam, and the elasticity of the double rib is maintained. See Figure 6. The pins are again placed between the selvedge stitch columns and the next column of stitches on each piece.
These swatches were also seamed beginning with the Alternate Seam Start, followed by mattress stitch. Figure 7 shows half the swatch seamed, and Figure 8 shows the completed seamed swatch on the public side.
If you are working from a pattern that requires K2P2 ribbing and seaming, you should be using the double rib pattern that includes the + 2 stitches (multiple of 4 + 2). If you don’t see this, and the pattern calls for only the multiple of 4 stitches you should alter the number of stitches to cast on or to work across a row. The stitch pattern that does not use the extra two stitches but is a multiple of four stitches cannot be seamed to maintain the K2P2 ribbing. All pieces would start with 2 knit stitches and end with 2 purl stitches. This pattern reads:
Multiple of 4 stitches
Row 1 (and all rows): *K2, p2; rep from *.
Figure 9 shows two swatches using the K2P2 stitch pattern side by side and Figure 10 shows the pieces seamed. Note that the double rib stitch pattern has not been maintained across the seam. As seen in Figure 10, the pattern changes to purl one knit one across the seam line, breaking the double rib stitch pattern. However, when working in the round, this pattern multiple of 4 stitches would be correct since there are no seams.
There are some things to consider when working a double rib pattern flat that you do not have to worry about when working in the round. The examples in this article show that using the 4 + 2 multiple will ensure that the stitch pattern will be maintained across the row when working flat. How do you know if you have the correct number of stitches in your pattern? Divide the total number of stitches in the row by four. If there are two stitches left, the stitch pattern is correct, and the pattern will be maintained across the seam line. If the multiple is just 4, seaming will not allow the stitch pattern to be maintained across the seam line. You can always add or subtract a couple of stitches to get the correct multiple so that seaming will be invisible.
Arenda Holladay talks about other considerations to think about when working double rib in her “Finishing with Confidence: Seaming K2P2 Ribbing” article. She states that when working double ribbing at the bottom of a sweater or a hat, you should make certain that the ribbing will blend in with the stitch pattern following the ribbing. For example, for a cabled sweater, the ribbing at the bottom of the sweater should blend in with the cables in the body of the sweater. The knit columns from the double rib should flow into the cables. Be mindful of the published pattern and make certain that this is true for all sizes. Take a little extra time to look at the pattern and adjust, if necessary, right from the start.
The next article in the series will look at how to seam K1P1 ribbing.
Bibliography
Editors of Vogue Knitting magazine. Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book. Sixth& Spring Books, 2002.
Hiatt, June Hemmons. The Principles of Knitting. Simon and Schuster, 2012.
Holladay, Arenda. “Finishing with Confidence: Seaming K2P2 Ribbing”. Cast On, Nov. 2013–Jan 2014, pp. 49–50.
Stanley, Montse. Reader’s Digest Knitter’s Handbook. The Reader’s Digest Association, 2001.
Pattern Associated with Article — Abalone
Copyright 2022, The Knitting Guild Association, Cast On Summer 2022, All Rights Reserved
