The right side of knit fabric is the face that’s meant to show on the finished project. For the most common stitch pattern, stockinette, the right side is easy to spot: it’s covered in neat columns of V-shaped loops. The wrong side has horizontal bumps instead. But not every stitch pattern makes the distinction so obvious, and some fabrics look nearly identical on both sides.
Stockinette Stitch: The Easiest to Identify
Stockinette is the most common knit fabric, and it gives you the clearest visual difference between sides. The right side shows smooth columns of interlocking V shapes running vertically up the fabric. Flip it over, and the wrong side is covered in small horizontal ridges, sometimes called purl bumps, that look like rows of tiny waves or dashes stacked on top of each other.
Stockinette also curls in a predictable way that helps confirm which side you’re looking at. The top and bottom edges curl inward toward the wrong side, while the left and right edges curl toward the back. So if you lay a piece of stockinette flat and notice the side edges rolling away from you, you’re looking at the right side.
Garter Stitch and Other Reversible Fabrics
Garter stitch (the ridged fabric you get by knitting every row) looks almost the same on both sides. So do seed stitch and moss stitch. Since neither side has a visual advantage, the “right side” is essentially whichever side you choose.
The most reliable way to pick is by looking at your cast-on edge. Most cast-on methods produce a neater, more finished-looking edge on one side and a slightly messier one on the other. Whichever side has the cleaner cast-on row is typically treated as the right side. Once you’ve decided, pin a small stitch marker or safety pin to that side so you don’t lose track as your project grows. Many knitters attach the marker on the very first row and leave it there for the entire project.
Even on reversible fabrics, knitting patterns will still label rows as RS (right side) or WS (wrong side). This isn’t because one side looks better. It’s a bookkeeping system so the pattern instructions stay consistent and you can follow shaping or colorwork without getting confused.
Ribbing: A Subtler Difference
Ribbed fabrics (alternating columns of knit and purl stitches, like the cuffs on a sweater) are tricky because both sides look similar at first glance. But there is a difference if you look closely. On the right side, the knit columns can appear slightly wider and more separated from each other. On the wrong side, those same columns often look tighter and more uniform.
This happens because transitioning between a knit stitch and a purl stitch on the same row uses a little extra yarn, which stretches the knit stitches slightly on the side where they’re worked. Many knitters actually prefer the look of the wrong side of ribbing for this reason, finding it neater and more polished. If you notice your ribbing looks better on one side than the other, you’re not imagining it. Some knitters intentionally flip their ribbing inside out to take advantage of this, or use a modified technique called knitting through the back loop to get that tighter appearance on the right side.
Reading Your Edges for Clues
The selvedge (the edge stitches running up each side of your fabric) can also help you tell sides apart, especially if you’ve been slipping the first stitch of each row. A slipped-stitch selvedge creates a chain-like edge with paired strands every two rows, separated by slightly larger gaps. A regular edge, where every stitch is worked, produces evenly spaced single bars with smaller, more uniform gaps between them. If your pattern calls for a slipped selvedge, the chain side is typically the right side, since that’s the technique’s whole purpose: creating a clean, decorative edge for the public-facing side of the fabric.
What RS and WS Mean in Patterns
Knitting patterns use RS for right side and WS for wrong side. The right side is the front, public, or outward-facing surface of the finished piece. The wrong side is the back, the part hidden against your body or inside a seam. When a pattern says “RS row,” it means you’re working a row where you’re looking at the face of the fabric as you knit.
For flat knitting on straight needles, the first row after casting on is almost always the right side. Odd-numbered rows (1, 3, 5) are typically RS rows, and even-numbered rows (2, 4, 6) are WS rows. If you lose your place, count your rows from the bottom, or check which end your working yarn is hanging from. If your yarn tail from casting on is at the bottom left and your working yarn is on the right needle, you’re about to start a RS row.
Quick Visual Checklist
- Smooth V columns: You’re looking at the right side of stockinette.
- Horizontal bumps: That’s the wrong side of stockinette (or the right side of reverse stockinette, if the pattern calls for it).
- Edges curling toward you: You’re looking at the wrong side. Stockinette curls away from the right side at the edges.
- Identical on both sides: You’re working garter stitch, seed stitch, or another reversible pattern. Check your cast-on edge for the neater side, or look for a stitch marker you placed earlier.
- Ribbing that looks slightly looser: Likely the right side, where knit-to-purl transitions widen the stitches.
- Chain-like selvedge: If you’ve been slipping edge stitches, the neat chain edge faces the right side.
If you’re picking up a project after setting it down and can’t remember which side is which, the cast-on tail is your best anchor. Find it at the bottom corner, figure out whether you’re on an odd or even row, and you’ll know immediately which side is facing you.