Increasing and Decreasing Stitches
Published by JoAnn on Tagged Increasing and Decreasing Stitches
When we are new to knitting, the thought of increasing or decreasing stitches can be a little intimidating but really they are not so difficult.
Increasing Stitches
The simplest way to increase stitches while following a particular pattern (if the pattern does not give specific directions on how to increase) is to insert the left hand needle in the strand of yarn that lies between the stitch on the left hand needle and the stitch on the right hand needle. Insert the needle under the strand while making sure that the strand lies on the needle in the same direction as the other stitches then either knit or purl the strand as if it were any other stitch. A second easy method is to knit or purl a stitch normally then leaving the stitch on the right hand needle, knit or purl a second stitch through the back of the loop, you will now have 2 stitches on your needle, continue knitting the pattern. The third method of increasing stitches is called yo or yarn over. If you are knitting and need to increase, just loop the yarn over the needle. Continue knitting your pattern, when you get back to the yarn over stitch, simply knit it as if it were a regular stitch. If you have a couple of rows knit and realize that you are short one stitch, you can either unravel your work and start over or use the increase to obtain the proper amount of stithces. If you use the first method of increasing, it is almost impossible to notice that the stitches have been increased to correct your pattern.
Decreasing Stitches
Decreasing stitches makes your work narrower. You can either knit or purl two stitches together to decrease your work by one stitch. When you knit or purl two stitches together, it will slant the stitches to the right. Another way of decreasing stitches is to slip two stitches from the right hand needle unto the left hand needle, insert your needle into the front stitch (first slipped stitch) and bring it back over the back (second slipped stitch), this will create one stitch that can now be knit in the normal way. A third method of decreasing stitches is to slip a stitch onto the left hand needle, knit the next stitch then insert the needle into the slipped stitch and bring it back over the knit stitch.
I have found that Knitting Fundamentals will help people who are just getting started to learn a little more.
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