Counting Rows in Garter Stitch

Garter stitch is a simple, squishy fabric created by knitting every stitch when working back and forth in rows. In this video, Mary Beth Temple demonstrates how to count rows when working garter stitch on your knitting projects.

A defining feature of garter stitch is the purl bumps or ridges that are created by working knit stitches on both the Right Side and Wrong Side of the project. When taking a close look at the garter stitch fabric, you can see that there are smooth knit stitches, as well as purl bumps, on both sides. This texture is created by working knit stitches on both the right side and the wrong side of the fabric. Each ridge counts as two rows.

If you spread the fabric apart slightly, there are both smooth knit stitches and then the ridges. By counting the ridges as two rows, it’s much simpler to count. You are taking into account the row of smooth knit stitches that were worked on one side, as well as the purl bumps that were created by knitting the stitches on the other side of the piece.