The basketweave knitting pattern provides a gorgeous texture to your knitted fabric. With your favorite knitting needles and yarn, you can easily knit the beautiful textured pattern. The technique of knitting a basketweave texture is easy, even though it looks complex. Like many stitches in knitting, the stitch comprises knit and purl stitches. Interestingly, the pattern comes in many variations and you can try others or even design your own. This stitch is perfect for beginners while advanced knitters can enjoy making their own designs.
Typically, the basketweave knitting stitch uses an even number of knit and purl stitches, 4-8 columns of knit stitches and then 4-8 columns of purl stitches. By alternating between the knit and purl stitches, you form areas of stockinette stitch with reverse stockinette "woven" in and out. The result is a knitted material that resembles a woven basket, hence the name. This is essentially the same idea people search for as knitting basket stitch — it's also sometimes called the checkerboard stitch, since the balanced rectangles read like a checkerboard when the columns and rows are worked to matching sizes.
The basketweave stitch is great for hats, scarves, blankets, table runners and more! In this blog, let’s take you through the easy steps to knit the basketweave pattern.
Here is our easy-to-follow pattern for the Basketweave stitches:
Step 1: Choosing the Knitting Needles and accessories
The right knitting needles assist you not just with the basket weave knit stitch, but other projects. You will need a knitting needle, a pair of scissors, a finishing needle, tape measure, stitch markers, etc.
If you are still unsure about what type of knitting needle would suit you best, take a look at the ample range of Lantern Moon. Our handmade ebony wooden knitting needles fit every knitting style. They have a warm feel in your hand while the liquid silk finish allows smooth movement of stitches. You can easily go ahead with a single pointed needle or use a circular knitting needle for knitting a flat project. To knit a round project in the basketweave pattern, circular needles and a set of double-pointed needles are the tools you’ll need.
Step 2: Choosing the Yarn
The next obvious step is choosing the yarn. If you are following a pattern, you have the information but if you are designing the pattern, keep in mind what you would like to make. If you want to practice with a knit gauge swatch you can use stash yarn leftover from projects. You can also add some colors by using different yarns for different rows.
Step 3: Cast on Stitches
Create a slipknot and cast on stitches in multiples of 8+5. Optionally, use a long needle length (both single pointed and circular needles work) and stretch your stitch, so that you can see the stitches clearly. If you are making things in the round, use circular knitting methods.
You can use any number of stitches for each block, for example multiplying by an even number; for example, 4x8, 4x10, etc., and so on — for variations on the basic basketweave. If you're hunting for a basket weave knitting pattern free to practice on, a small dishcloth or swatch worked in cotton is the easiest way to test your gauge before committing to a full blanket or garment.
Step 4: How to Knit the Basketweave Pattern
If you've been searching for how to knit basket weave stitch instructions that are actually beginner-friendly, this is the easy version — you will be using only knit and purl stitches. To make things easy to understand, we'll be working 8 rows to see the pattern formation.
- Rows 1 to 4 - Knit 4 stitches, purl 4 stitches, and repeat till the end of the row.
- Rows 5-8 - Purl 4 stitches, knit 4 stitches, and repeat till the end of the row.
- Repeat the eight rows to form the basket weave pattern knitting sequence.
If you are designing your own pattern, make sure to look at your project and see the basketweave look.
Step 5: Bind off and weave in ends
Once you have completed the pattern or achieved your desired length and width, bind off the project. Use a finishing needle to weave in the ends.
A basic basketweave stitch can make these projects any size you want and repeat the pattern as long as you like.
Popular Basketweave Variations Crafters are Trying Right Now
Once you've got the classic basket weave knit pattern down, there's a whole family of variations worth exploring:
- Large Basketweave Stitch: Widens the blocks to 6 or 8 stitches per square for a bolder, chunkier look that works well on throws and heavier-weight yarns.
- Lattice Cable Basketweave: Swaps the flat knit-and-purl blocks for cabled diagonals, giving a knitted basket weave pattern that reads as interlocked rather than gridded — a popular choice for cowls and statement sweaters.
- Braided Basket Stitch: A denser, more textured cousin of the classic weave, often used on hats and mittens where extra structure is welcome.
- Basketweave With an Eyelet Twist: A lighter, airier take that opens up a row of eyelets partway through the repeat, softening the dense, structured look of a traditional basket weave knitting stitch pattern into something that drapes more like lace.
- Seed-Stitch Basketweave: Replaces the purl blocks with seed stitch for extra texture contrast — useful if you want a knit basket weave pattern that doesn't curl at all on its own.
Final Thought- A few things to watch for
The basketweave stitch is not reversible — the front and back look different, so keep that in mind for scarves, blankets, or anything seen from both sides. It also has a tendency to produce jagged side edges, so many crafters add a small seed stitch or garter stitch border when knitting a blanket or dishcloth to keep things flat and tidy. And because it's a dense, textured basketweave stitch knitting pattern, it's worth swatching first — the stitch pulls in more than plain stockinette, so your gauge and final measurements can come out smaller than expected if you don't check ahead of time.
Hopefully, we have inspired you to try the stitch. Between the classic weave and the variations above, basketweave knitting offers plenty of room to grow — what would be your next project in the basketweave pattern? Make sure to check some other beginner-friendly knitting projects.
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