Knit the Rosary Stitch

The Rosary Stitch is a common lace stitch pattern that is widely used in shawls and sweaters. In this video, Corrina Ferguson demonstrates the key steps to working this beautiful stitch pattern.

Some knitting patterns may refer to the rosary stitch as a leaf lace stitch pattern. No matter what it’s called, it creates a lovely offset lace pattern, worked over eight rows. Yarn overs and sk2p double decreases are used to create the lace fabric. For the sk2p decrease, the first stitch is slipped. Corrina prefers to slip this stitch knitwise; however, she notes that it can be slipped either knitwise or purlwise. It’s just important to be consistent so the fabric appears uniform.

ROSARY STITCH

The stitch pattern is worked over a multiple of 8 plus 1 stitches as follows:

Row 1 (RS): K1, *yo, k2, sk2p, k2, yo, k1; rep from * to end.
Row 2 (WS): Purl all sts.
Rows 3 and 4: Rep Rows 1 and 2.
Row 5: K2tog, *k2, yo, k1, yo, k2, sk2p; rep from * to last 7 sts, k2, yo, k1, yo, k2, ssk.
Row 6: Purl all sts.
Rows 7 and 8: Rep Rows 5 and 6.

Rep rows 1 – 8 for pattern.

ABBREVIATIONS

k: knit
k2tog: knit two stitches together
p: purl
sk2p: slip 1 stitch, knit two together, pass the slipped stitch over
ssk: slip a stitch as if to knit to right needle, slip a second stitch as if to knit to right needle, slip both stitches back to left needle and knit together through the back loops
st(s): stitch(es)
rep: repeat
RS: Right Side
WS: Wrong Side
yo: yarn over