It’s a purl-less rib! Yes, that’s right, a rib created without a single purl. It can’t be done, you say? Well, with a series of smartly placed slip stitches, indeed it can! I present to you a classic stitch pattern: the Cartridge Belt Rib.
Lots of knitters count the Cartridge Belt Rib among their favorite stitch patterns, and you can officially lump me in. This robust rib stitch produces prominent columns of elongated knit stitches separated by broad valleys of dense texture. The juxtaposition is not only fascinating; it’s beautiful too.
I knit up this quick and easy No-Purl Ribbed Scarf in Purl Soho’s gorgeous Alpaca Pure. Outrageously cozy, nothing feels better on cold day! -Laura
Update: Now a Blanket Pattern!
September 14, 2018
With a simple 2-row repeat of knit and slip stitches, the No-Purl Ribbed Blanket pattern is made for momentum. We knit up our blanket in Season Alpaca, 100% baby alpaca classically plied into a sportweight. So, if lofty ribs are your cup of tea but purling isn’t, take it easy with this No-Purl Ribbed Scarf and our No-Purl Ribbed Blanket!
Update: Now also a Wrap!
March 27, 2019
Our beautiful No-Purl Ribbed Wrap uses four skeins of our gorgeous Line Weight yarn, a pure and simple single-ply merino wool lightweight enough to serve all three scarf seasons and cozy enough to feel good anytime!
Materials
- 4 (5) skeins of Purl Soho’s Alpaca Pure, 100% alpaca. I used the color Steel Blue.
- US 8 straight or circular needles
Gauge
22 stitches = 4 inches in stitch pattern
Size
8 ½ inches wide x 64 (80) inches long
Notes
Slip all slipped stitches purlwise.
This stitch pattern is worked over a multiple of 4 + 3 stitches.
Pattern
Cast on 47 stitches
Row 1: K3, *slip 1 wyif (with yarn in front), k3, repeat from * to end of row.
Row 2: K1, *slip 1 wyif, k3, repeat from * to last 2 stitches, slip 1 wyif, k1.
Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until piece measures 64 (80) inches from cast on edge or until desired length, ending with Row 2.
Bind off in a k3, p1 rib. Here’s how… K2, slip the first stitch over, k1, slip the first stitch over, *p1, slip the first stitch over, [k1, slip the first stitch over] 3 times, repeat from * to end of row.
Weave in ends and block as desired.
PRINT
I love this stitch! And this pattern, thank you for sharing it. I can see a lot of making things using this stitch in the future.
Hello,
I am a beginner knitter, I think this pattern is absolutely beautiful however when I knitted a small sample as practice it had no ridges in it at all. My sample is completely flat as if I have just done a square of simple knit stitch, I can clearly see the difference in the stitches and see where the ridges should be but they remain flat and don’t have the deep groves that it is supposed to.
I can’t for the life of me work out why its not the same as I even followed a video tutorial and its still flat as a pancake!!
Does anyone know what I am doing wrong and how I can fix it?
Hi Lizy,
I’m so sorry to hear you’re having trouble with the stitch pattern! Is it possible that you are slipping the stitches with the yarn in back instead of with the yarn in front? You will need to bring your yarn to the front as if to purl before slipping stitches, and then return your yarn to the back of the work to knit. If that doesn’t solve your problem, please feel free to send us a picture of your work at customerservice@purlsoho.com so we can take a look!
Best,
Julianna
Absolutely amazing pattern and SUPER easy. I made this for my friend in a dark grey yarn and she loved it. Cannot express enough how much I enjoyed doing this scarf.
Absolutely love this site !
Hey – I’m trying to figure out how the color looks like two colors? You only used steel blue, but it kind of looks like there’s dark and light alternating
Hello Zissie,
Thank you for reaching out! You are correct, we knit scarf up with one color. I think what you might be seeing is just the shadow created by the stitch pattern.
I hope this helps and happy knitting!
-Marilla
Does the actual scarf have that shadowing, or just the pictures?
Hello,
Thank you for this question! Because this is a ribbed stitch it has ridges and valleys which will create shadow, as any textured stitch will. You will get a variation in the look of the shadow depending on the light.
I hope this helps and happy knitting!
-Marilla
Did you block the scarf? I’m using a yarn with the same gauge on 6s, and cast on 59 stitches, but it’s only measuring about 6.5 inches wide.
Hi and thanks for writing in! Although we did block the scarf, we didn’t stretch it very much, so I suspect that adding 12 stitches did not quite compensate for going down two needle sizes. Based on your gauge of 59 stitches to 6.5 inches, you should cast on 79 stitches for an eight and a half inch wide scarf.
Best,
Julianna
The bottom picture looks like more than one color, but the yarn doesn’t appear to be variegated. Is that a trick of the light?
Hi Heather,
Thanks for writing in! Yes, this is just an illusion from the shadows of the textured ridges in the scarf! We did use a solid colored yarn for our samples.
Best,
Julianna
How can I reduce the number of cast on stitches to make it more narrow. Pattern is a repeat of 4+3
Hello Lauren,
Thank you for reaching out! This will depend on how thin you would like your scarf to be. For example if you wanted to knit a scarf that is half the width you would cast on 23 stitches because 5 x 4 + 3 = 23.
I hope this helps and happy knitting!
-Marilla
Why multiply by 5? If I want it 2” less wide how do I calculate the stitches for cast on and keep the 4+3 pattern? Would cast on 31? Thanks for your quick reply
Hi Lauren,
Thanks for reaching out! If you already know the width you would like to make your scarf, you can multiply that measurement in inches by our gauge of 5.5 stitches per inch and then round to the nearest multiple of 4 plus 3. For your example of a 6.5 inch wide scarf, 6.5 by 5.5 equals 35.75. The next lowest multiple of 4 is 32, plus 3 is 35, so you will need to cast on 35 stitches.
I hope that clears things up!
Julianna
Thank you!
Hello!
I am a beginner knitter and I am struggling to finish this scarf because I am not sure what the instructions mean..
Binding off is clear to me, so I won’t be adding the ‘slip the first stitch over’ part.
Am I supposed to k3, p1, k3, p1 and so on or k3, p1, k1 and then repeat the ‘p1 k1’ part three times … Brackets confused me hahah
I’d be really happy to get a quick reply because I can’t wait to finish this scarf!
Hello Irena,
Thank you for reaching out! For this portion you will be purling one and knitting three, because you are repeating what is inside the brackets three time and then repeating from the *.
I hope this clears things up for you and happy knitting!
-Marilla
Hello,
I’m making the No Purl Ribbed scarf and my daughter would like an infinity scarf, if possible. I’m a beginner knitter and have already started the scarf. Is it possible to finish this scarf in such a way that I can make it infinity for her? If so, do you have any suggestions?
I love this pattern and am also planning to make it in a wrap and blanket sizes 🙂
Thank you!
Hello Julia,
Thank you for reaching out- I’m so happy to hear that you are enjoying knitting this up! Once you have finished your scarf you can simply seam the two ends together to create an infinity scarf.
I hope this helps and happy knitting!
-Marilla
This is what confuses me. I get the slip one purl wise, wyif, but do you THEN put the yarn in back to knit 3? I know that sounds crazy but that’s how I’d do it. Is that correct?
Hi Jana,
Thanks for reaching out! Yes, that sounds like you have it! By slipping the first stitch with the yarn in front and then immediately moving the yarn in back for the knit stitches, it keeps the slipped selvage stitch very uniform along the edge of the scarf.
Happy knitting!
Julianna