How to Knit a Broken Rib Pattern

The broken rib pattern is sometimes confused with the mistake rib. The mistake rib is coarse and produces rows of knit-stitch bumps. Though attractive, it's a dense pattern that's suitable for scarves, dishcloths and towels. The broken rib, however, is subtle and produces neat rows of small boxes. Use it for scarves, hats, socks, blankets, afghans and even shawls.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 1 ball of yarn
• Knitting needles

1. Make your broken rib swatch with a light colored yarn so you can see this subtle pattern as you work. It's best to choose sport, double-knit (DK) or worsted weight so it's easy to handle your first time.

2. Choose knitting needles according to the yarn ball band. You don't need to worry about gauge for your practice swatch, but it's worth checking when making something you'll wear.

3. Cast on an odd number of stitches. Anywhere from 25 to 31 is a good number for a practice swatch. The broken rib pattern depends on a multiple of two stitches plus one extra to create its interesting effect.

4. Knit the first row. Be sure to keep your tension fairly loose so you don't find yourself tugging at the stitches when you do your purl stitches on the next row.

5. Begin the row with a purl stitch. Then alternately knit and purl stitches as if you were making a basic 1x1 rib pattern.

6. Continue the pattern by knitting all odd-numbered rows and repeating Step 5 for even-numbered rows. You'll start to see a neat pattern of small squares emerge.

7. Bind off your swatch after about 20 rows. Stretch it out a bit so you can see how the "broken rib" creates a subtle variation between rows of knitted stitches.

Tips & Warnings

• The broken rib pattern lies flat so you don't have to knit a border.

Resources

• Knit this broken rib hat for charity.
• Here's a double-stitch variation for a baby blanket.