Some one-row patterns

1x1 Ribbing and Seed stitch

Ribbing

Ribbing can be written as one-row or two-row, depending on the number of stitches per row, even or odd. For simplicity I’ll start all the instructions with a knit stitch.

Even number of stitches

Simplest example: one-and-one ribbing is easy with an even number of stitches:

Cast on an even number of stitches.

Row 1: *Knit 1, purl 1, repeat from * to end of row.

Repeat Row 1.

As opposed to garter stitch (see previous entry) I don’t need two rows to diagram it:

Odd number of stitches

But to knit one-and-one ribbing on an odd number of stitches the written instructions are not quite as simple…

Cast on an odd number of stitches.

Row 1: *Knit 1, purl 1, repeat from *, end knit 1.

Row 2: *Purl 1, knit 1, repeat from *, end purl 1.

Repeat rows 1-2.

And the chart needs to be a little more complicated (heavy lines represent stitch repeats):

In general, to knit flat ribbing so that it is symmetrical (the left half mirrors the right half of the fabric) requires two rows of instructions.

Seed Stitch

Odd number of stitches per row

If I were to repeat only row 1 (or row 2) of the directions for 1x1 ribbing on an odd number of stitches, I would get Seed Stitch. Using row 1:

Cast on an odd number of stitches.

Row 1: *Knit 1, purl 1, repeat from *, end knit 1.

Repeat Row 1.

Even number of stitches per row

What about Seed Stitch on an even number of stitches? I need two rows for the instructions:

Cast on an even number of stitches.

Row 1: *Knit 1, purl 1, repeat from * to end of row.

Row 2: *Purl 1, knit 1, repeat from * to end of row.

Repeat rows 1-2.

And I need two rows for the chart:

Summary

1x1 ribbing

Stitches per row	Number of rows in instructions	Number of rows in graph
Even	1	1
Odd	2	2

Seed stitch

Stitches per row	Number of rows in instructions	Number of rows in graph
Even	2	2
Odd	1	2