Watch how to knit the broken rib stitch

A combination of garter stitch and ribbing make this ribbed variation, which serves more to create texture than stretch.
A traditional ribbing gets its elasticity from the alternating knit and purl stitches on every row. The purl stitches essentially disappear behind the knit stitches when the fabric isn’t stretched. In the broken rib, however, a row of alternating knit and purl stitches (this is the front, or "right side" of your work) is followed by a row of straight knitting (the back, or "wrong side" of work), which turns your purl stitches into garter stitches instead of reverse stockinette. In other words, your purls don’t disappear, and the final knit fabric lays flat.
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This is a great, easy stitch to turn into a scarf, cowl, or blanket. The pattern is easily modified to be worked over any number of stitches (even or odd). When knitting this stitch flat, I prefer to cast on an odd number of stitches so that the fabric begins and ends with the same stitch.
Broken rib written pattern
Abbreviations
CO - Cast on
K - Knit
P - Purl
CO an odd number of stitches.
Row 1: P, (K1, P1) to end of row
Row 2: Knit all stitches
When knitting over an even number of stitches, simply reverse the rows and omit the first purl stitch in the new Row 2 as follows:
CO an even number of stitches.
Row 1: Knit all stitches
Row 2: (K1, P1) to end of row
Though the more traditional rib side of this stitch pattern is considered the “right” side of the work, this pattern is reversible. The “wrong” side (pictured below on the right) also produces an interesting texture to wear facing out.
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Watch the video tutorial for the broken rib stitch below:
Resources Purl Avenue and Pleasant Seas