stitch pattern – bubble stitch

The bubble stitch is a lovely way to add texture to your knitting. This pattern creates three-dimensional bubbles in the fabric, making it great to add extra interest to your projects. It’s a stitch pattern, that is known under many different names. You can also encounter it as the bubble wrap stitch, and the air bobble stitch. While the bubble stitch may look similar to the regular bobble stitch, it’s structured very differently. The bubble stitch creates a pattern of raised, rounded bubbles across the fabric, through a combination of knit and purl stitches and elongated stitches. The bobble stitch, on the other hand, involves creating a protruding, three-dimensional knot by working multiple stitches into one, and then decreasing back to a single stitch. 

This stitch pattern is worked as a multiple of 4 stitches + 3, and in a twelve-row repeat. Please note that I’ve added 2 edge stitches in garter stitch on both sides of the swatch.

Materials used

Yarn: Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color Tea Rose.

Needles: This is a pair of straights that I picked up at the second-hand store when I started knitting, brand unknown.

Stitches used

• k – knit
• k4b – knit 4 below
• p – purl
• st(s) – stitch(es)

Bubble stitch instructions

Row 1 (right side): Knit.
Row 2 and all following wrong side rows: Purl.
Row 3: Knit.
Row 5: K3, *k4b, k3*; rep *-* to end.
Row 7: Knit.
Row 9: Knit.
Row 11: K1, *k4b, k3*; rep *-* to 2 sts before end, k4b, k1.
Row 12: Purl.

Repeat rows 1-12 for pattern until desired length.

Please note that if you want to work this pattern in multiple colors, change colors after row 4 and 10.

Below you can see how this stitch pattern looks, first as seen the from the right side, and then from the wrong side of the fabric.