Garter Stitch Versus Stockinette Stitch

Two basic knit fabrics are garter stitch and stockinette stitch. They are the basis for thousands of stitch patterns and are also used on their own to create beautiful fabric. In this video, Jen Lucas explores garter stitch and stockinette stitch fabric.

Garter stitch fabric is created by knitting the stitches on both the right side and wrong side of the piece. Because the pattern is only knits, it creates a squishy, compact fabric. Other than the cast-on and bind-off edges, the right side and wrong side of garter stitch are identical. This makes it a great fabric to use on reversible projects.

Jen then looks at a swatch of stockinette stitch. This fabric is created by knitting the stitches on the right side and purling the stitches on wrong side when working back and forth in rows. This fabric is what most people think of when they think of knitted fabric. Once the two swatches are compared, Jen brings in a third swatch, which is stockinette stitch with a border of garter stitch.