Back in the mists of time when I did not own a ribber for my knitting machine, (yes there was a time when I only had one machine!), I lacked the skill (and patience) to knit equivalent ribs by hand. Although I knew how to reform stitches by hand to make ‘reverse’ stitches on the face of the knitting, I did not know how to work the cast on edge prior to reforming stitches into a rib, so rolled edges and turned up hems ruled. There was probably an element of impatience in this as well!

Very quickly I acquired a ribber and felt there was no need to learn how to work a fully reformed rib and when I needed to do a separate, hand knit rib, my ability had improved so that I could happily knit a rib on small sized hand knit needles. However, I don’t like having a skills-gap, so I decided to teach myself how to work the edge stitches for a 1×1 and 2×2 reformed rib and have subsequently used this method for those machines that I own for which I do not have a suitable ribber; the mid-gauge HK160 and Knitmaster 250. I was surprised that considering the impatience of my younger self I found the reforming method simple to work once understood, and the process was even rather enjoyable. The edge stitches for 1×1 and 2×2 rib are treated slightly different, and over the years I have tweaked the method and found that attention to tension changes, (as explained in the video below) really improve the finish. As with most ribs, reformed ribs work best in natural fibres, wool or high wool content in particular keeps them stretchy and helps them rebound,

Recently I have had to pack most of my machines away for moving house, and made a start with the ribbers. Of course selling and buying a property takes ages in the UK at the moment, so the ribbers have been packed away for months and months. During this period I have continued to spin yarns and developed a burning desire to knit a half-and-half hand spun/commercial spun sweater on the Brother KH260 that was not yet packed up. BUT, I was not going to move all the boxes and then unpack the lovingly and safely cocooned ribber for the 260 – it would have been a step too far. So I had a choice; hand knit the ribs, or reform them. Although I could have hand knitted the ribs, this seemed a good opportunity to keep my hand in and get some practise on a reformed 2×2 rib. It also presented the possibility of making a workshop video on the subject, so here it is…I hope you find it useful.