How to Increase in 3 different ways

 Increases are the most important skill to master when knitting. This causes your knitting projects to take on shape and size and become wider or larger. This technique is particularly important for many projects such as sweaters, triangular scarves or hats and for some it is not necessary at all such as scarves, pillowcases or blankets that have a rectangular shape. As you increase, the number of stitches on your knitting needles increases. In this blog entry we would like to show you and explain in more detail 3 different methods of increasing stitches.

The different techniques of increases

You can knit the increases in different ways, such as hidden, natural or emphasized. Of course, you can also place the increases in different ways and create different effects. Either distribute them regularly across the entire project to achieve an even increase, or place them on the outer edges to create a V-shape. The choice of increasing method depends on your design preferences. Increases work with all types of knitting needles, whether Single Pointed knitting needles, double Pointed needles, or Circular Needles.

1st method - the classic increases

Right and Left Leaning Increases

Right-leaning increase: Bring the cross thread between the last stitch knitted and the new stitch with the left knitting needle from back to front onto the left knitting needle. and knit the stitch through the front yarn over. This is a little more difficult because the yarn over sits very tightly on the knitting needle.

Increase to the left: Bring the cross thread between the last stitch knitted and the new stitch with the left knitting needle from front to back onto the left needle and knit the stitch twisted, i.e. through the back yarn over.

This method is suitable for almost all projects, whether sweaters, cardigans, scarves or beanies. Use the right-leaning or left-leaning increase in a wide variety of projects and see how it works in your knitted piece.

2nd method - increase with yarn overs 

Yarn Over (YO): Increasing stitches with a yarn over is the easiest form of increase. To do this, place the working thread from front to back over the right knitting needle before knitting off the following stitch. When making yarn overs, it is important that you always knit them on the left if you knit the piece in stocking stitch so that there are no holes. This technique can be used in many different projects, mainly in shawls that should have a loose texture or a lace pattern or also in raglan projects like shirts, sweaters or Baby clothes. You can do yarn over increases with all types of knitting needles.

3rd method - Increase stitches from edge stitches

When knitting on the sleeves, on triangular shawls or when knitting socks on the edge of the heel, you should ideally increase from edge stitches. This is done as follows:

Simply insert into each stitch gap along the corresponding edge and pull the working thread through for a new stitch. Continue like this along the entire edge until either a row closes into a round or you come to the previously stitched stitches. The latter would be the case with sleeves, for example.

Choosing the Right Method Tailoring to Your Needs Considering project requirements: Each method has its own characteristics; choose the method that best suits your knitting project.

"The secret of knitting lies not only in making stitches, but also in losing them."

- Pearl S. Buck

Are your fingers tingling and would you like to put this newly learned skill to use straight away? Then grab your  knitting needles and let them jingle. Shape your project stitch by stitch using the different increasing techniques and let your creativity run wild.