How to make the knitting stitch pattern of Seed Stitch
Seed stitch pattern is a pretty common knitting stitch, and it’s a great one for beginners. But you may wonder what exactly does that mean and when would you use something like that, and why? Let’s look at each part individually.
What does Seed stitch mean?
In knitting patterns, we use abbreviations to denote different stitches. Knit is abbreviated as K or k. Purl is abbreviated as P or p. Making Seed Stitch means using K1P1 (knit one stitch, then purl one stitch) in a specific order.
First, let’s look at knit and purl stitches. We can recognize a purl stitch by it’s distinctive “necklace.” We call that a purl bump. A knit stitch will look like a loop around the needle, whereas a purl stitch will have the added necklace. Study the sample photo below
What does Seed Stitch look like in a knitted sample?
A seed stitch sample will have a very distinctive look. Once you’ve knitted this pattern a few times, you’ll recognize it instantly. It’s a pretty fabric and even advanced knitters will use seed stitch for different things.
When do you use a stitch pattern like this?
Seed Stitch creates a decorative style of fabric, and it is used in edgings and large knitted fabrics. We see it used frequently in baby blankets and it washcloths. It will also show up as edging for sweater patterns from time to time instead of ribbing style patterns. Seed stitch lays nice and flat, so it’s great for a fabric you want to lay that way.
In the meantime, let’s enjoy how adorable this scarf is when knit in Seed Stitch!
Why do we use Seed Stitch?
Mostly, seed stitch is used for it’s lovely nubbly texture. And for the property of creating a fabric that will lay perfectly flat. Which is why it’s so popular for baby blankets! But it can also be used for garments, backgrounds and borders. Just keep in mind that the fabric can spread out as opposed to drawing in as we see with ribbing like k1p1 or k2p2.
In today’s video tutorial, we will see how to make a sample of seed stitch as knit on straight needles to yield a flat piece of knitting. Knitting-in-the-round is slightly different, but that is a topic for another day. Today, we are going to work on making neat rows of knit and purl stitches that make up the familiar rib pattern.
Follow along with the video. I knit and purl several rows of the pattern to give you a chance to clearly see what I’m doing, and to allow you the opportunity to knit along with me. Knitting a sample piece of seed stitch will give you practice in changing from knit to purl stitches, and it will help you to recognize how the live stitches appear. It is important to be able to easily distinguish between your stitches when you are working on a project.
In pattern form, this is how seed stitch would read:
- On an even number of stitches, work as follows, always moving the yarn between the needles, with yarn in back for knits and yarn in front for purls.
- Alternate k1p1 across row 1 (and on all odd numbered rows)
- Alternate p1k1 across row 2 (and on all even numbered rows)
- In other words, you will always be knitting your purl stitches and purling your knit stitches.
Enjoy this video tutorial designed to walk you through knitting your own sample of Seed Stitch
If you are unfamiliar with how to make the knit or purl stitches, please start at the very beginning by learning to Cast on Stitches and then learning the Knit Stitch followed by the Purl stitch. I have a free knitting pattern that will help you learn to knit your first scarf project using all knit stitches. I suggest you start here if all of this is completely new to you. If you have some understanding of knits and purls, that’s great!! I hope this video helps you to understand the differences between the two stitches and how to make your own seed stitch fabric.
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