Reverse garter stitch

Reverse garter stitch looks like garter stitch.

Instead of knitting every stitch, every stitch is purled.

So, when do you use reverse garter stitch?

When you’re:

• Making a garter stitch border, and need to start it with a purl row …
• Practicing your purl stitches, or …
• Teaching someone how to make reverse garter stitch.

Honestly, I rarely use it.

For me, the knitting stitch is more natural.  I can do it almost without thinking about it.  Purling, however, takes more concentration.  And after a few rows of reverse garter, I long to throw in a few knitted stitches.

Which is why, if you look closely, you’ll see how small the actual sample of reverse garter I knit for this post really is …

Only 10 stitches wide, and 10 ribs high (not including the cast on and bind off).  And yes, I knit the first row and cast off with knit stitches.  I can cast off with purl stitches, and didn’t feel a need to practice those.

For the cast on method I used knitting the first row is much faster (and easier).  So that’s what I did.

Just like garter stitch, reverse garter lies flat, and is thicker than stockinette.  Its uses are the same as garter stitch. Assuming of course you  have the patience — and the inclination — to purl multiple rows.  A scarf would make one a purling expert quickly, and possibly tire of it quickly, too.

And yes, I’m one of those knitters who goes out of her way to avoid reverse garter stitch.  If I can, I’ll substitute garter stitch, or alter the pattern.  Patterns like gauges, are after all, only a suggestion—

Welcome back to The Knitting Yarn! Thanks for coming back. If you haven't yet, be sure to stay updated with the latest posts and patterns by subscribing to my RSS feed and bookmarking each post. This way you'll never miss a pattern, even if you're too busy knitting to click in.