Background
Mistake Stitch Rib is one of many variations of the basic K2P2 ribbing. It forms a reversible fabric with an interesting texture and a one-stitch-wide strong vertical rib every 4 stitches.
Heads Up
There are four different variations of Mistake Stitch Rib, depending on the number of stitches that are cast on. This article discusses one of them – the easiest version, in my opinion.
The pattern instructions
Cast on a multiple of 4 stitches plus 3.
Row 1: *K2. P2. Rep from * until 3 sts rem. K2. P1.
Rep Row 1 to desired length.
Personal opinion: I don’t like to keep checking whether there are 3 stitches left. So here is how I knit it:
Row 1: *K2. P2. Rep from * until you have run out of stitches.
That’s a non-standard knitting instruction, but it works for me!
About This Pattern Stitch
As you can tell from the pattern instructions, Mistake Stitch Rib is a variation of simple K2P2 ribbing, with all of those repeated K2P2’s. But it is a different pattern. And the techniques that you use to figure out where you are when you are knitting K2P2 ribbing don’t apply with Mistake Stitch Rib.
When you work K2P2 ribbing on a number of stitches that is divisible by four, then every row is the same: (*K2. P2. Rep from * to end. ) And with ordinary K2P2 ribbing, you knit the knit stitches and purl the purl stitches.
But with Mistake Stitch Rib, it is not so convenient.
That’s because there is an odd number of stitches on the needle. So the Knits and Purls do not line up on top of each other as nicely as they do for K2P2 Ribbing.
This makes it is easier to get lost – if you have to set your needles down to attend to a toddler’s potty training in the middle of a row, you might be lost when you get back to your knitting.
If You Get Lost
Look at the knitted fabric: there is a strong one-stitch-wide rib facing you, every four stitches.
The first strong rib is on the right-most edge of the fabric as it faces you.
On the old or holding needle, find the top of the strong single-stitch rib that is closest to the point of the needle. That is where you will START a K2P2 pattern repeat. If that rib is the first stitch on the holding needle, you’re in great shape – just K2P2 and carry on. Otherwise, you will have to count back to determine where you are in the pattern. For example, if the rib is the fourth stitch on the holding needle, you have to do the last three stitches of the K2P2 pattern repeat – in other words, K1P2.
This photo shows where a repeat of K2P2 stitches are to be worked.
Conclusion
The knitted fabric that results from this stitch is reversible. It has some width-wise compression, though not as much as with K2P2 rib. And it has an interesting texture between the ribs. It would work quite well as a scarf.
To see a detailed explanation of a pattern for a pullover using this pattern stitch, check out the Read Knitting Patterns website, which is devoted to helping beginner knitters learn how to read knitting patterns.
