Textured Stitch

Herringbone Stitch

Intermediate Textured
Herringbone Stitch finished swatch

Used For

  • Scarves
  • Blankets
  • Textured panels
  • Diagonal-textured accents

Crossed stitch pairs that build a diagonal woven texture reminiscent of herringbone fabric.

Instructions

  1. Cast on an even number of stitches.
  2. Insert the right needle into the second stitch on the left needle, in front of the first, knit it, but leave both stitches on the left needle.
  3. Knit the first stitch on the left needle through the back loop, then slip both stitches off the left needle together.
  4. Repeat the previous two steps across the row.
  5. Work every row, right and wrong side alike, the same way for the classic allover herringbone texture.

Tips & Notes

  • Working into the second stitch before the first is what creates the crossed, diagonal lean that gives herringbone its woven-fabric look.
  • This stitch is worked identically on every row, right and wrong side alike, so there's no pattern to track beyond the two-stitch cross itself.
  • Herringbone fabric has less vertical stretch than stockinette, thanks to the constant crossing — swatch before using it somewhere that needs to stretch.

Related Stitches