Reverse Stockinette Stitch

Reverse stockinette is stockinette turned around: the same fabric, worked so the purl side faces out. Where plain stockinette shows a field of smooth V-shaped columns, reverse stockinette shows the back of that fabric, a field of small rounded horizontal bumps. It is the standard textured ground behind cables, where the raised, smooth cable rope reads clearly against the recessed bumpy background.

How it is built

There is nothing new to learn here. If you can work stockinette, you can work reverse stockinette. Flat, you purl every stitch on the right-side rows and knit every stitch on the wrong-side rows, the reverse of plain stockinette. In the round, where the right side always faces you, you purl every round. The stitch structure is identical to stockinette; the only decision is which face you call the front.

Because the two faces come from the same fabric, you often produce reverse stockinette without meaning to. The "wrong side" of any stockinette piece is a reverse-stockinette surface, and cable charts rely on this: a purl on the right side puts a bump on the front, and a block of those purls becomes the sunken ground the cable sits on.

What the fabric does

The bumps sit in horizontal ridges, so the surface has a soft, pebbled texture with more visual depth than smooth stockinette. It reads as slightly thicker and spongier for the same reason, though it is the same fabric at the same gauge.

It curls, and it curls the opposite way from stockinette. A stockinette swatch rolls to the front at the top and bottom edges and to the back at the sides; reverse stockinette rolls the other way. The curl is equally strong, so plan for it. Borders that lie flat, such as garter, ribbing, or seed stitch, still earn their place at every edge.

What to use it for

Reach for reverse stockinette when you want the bumpy face to do the work. Its main job is as the recessed ground in cable and Aran knitting, where the texture contrast is the whole point. On its own it makes a soft, pebbly fabric for cowls, blankets, and the "wrong-side-out" look some sweaters use on purpose. It also gives a plain stockinette garment a quiet reversibility: the inside is a legitimate, good-looking surface, not a mistake.