How to tell the right side from the wrong side of a knitting project, the easy way for beginners!
Did you just start knitting? Maybe you successfully finished an easy beginner’s coaster in Garter stitch, and now you want to begin a more complicated pattern. And suddenly there’s a distinction between knitting the right side vs the wrong side, and you have no clue how to tell them apart or what that actually means?
No need to worry! In this little tutorial, I will show you everything you ever need to know about the difference between the right side and the wrong side, and how to identify them with 5 different tricks – no matter the pattern. I’ll also try to expose some common misconceptions (and downright bad advice you’ll even find in popular knitting books).
For advanced patterns, it’s often very easy. Of course, you can tell the inside of your sock apart from the outside, right? And I guess that’s what makes this so confusing for beginners, because the simplest beginner patterns often look very much alike from both sides – with only minor differences. But with a bit of help, they are easy to spot!
So, let’s dive right into it!
Note: Make sure to check out my free knitting school.
What does “Wrong Side” mean in knitting?
In knitting, the wrong side refers to the side of a project that won’t be visible to the naked eye when finished. Typically, this side of the fabric shows characteristics not in line with the intended look or fit. The distinction is even more important for round projects where you are only knitting from one side without ever turning your work around.
You see, most knitting stitches and patterns are not reversible. There is a good side and a side that often looks quite plain or even a bit wonky. And this good side, where the pattern looks at its best, is called the right side, while the back is referred to as the wrong side. Typically, the tails are hidden on the wrong side (from your cast on, or when you join in a new skein).
Tip: Read this tutorial about the difference between reverse stockinette stitch and garter stitch as an example.
The distinction is especially important for projects that are put together using several pieces (like a sweater or a lot of toys). Here, you want all pieces to align perfectly once you’ve sewn them together, so they all show the same pattern. The right side is, so to speak, the face of your project. You arguably can’t wear your sweater inside out.
On top of that, most modern patterns will stagger increases or decreases only on one side, which is usually the right side, to get a very uniform look. Knitting charts will also only depict the right side of a pattern.
It is, however, very important to note that what actually IS the right side or the wrong side is entirely arbitrary. You (or the author of a pattern) define which side of a project is declared as the right side because it shows the desired characteristics. And depending on your pattern these may vary.
ⓘ In knitting patterns & charts, right side is often abbreviated to RS, while WS stands for the wrong side (check out my ultimate list of knitting terms & abbreviations if you want to learn more).
Which side of my knitting is the right side? 5 Tips for Beginners
Once you knit a couple of projects, finding the wrong side of your project will be very easy. But in the beginning, you might still have troubles. But fear not, it literally only takes one glance in most cases. Here’s what you should look out for:
1. Stockinette stitch and other non-reversible patterns
Stocking stitch is one of the most popular knitting stitch patterns. It has a very smooth side and a side that shows little wavy horizontal ridges. Typically, that smooth side, where you can see little “V”s stacked upon each other in columns, is called the right side.
For advanced knitters, it’s important to realize that some patterns may treat the other side as the “good” side. Often, this is referred to as “reverse stockinette stitch”. So, it entirely depends on your preferences. You simply have to define them at the start of your project.
The same applies to pretty much any other non-reversible knitting stitch pattern out there. The cable stitch is very popular (and quite easy to knit, in fact). The backside often looks rather plain. However, there are patterns that make great use of that backside as well, and there are even reversible cables on top of that.
Learn more about the difference between knit vs purl stitches here.
2. Watch your cast-on tail
Luckily, a great many knitting stitch patterns are reversible: The moss stitch comes to mind, or the rib stitch. If you turn these around, you will see the exact same design. However, there is one asymmetrical thing remaining: Your cast-on the tail. Normally, you start knitting on the right side. So, if your cast-on tail is dangling down on the right, you are on the right side (easy to remember, eh?), and if it’s on the left, you are on the wrong side
(Caveat: This only applies to the standard long tail cast-on; If you are using the knitted cast-on or the single cast-on, it’s the other way round.)
Still, why bother about the right and wrong side anyway if it looks the same on both sides? Bigger projects will require more than one skein, and you will want to make sure to join in the ball always in a way so the tails are hidden on the wrong side. You will also weave them in on the wrong side.
Also, sometimes you will have to decrease or increase stitches further into your project, and these advanced stitches are usually only done on one side. However, you can easily knit up to the position where those stitches start, and simply pick either side. You only have to be consistent – it won’t matter which one you pick.
Tip: Use a little pin or stitch markers and attach them to your wrong side so you can tell which side you are on at a glance.
3. Count your rows
Most patterns start on the right side. This means that every odd-numbered row you knit is the right side, and every even-numbered row means knitting the wrong side. If you have a row-counter, it will be very easy to consult it, and you’ll instantly have your answer. Some patterns are reversible, but the pattern rows (the ones with the more difficult stitches) are only on the right side.
This can be particularly helpful for very large projects with mixed stitch patterns. Also, if you are converting a knitting stitch pattern for knitting the round, then this is possibly your only way to keep track of the pattern. The cast-on tail won’t help you – it’s always in the same spot. Typically, this affects lace patterns or twisted stitch designs. A quick glance at your row counter will tell you if you got a pattern row or if you just need to knit across (like it was the wrong side).
4. Reversible Knitting pattern – look very closely
When it comes to reversible patterns, there is, however, one more thing I need to address. A 2×2 rib stitch is reversible, but the ribs will not be in the same position on the right and wrong side. And this can be particularly problematic if you cast on a number of stitches not divisible by 4 for that kind of ribbing.
Then you will have one side, where you have knit stitch ridges on both edges, and another side, where you have those little “valleys” formed by the purl stitches. In this case, you have to look very closely and then check your pattern to see what is required. Often, these knit ridges are required for seaming (my fingerless gloves for beginners are one such example). So, typically, the wrong side is the side where you have purl stitches on one or both sides.
The brioche stitch and other stitch patterns that create vertical columns have the same “problem” and thus require you to cast on an additional 2 stitches to form a symmetrical edge.
5. Colorwork techniques
Almost all advanced colorwork techniques in knitting share one common problem: They create a really beautiful side where you can see the various motifs, and then you end up with one side that has a lot of tails, strands, joins, or so-called floats. In this case, it’s very easy to identify the sides. The wrong side of intarsia knitting will always have visible joins at the borders of two-color blocks.
And Fair Isle is even easier to identify because you are knitting with two strands at the same time, and this creates floats on the backside. However, I have seen some patterns that use exactly these floats to great effect on the right side. So, again, it’s not always that easy and will still depend on the pattern (just in case: read about the difference between intarsia and fair isle here).
Even the simplest way of knitting with two colors, meaning stripes, will have one side with a very distinct transition and one where the stitches in the different colors interlock. Garter stitch is a very good example of a reversible pattern that develops a wrong side when you are knitting stripes.
Wrong side knitting in the round
Not all projects are knit flat. You can also knit in the round. Here, you never turn your work around as you finish one row, but continue in an upward spiral. When knitting in the round, the wrong side refers to the side you are not knitting and that will be hidden on the inside of your socks, hat, etc.
However, there are quite a few tubular patterns that have you actually knitting the wrong side. Once you are finished, you will have to invert your project. This is an excellent method to avoid undesired or complicated stitches.
A knit stitch will appear exactly like a purl stitch from the other side. The two stitches are mirrored pairs. Especially English knitters tend to avoid purl stitches at all costs. So, instead of knitting aggravating rounds of purl stitches in a pattern, they will knit the wrong side and then invert their project for the exact same result.
This is particularly helpful if there are even more complicated stitches involved like p2tog tbl or k3tog. You can simply exchange these for their knit/purl counterparts on the wrong side. Obviously, this will offset the decrease by one row, which will slightly change the shape of your fabric. You can counter that by starting the project on the wrong side.
Anyway. That’s how you can identify the wrong side of knitting. Feel free to comment below in case you have any questions
I did a single cast on. The pattern starts with row 1 (ws) K1,P1 tbl, (K4, P4) twice, K4, P1 tbl, K3. How do I start on the wrong side or does it matter?
Thank you, Terry
Hey Terry,
if you do a single cast on, it doesn’t matter. Only if you did a longtail cast on, do you have to take care and start on the wrong side. But in either way, wrong side in this case is just a definition.
You knit your first row and call that the wrong side. You don’t have to pay attention to anything there.
Hi, a further clarification… when you knit your row and call it the wrong side, is that the side facing you or facing away from you that you are calling the wrong side?
the side facing you, the side you are currently knitting, is always the side you define/call/name
Is it true then that for a ws row 1 (and a longtail cast on) the tail ends up on the right instead of the left?
It will depend a bit on which side you start the first row. Eg. some patterns have you starting on the WS. But typically, if the tail is on the left, that’s a WS row.
my knit stitch always turns into garter stitch and I am worried that I am knitting on the wrong side. 🙁
Hi Norman
I’m really enjoying the wrong side of striped sweathers, as well as the right side, but the ragland inc/decreases always tells if the wrong side is not intentionally the right side. Do you, as a walking encopedia of knitting knowledge have any tips for a increase/decrease stitch to use on a ragland that works on both sides?
No, not that I am aware of but..if you search through my site you will find quite a lot of post on increases and decreases. And I always include swatches of both the right and the wrong side and you could pick the one you like most.
Thank you for the tip, I will take a look 😃
Hi there,
I am a new knitter and have made a mistake in my pattern and ended up mixing up my right and wrong sides (my wrong side is the knit side, and the right side is the purl side) .. is there a way to fix this or should I just keep going? I am several inches in and don’t want to unravel the project
there’s always ways to fix things. But without further details that’s impossible for me to tell. Have you accidentally placed the increases/decrease on the wrong side or what?
Help!
My purl stitch is going on both sides.
I dont know what I’m doing wrong.
So …. the Vs on the purl stitch- when I start its on one side, then the next row of purl stitch I do, comes on the back. If that makes sense……
Any help would be appreciated
Actually I am not quite understanding you. would you mind elaborating a bit=
If doing a purl stitch- (V)- they seem to go on both sides of the “work”. Instead of just one side.
sounds like you are knitting reverse garter stitch. Then that’s sort of “normal”
Hi! I am newer to knitting and am confused on purling the “wrong side”. The pattern calls for cast on, and then it says to purl (wrong side). Do I flip my project over and start purling? Or do I start purling immediately from cast-on…but wouldn’t that be purling from the “right side”?
it just means your projects starts on the wrong side. Often wrong and right side are a matter of definition. ANd this pattern might definite the row you start as the wrong side and wants you to purl across that first row.
PLEASE HELP! I am using circular needles for the first time (using straight not round). I did a long tail cast on and then the pattern says Row 1 should be knitted which I did with the tail on the left side. Unfortunately, the marker I was using to keep me on track of what I was doing fell off!!! Row 2 is to be another row of knitting…but I am confused about which side the tail should be on. I got confused about my needles being that they are circular!! Thank you.
there’s only one way to pick up the working yarn. You can basically ignore the tail when you are working in the round. It tells you nothing of where the right or wrong side is. Just continue knitting across in the same direction (right to left)
My pattern says row 14 (WS): Knit. Does that mean I knit a RS stitch for that row, or will I do a purl stitch?
It just means you knit knit stitches across the whole row.
Hi Norman, thanks for all your content. I’m doing a 1×1 knit-purl ribbing project, and I used an Italian cast-on (following your step-by-step video). Would my cast-on row be considered my first row? And would my “right” side have my tail on the right, as with the long-tail cast-on?
I’m trying to combine knowledge from several of your videos – I saw that purling through the back loop creates nicer stitch definition on the “right” side, but I can’t tell which side should be assigned the “right”/”wrong” one.
Thank you!
The Italian cast-on doesn’t create one row in the same breath. As for right or wrong side – it’s reversible and so is 1×1 ribbing. You can pick either.
Thank you for your explanations however I’m still confused. I have cast on using the longtail method so therefore on the needle with all the stitches the tail is at the pointy end;when I then move the needle over to my left hand to knit from will that be having the RS or WS facing? My pattern (meant to be easy beginners) says to note that WS is facing and as a beginner I have no idea what that means!
in all honesty, just ignore it and just knit according to plan. if you don’t understand the concep its highly unlikely you need it regardless.
but think of it as a sweater – it has an inside (the wrong side) and and outside.
I still do not understand: once you cast on (single stitch at a time), and you come to the end of casting on. The tail is now on the left and so you end the row on a wrong side. However the pattern says to begin on the RS, so do you knit a row after casting on, to get to the RS? Hope you can understand what I’m asking. Thank you, Joy
Right side and wrong side are just what you DEFINE them to be. so if your pattern tells you to do something in the first row after casting on and calls it the right side, you do exactly that.
There is little to understand here other than that it’s utterly abritrary in a lot of cases.
I am a new knitter. I have read this all the way through and it has helped me so much. Thank you for all of your help I have learned a lot.
Hi Norman
How can I join 2 colours in garter stitch when there is not a wrong side without resulting in a demarcation line on one side
Thank you
that’s not possible.
Norman,
I am still somewhat confused by your explanation and the several comments. I am knitting an afghan on circular needles. I used a long tail cast on and the pattern called for a (P1 K1 P1) stitch for 9 rows. Then the design pattern starts and says to start on the RS, but the tail is on the wrong end. Do I need to do another row of (P1 K1 P1) so the tail is on the right with the knitting thread? I don’t know what you would call the stitch for the border and I really can’t tell if there is much difference between the two sides. You can tell I am a bit of a novice.
Thank you
That’s nothing I can tell. but it sounds like the pattern started on the wrong side.
Norman,
As a follow-up to the question above, I have read that Row 1 is considered the right side. If that were the case, how could starting the actual pattern start on the RS with Row 10 as the pattern indicates? Or do I just declare that Row 10 is the RS and mark it as the RS?
This seems so confusing!
No, row one is not considered the right side. That’s like saying you want to re-paint a cabinet and just because your first stroke was on the back, doesn’t make it the front.
the right side is always what you or the designer defines as the side that should be seen later on.
Thanks. That is sort of what I thought.
ok..I’ve got one..I’m an fairly seasoned knitter but have never knitted in the round. I’m working on a jumper and I have knitted a portion of the back and a portion of the front on straight needles. I have a portion of the back on a stitch holder and now I’ve finished the bottom portion of the front. This has been in garter stitch with a simple design on the RS. I finished both on a wrong side. I now have to join in the round. It says to join the two pieces in the round with a knit round first, joining the last stitch of the front with the first stitch on the back until i’ve gone one round. Then it says to purl the next row and put markers to denote front and back. HOWEVER, when I do, I’m purling on the knit side. Garter stitch is supposed to be what is showing on the RS but i’m getting stockinette instead. So i took is out and tried to purl on the WS and knit on RS but it still doesn’t come out. sorry to be so wordy just trying to explain as best i can. thx jamie
Well, in garter stitch in the round you always have to alternate between knit and purl rows. So, if your last row shows as a purl row, you will have to knit across and vice versa
One thing I’m not sure has been commented on is the different appearance of the cast-on row in ribbing that appears otherwise totally reversible and identical. On one side, that bottom edge looks like chain stitch or a series of overlapping slanted stitches, whereas on the other side it looks more like a row of staggered horizontal purl bumps. I prefer the look of the purl bumps at the base of my ribbing, so I always treat that side as the right side and the slanted stitches as the wrong side. Pattern designers don’t seem to be consistent about this, unfortunately, so you have to work out which side they are treating as the RS before you actually start on the ribbing, and adjust accordingly. If you are knitting flat pieces you also have to check that your front and back pieces are identical before you embark on the stockinette. I like to knit my sleeves in the round, so another check is needed to ensure the cast-on row looks the same on both sleeves and the same as on the bottom of the main part of the garment (i.e. purl bumps or slanted stitches, whichever you decide).