How to Increase a Stitch
in your knitting.

To increase a stitch simply means to add a single stitch to the row of knitting. Increasing and decreasing are necessary for shaping knitted fabric: widening the sleeve of a sweater from the wrist to the shoulder, forming the armholes and neck lines, and so.on. It can be done in a few different ways. There are three the most often used methods of increasing stitches.

• Yarn-over increase is the easiest of all. A stitch can be added either on a knit or on a purl row. Take the yarn over the right hand needle and knit the next stitch while on the knit row. If purling, take the yarn over the right needle in the same direction as you usually do it when purling. This method produces a small hole on that place where a yarn-over was made. It works good for lace and in case you need to make some decorative elements.
• Make 1 (M1) method. Look at the little bar between the stitches below the loops on the needles. Lift this bar onto the left needle, then knit (or purl) into the back of this loop.
• Working into the front and back of a stitch. On a knit row: knit the stitch as usually through the front loop, but don't transfer it to the right needle. Then knit the same stitch through the back loop and slip the stitch off. On a purl row: do the same, but use a purl stitch.

It is better to see once instead of reading a few times for the visual learners. Video below demonstrates how to increase a stitch in a knit and a purl rows using Make 1 (M1) and Working into the front and back of a stitch methods. Video about methods of decreasing stitches can be found at Decrease a Stitch page .

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