Basketweave Stitch

The basketweave stitch is a lovely stitch pattern that uses only knits and purls to create a fabric that looks woven like a basket. In this video, Jen Lucas demonstrates how to knit this stitch pattern.

Jen begins by showing a swatch of basketweave stitch fabric, noting that the “weave” is created by knitting different-sized squares of stockinette stitch and reverse stockinette stitch. The stockinette stitch portions are 3 stitches across and the reverse stockinette stitch positions are 5 stitches across. The height of the squares is also different, which is what causes the woven effect.

The Right Side and Wrong Side of the swatch are shown. While both sides of the stitch pattern have a nice texture, it is not a truly reversible stitch. Since the Wrong Side of the basketweave stitch fabric is appealing, it makes this pattern great for dishcloths, baby blankets, and scarves. Jen also compares the swatch to a checkerboard stitch swatch. While both fabrics use only knits and purls and are similar in the way they are knit, the stitch patterns are different.

BASKETWEAVE STITCH

Working the stitch pattern over a multiple of 8 plus 5 stitches, Jen works the following rows on her swatch:

• – Row 1 (RS): Knit all stitches.
• – Row 2 (WS): K5, *p3, k5; rep from * to end.
• – Row 3: P5, *k3, p5; rep from * to end.
• – Row 4: Rep row 2.
• – Row 5: Knit all stitches.
• – Row 6: K1, p3 *k5, p3; rep from * to last stitch, k1.
• – Row 7: P1, k3, *p5, k3, rep from * to last st, p1.
• – Row 8: Rep row 6.

Rep Rows 1–8 for pattern.

ABBREVIATIONS:

• k: knit
• p: purl
• rep: repeat
• RS: Right Side
• WS: Wrong Side