How to Knit a Bobble Stitch – Bobble Stitch Knitting Tutorial

The bobble stitch is a beautiful way to add texture to your knitting (and a pop of color if you use a contrasting color). While there are a few different ways to make a bobble stitch, I’m going to share with you the easiest, advanced beginner friendliest way. And, aside from your yarn and needles, it requires no extra notions or hooks to achieve the cute little bobbles.

The techniques you need to know to do the bobble stitch are:

• Knitting increases
• Short Rows
• Knitting stitches together

If you’re unsure of any of those techniques and would like a tutorial on any of them, please leave a comment and I would be happy to do an in depth tutorial on any one of them.

But, without further ado, let’s get into the beautiful bobble stitch!

How to Knit the Bobble Stitch

The bobble stitch is worked on one row of the pattern, and should have a solid stitch on either side to stabilize it (whether knit or purl).

Follow the pattern right to the stitch that says to make the bobble. In that stitch, knit into the front loop of the stitch, then without sliding it off the needle, knit into the back loop of the stitch, and once more into the front loop of the same stitch, then slide it off the needle. This will increase the stitch by 2 stitches for a total of 3 stitches to make up the bobble.

After increasing to those 3 stitches, turn the work and purl those 3 stitches. This starts the short row for the bobble and those stitches are the only ones that will be worked until the bobble is closed.

Once those stitches are purled, turn the work and knit those same 3 stitches. Then once again, turn work and purl the stitches that were just knitted.

Now that a few short rows completed, turn work once more, then knit the 3 stitches together by inserting the needle into all 3 stitches at once and knitting them just as you would a k2tog.

Following along with the pattern, knit or purl the next solid stitch to secure the bobble. Sometimes it may fold inward, just give it a little push forward from behind and shape.

To make it a little easier to remember, here is the bobble stitch written how it would be in pattern:

k inc 3 (k in front, back, and front of st), turn, p 3, turn, k 3, turn, p 3, turn, k3tog

If visually seeing the bobble stitch in action is helpful, I highly recommend watching my YouTube video tutorial on the stitch.

Special Considerations

The bobble stitch looks best with neat edges on the short rows, so use your favorite technique to get clean edges on your knitting.

When using a contrasting color for the bobbles, use the previous row as a set up row. Use your contrasting color on the row before the bobbles on the stitches that will be the bobble stitch for the next row. Additionally, when completing the bobble stitch, use your main color for the k3tog. It helps to keep all the color inside the bobble.

I hope you enjoyed learning about the bobble stitch and start using it to add more texture to your work.

Happy knitting!