The Weekly Swatch: The Honeycomb Stitch

Honeycomb Knit Stitch

The Honeycomb Knit Stitch as featured above is an uncomplicated stitch motif (no purling, just knitting!), resulting in a dense, yet flexible, texture, which is ideal for a wide variety of wintery garments and accessories. These tend to be designed to retain heat, whilst remaining breathable; and the Honeycomb Stitch fulfils these design requirements perfectly. 

Honeycomb Knit Stitch Sample

The knitting technique required to achieve this stitch is very similar to the Fisherman's Rib Stitch. (My swatch sample for the Fisherman's Rib Stitch is available here.) 

Fisherman's Rib Stitch, Stitch Sample available here

One way of achieving Fisherman's Rib is to knit directly into the knit stitch on the row below, as highlighted in the picture above. The same technique is employed to achieve the Honeycomb Stitch: 

Multiple of 2 plus 1 stitches

Row 1 (wrong side):  Knit all sts

Row 2 (right side):  *K1, K in st through st on row below; rep from * to last st, K1

Row 3: Knit all sts 

Row 4:  *K into st through st on row below, K1; rep from * to last st, K into st. on previous row through st below 

Repeat Row 1 - Row 4 for pattern.

Honeycomb Knit Stitch Sample

More knit stitches are available here.