2-Color Fisherman's Rib Stitch - Tutorial

How could we not recreate this? The 2-Color Fisherman’s Rib has become a knitting must-have! It’s so easy to customize, choosing yarn texture, thickness and colors for different results and all kinds of projects.

Also, bonus: it’s double-sided! The colors of the ribs alternate on the two sides of the work.

The Two-Color Fisherman's Rib Stitch is an amazing knitting stitch for your ribbed garments and edges. Choose 2 contrasting or matching colors and work using circular needles or double pointed needles. It's a double-sided knitting stitch: the colors of the ribs alternate on the two sides of the work. This pattern is easy to follow for confident beginners to intermediate level knitters.

Two-Color Fisherman’s Rib Stitch – Side A

The swatch you see in the picture has been made using size 10 mm / US 15 and 60 cm cable Beechwood Circular Knitting Needles (you can choose the right needle size adjusting to your yarn and tension) and obviously Cool Wool (in the shades Mini Pony and Big Babol), aka BettaKnit’s go-to yarn 🤩 100% pure virgin wool and amazing color selection. You simply can’t go wrong.

Two-Color Fisherman’s Rib Stitch – Side B

What are the stitches and techniques you need to know?

Knit
Purl
Knit/Purl 1 stitch below (which means, inserting the needle in the stitch that is just below the one you would normally work)

To review knitting basics and techniques (and even more), check out our YouTube channel 😉

This stitch can only be made knitting with either double pointed needles or circular needles: here’s why!

2-Color Fisherman’s Rib Stitch Tutorial

Flat Knitting

With Color A, cast on an odd number of stitches.

Set-up row:

With Color A, knit the stitches. Turn the work.

Row 1:

Introducel Color B and work as follows:

Knit 1 stitch, *purl 1 stitch below, knit 1 stitch*.
Repeat from * to * until the end of the row. Knit the last stitch.

Do not turn the work. Slide the stitches on the needle (or cable) until they reach the opposite point and start again here.

Row 2:

With Color A, knit 1 stitch, *purl 1 stitch, knit 1 stitch below*.
Repeat from * to * until the end of the row. Knit the last stitch.

Turn the work.

Row 3:

With Color B, knit 1 stitch, *knit 1 stitch below, purl 1 stitch*.
Repeat from * to * until the end of the row. Knit the last stitch.

Do not turn the work. Slide the stitches on the needle (or cable) until they reach the opposite point and start again here.

Row 4:

With Color A, knit 1 stitch, *knit 1 stitch, purl 1 stitch below*.
Repeat from * to * until the end of the row. Knit the last 2 stitches.

Turn the work.

Repeat Rows 1 – 4 until you reach the desired length.

As you notice, at the end of Rows 1 and 3, you do not turn the work, instead, you will slide the stitches on the needle (or cable) towards the opposite side. This happens because you’re working with 2 colors and, since you need to alternate between them at every row, at some point you will eventually have the yarns separated, one at the beginning and one at the end of the row. Having a needle point on both sides helps to go back and get the yarn on the opposite end and also to alternate the two colors at every row, which you wouldn’t be able to do on regular straight needles.

In-the-round Knitting

With Color A, cast on an even number of stitches.

Set-up round:

With Color A, *knit 1 stitch, purl 1 stitch*.
Repeat from * to * until the end of the round.

Round 1:

With Color B, *knit 1 stitch below, purl 1 stitch*.
Repeat from * to * until the end of the round.

Round 2:

With Color A, *knit 1 stitch, purl 1 stitch below*.
Repeat from * to * until the end of the round.

Repeat Rounds 1 – 2 until you reach the desired length.

2-Color Fisherman’s Rib Stitch Chart

Let us know in the comment section below what you’re going to knit using this stitch and share your creations on Instagram using the hashtag #bettaknit!

2-Color Fisherman’s Rib Stitch – Tutorial