The Zig zag rib knitting stitch is a fairly simple stitch that uses a combination of knits and purls. It offers a little less stretch in comparison to the standard k2, p2 ribbing, but offers so much texture! The back is flat, while the front offers a great zig zag detail. The Zig zag rib stitch pattern works in multiples of 3 + 1 over a 2 row repeat.

One follower asked me if this stitch works in the round. Unfortunately, I tried and tried and just couldn’t get it to work. If you’re able to do so, please let me know!


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Written using US terms

Stitches and abbreviations used:

K: Knit

P: Purl

Rep: Repeat

RS: Right side

St(s): Stitch (es)

WS: Wrong side

Pin of Zig zag rib stitch from Handmade by Stacy J
Here’s a pin for your Pinterest board 🙂

Stitch pattern for Zig zag rib stitch:

To see a video tutorial of this stitch, scroll to the top of this post or click HERE.

1 (RS): P1, *knit into back loop of second stitch (leaving stitch on left needle), knit into front of first stitch, then drop them both from the needle at the same time, P1; rep * to end

2 (WS): K1, *Purl into second stitch (leaving stitch on left needle), purl into first stitch, then drop them both from the needle at the same time, K1; rep * to end

Rep these 2 rows to desired length


I hope you enjoyed learning this stitch as much as I did. When you make something with it, could you please tag me @handmadebystacyj or #handmadebystacyJ – I’d love to see what you create!

Stacy J

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