Butterfly Stitch

Corrina points out that with this stitch pattern, it’s important to remember that the row gauge is going to be different than traditional Stockinette stitch. While this stitch pattern is commonly worked on a background of Stockinette stitch, as shown in the video, slipping the stitches many times shortens the height of the fabric, changing the row gauge.

The butterfly stitch is created by slipping 5 stitches, with the yarn in the front of the work. This creates strands along the background of Stockinette stitch, which then need to be a gathered. A gathering stitch is worked to catch the strands in a knit stitch, creating a stitch pattern that looks like a butterfly.

Corrina works the gathering stitch by bringing the right needle under the four strands on the Right Side of the work. She knits the next stitch, dropping the old stitch off the left needle and bringing the right needle under the strands once more.

BUTTERFLY STITCH

This stitch pattern is worked over a multiple of 10 plus 7 stitches as follows:

Row 1 (RS): K6, *sl5 wyif, k5; rep from * to last st, k1.
Row 2 (WS): Purl all stitches.
Rows 3 – 8: Rep Rows 1 and 2 three times.
Row 9: *K8, bring right needle under 4 slip strands, knit next st allowing strands to fall behind this stitch, k1; rep from * to last 7 sts, k7.
Row 10: Purl all stitches.
Row 11: K1, *sl5 wyif, k5; rep from * to last 6 sts, sl5 wyif, k1.
Row 12: Purl all stitches.
Rows 13 – 18: Rep Rows 11 and 12 three times.
Row 19: K3, bring right needle under 4 slip strands, knit next st allowing strands to fall behind this stitch, *k9, bring right needle under 4 slip strands, knit next st allowing strands to fall behind this stitch; rep from * to last 3 sts, k3.
Row 20: Purl all stitches.

Rep Rows 1 – 20 for pattern.

ABBREVIATIONS

k: knit
rep: repeat
sl: slip stitch purlwise
RS: Right Side
WS: Wrong Side
wyif: with yarn in front