Ribbing in double knitting, part 2

This is the continuation of Ribbing in double knitting, part 1, which is itself sort of a sequel to About double knitting.

In this blog entry, I'm going to cover the four ways to do ribbing in double knitting that I discussed last time, with pictures showing you what each type looks like.

Before we begin, though, I need to define my terms. Obviously, because double knitting is reversible, there really is no such thing as a "right side" and a "wrong side" of the work. However, in order to distinguish the two sides of the work, throughout this tutorial, I'll be using "right side" to describe the side which has knit stitches showing in yellow, and "wrong side" to describe the side which has knit stitches showing in red. (Of course, if you happen to be working your ribbed double knitting in the round, you can ignore the instructions for how to do things on the wrong side.)

The instructions for how to do knits and purls are presented in table form. I haven't been super-precise about them, because only you will know what kind of ribbing you want to do - K1-P1? K2-P2? K4-P2? There are no constraints, you can do any kind of ribbing you want. So what I've done here is tell you how to do each kind of stitch (i.e. knit, purl, and their counterparts on the wrong side), and then you can put them wherever you want them.

So if, for example, you wanted to do K2-P2 ribbing, first, you would choose which of the four types of double knitted ribbing you want to do, and then on the right side, follow the instructions for a knit stitch of that type twice, then follow the instructions for a purl stitch of that type twice. (And then, of course, repeat as many times as necessary.) Then for the stitches on the wrong side, you would follow the corresponding wrong side instructions.

One colour on each side, with the two layers ribbing in opposite directions from each other

right side:

wrong side:

cross section: (note how it "bubbles out" at the knits and "slucks in" at the purls)

NOTE: If you're working flat, you will need to cross the strands at the beginning of every row so that the two layers don't come apart.

What it looks like on the right side	What it looks like on the wrong side	Step #	Working on the right side		Working the same 2 stitches on the wrong side
			How to position the strands	What to do	How to position the strands	What to do
yellow knit	red knit	1	both at back	knit with yellow	both at back	knit with red
		2	both at front	purl with red	both at front	purl with yellow
yellow purl	red purl	1	yellow at front, red at back	purl with yellow	yellow at back, red at front	purl with red
		2		knit with red		knit with yellow

One colour on each side, with the two layers ribbing in the same direction together

right side:

wrong side:

cross section: (note how the whole fabric ripples together in the rib pattern)

NOTE: If you're working flat, you will need to cross the strands at the beginning of every row so that the two layers don't come apart.

What it looks like on the right side	What it looks like on the wrong side	Step #	Working on the right side		Working the same 2 stitches on the wrong side
			How to position the strands	What to do	How to position the strands	What to do
yellow knit	red purl	1	both at back	knit with yellow	yellow at back, red at front	purl with red
		2	yellow at front, red at back	knit with red	both at front	purl with yellow
yellow purl	red knit	1	yellow at front, red at back	purl with yellow	both at back	knit with red
		2	both at front	purl with red	yellow at back, red at front	knit with yellow

Corrugated ribbing, with the two layers ribbing in opposite directions from each other

right side:

wrong side:

cross section: (flatter than the previous kinds of ribbing, but still a bit "bubbly" at the knits and "slucky" at the purls)

NOTE: If you're working flat, you will need to cross the strands at the beginning of every row so that the two layers don't flap apart at the sides.

What it looks like on the right side	What it looks like on the wrong side	Step #	Working on the right side		Working the same 2 stitches on the wrong side
			How to position the strands	What to do	How to position the strands	What to do
yellow knit	red knit	1	both at back	knit with yellow	both at back	knit with red
		2	both at front	purl with red	both at front	purl with yellow
red purl	yellow purl	1	yellow at back, red at front	purl with red	yellow at front, red at back	purl with yellow
		2		knit with yellow		knit with red

Corrugated ribbing, with the two layers ribbing in the same direction together

This one is unique in that both layers look exactly the same: yellow knits and red purls on both sides. Therefore, there is no "wrong side" - you follow the knit directions below for all knits and the purl directions below for all purls, no matter which side is facing you.

both sides look like this:

cross section: (also fairly flat)

NOTE: If you're working flat, you will need to cross the strands at the beginning of every row so that the two layers don't flap apart at the sides.

What it looks like on this side	What it looks like on the other side	Step #	How to position the strands	What to do
yellow knit	red purl	1	both at back	knit with yellow
		2	yellow at front, red at back	knit with red
red purl	yellow knit	1	yellow at back, red at front	purl with red
		2	both at front	purl with yellow