How to Knit Stocking Stitch (Stockinette)

Stocking stitch — called stockinette in the US — is the smooth, flat face of knitting everyone recognises: neat rows of little Vs on the front, made by knitting one row and purling the next. It’s the ground fabric of our kangaroo road sign pieces, all 220 stitches by 350 rows of the blanket counted in it, and of the gold Rugby jumper’s body.

Step by step

Working flat, knit every stitch of the first row. This is the right side of the work — the smooth side that will face the world.
Turn the work, and purl every stitch of the second row. This is the wrong side, and it will look bumpy; that’s not a mistake, that’s the back of the Vs doing their job.
Keep alternating — knit a row, purl a row — and the fabric builds itself: smooth Vs on the front, rows of little bumps (called purl bumps) on the back.
Learn to read it at a glance: if the smooth V side is facing you, you’re about to knit the row; if the bumpy side faces you, purl. That one habit ends forever the “wait, which row am I on?” moments.
Working in the round instead? There’s no turning, so stocking stitch is simply knit every round — the smooth side forms on the outside all by itself.
Expect the edges to curl. Stocking stitch rolls in at the sides and curls up at the top and bottom — it’s the nature of the stitch, not your tension. That’s why our patterns frame it: the road sign blanket runs a moss-stitch frame up both sides, and jumpers finish with ribbed bands.
Count rows by the Vs: each V in a column is one knit row, and each bump on the back is one purl row. Charts and gauges count the same way — gauge in our patterns is given over stocking stitch, like the blanket’s 22 stitches by 27 rows to 10 cm.
Measure gauge on the smooth side, over a good wide patch, away from the curled edges — and block the swatch the way you’ll block the piece, because stocking stitch relaxes and widens a touch in the bath.
Finish pieces with a gentle block (see our How to Block Your Work page): it won’t stop the curl on an edged scarf forever, but it flattens panels beautifully and sets the Vs in crisp, even rows.

Patterns that use it

Kangaroo Road Sign Beanie & Scarf Knitting Pattern | Aussie Intarsia Set, 3 Sizes, DK PDF

Kangaroo Road Sign Blanket Knitting Pattern | Aussie Intarsia Throw Chart 100x130cm DK PDF

Rugby Gold Jumper Knitting Pattern | Raglan Knit Sweater PDF, Deep Green Rib Trim, Bulky Knit, Aussie Rugby, Digital

Beginner Craft-Night Knit Pack Vol 1 | 12 Easy Knitted Christmas Patterns PDF

Aussie Newborn Photo Props Vol 1 | 12 Knitted Photo Prop Patterns PDF

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Common mistakes

Losing track of which row comes next and working a wrong-side row. One purled row across the smooth face (or a knit row on the bumpy back) leaves a ridge that shouts across the finished fabric — learn to read the side facing you before you pick the needles up.
Purling looser than you knit. Many knitters’ purl rows carry a touch more yarn, and the fabric answers with faint horizontal stripes, tight row, loose row, all the way up the piece.
Measuring gauge over the curled edge of a small scrap. Stocking stitch rolls, so a count taken across the roll reads narrow and wrong — measure across the middle of a good wide swatch, blocked the way the finished piece will be blocked.

Tina’s tips

If your purl rows are the loose ones, try a needle one size smaller just for the purl rows and swap back for the knit rows. Plenty of knitters keep two sizes in the one project for exactly this, and the fabric evens out like magic.
Pop a safety pin through the fabric on the right side before you put the work down. The smooth side is marked for good, and you’ll never again sit down, turn the piece over twice, and wonder which row you were up to.