New Month: New Knitting Stitch

So it's a new month already! Crazy! Well in keeping with my new knitting skills, I saw a scarf recently which had the most beautiful, textured, zig-zaggy pattern. 

So I checked my Good Housekeeping Knitting Book and couldn't find anything, so then had a google and found a pattern for a ric rac knitting stitch which looked about right. So here we go:

Cast on a multiple of 3 plus 1 for this stitch to work. 

Row 1 (right side): P1, *skip first stitch, knit into back loop of second stitch (leaving stitch on left needle), knit into front of first stitch (removing both stitches from left needle), p1, repeat from * to end of row.

Row 2 (wrong side): K1, *purl into second stitch (leaving stitch on left needle), purl into first stitch (removing both stitches from left needle), k1, repeat from * to end of row.

Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until it's the length you want, and end with Row 2. Cast off on a right side row in a p1, k2 pattern.

Once you get the hang of it it's quite an easy rhythm to get in to and it quickly becomes clear which side is the right and which side is the wrong side. I practised with a soft black wool casting on 16 stitches and here it is: