Basket weave stitch

    Now that we already know quite a few things about knitting, we are going to begin our stitch sampler. Really we already have four stitches in our sampler:

• Garter stitch.
• Stockinette stitch.
• Ribbing stitch.
• Seed stitch.

    Only combining knit and purl stitches, we can already obtain some stitch patterns. They are simple but not less beautiful because of that. Today we are going to learn to knit basket weave stitch. The name is due to the final result, imitating a weaved basket. 

   

    This is not a reversible stitch, it has a right and a wrong side. To kint this stitch we need to cast on a number of stitches that are a multiple of 8 plus 5 stitches more ( 13, 21, 29...).

   

    As some of you will find easier to follow written instructions, and some others will find easier to read a diagram, I will explain how to knit it in both ways. You will find this abbreviations in the written instructions : K for knit, P for purl.  Remember that the part between asteriks is repeated until the end of the row. 

   

    Row 1 : knit all the stitches

    Row 2 : 5 K, *3 P, 5 K*

    Row 3 : 5 P, *3 K, 5 P* 

    Row 4 : 5 K, *3 P, 5 K*

    Row 5 : knit all the stitches 

    Row 6 : 1 K, *3 P, 5 K*, 3 P, 1 K

    Row 7 : 1 P, *3 K, 5 P*, 3 K, 1P

    Row 8 : 1 K, *3 P, 5 K*, 3 P, 1 K

    Repeat these 8 rows as many times as needed.
    
    Or you can follow this diagram. Repeat the piece between arrows until the end of the row. Repeat these 8 rows as many times as needed.

    
    Here you can see the result of knitting this stitch.