increases

tutorial – working a pfb

Tutorial - Working a pfb

There are lots of ways to increase the number of stitches on your needle. Purling in the front and back of the same stitch, also known as the pfb increase, is the purl side version of the kfb increase. In other words: you work the pfb on the purl side of the fabric, which is often the wrong side) to get an extra stitch that looks like the kfb increase on the knit- or right side of stockinette fabric. This increase can be a bit tricky to work at first, but once you know how to do it, you will breeze right through them.

The pfb increase is also known as a “bar increase” because it forms a little horizontal bar in your work. Due to this little bar, this increase is virtually invisible in garter stitch. When used in stockinette, as shown in this tutorial, it forms a series of decorative bars along the increase line when viewed from the knit side of the fabric. This how-to will give you step-by-step instructions on how to work the “purl front and back” increase.

Materials used

Yarn: * Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color 128 Lime Green.

Needles: * KnitPro Zing Fixed Circular Needles. In this tutorial, I used the 4 mm (US 6) size with a cable length of 80 cm (32 inches).

Working a pfb step-by-step

In this tutorial I’ll continue the swatch that I used in previous tutorials on increases and decreases.

  1. First, work your way across the row until you’ve reached the point where you want to make the increase.

    In this case, I want the increase 2 sts in from the garter stitch border on the right. A pfb first makes a purl stitch, followed by the extra “bar” stitch on the left of it. Because of this, I start working the pfb over the third stitch.Working a pfb - step 1

  2. To start, insert the right-hand needle purl wise into the front loop of the stitch.

    To finish this part of the stitch, wrap your yarn around the needle, and pull it through the stitch. Don’t drop it of the needle yet!Working a pfb - step 2

  3. Now we insert the right-hand needle purl wise into the back loop of the stitch.

    To do so, insert the needle from the left to the right through the back loop. This is the tricky part, I find it helps to pull the fabric down a bit as shown in the picture, because it makes it easier to see where to insert the needle.Working a pfb - step 3

  4. Next, wrap the yarn around the needle and pull it through the stitch.

    To complete the pfb stitch, drop the loop from the original stitch off the left-hand needle.Working a pfb - step 4

  5. This is how it looks now.

    Do you see the purl stitch with an extra “bar stitch” to the left of it?Working a pfb - step 5

  6. This is how it looks after some more rows with increases, when viewed from the purl side of the fabric.

    In this swatch, I’ve also made increases on the left side of the fabric. Very invisible here!Working a pfb - the result on the purl side

  7. And here is the view from the knit side of the fabric.

    When viewed from this side, it really looks like a kfb, right?!Working a pfb - The result on the knit side

And that’s all there is to it!

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Working a m2 aka double m1 increase

Working a m2 increase

There are various ways of working a double increase. Take for example a double yarn over. In this tutorial I will focus on the make 2 increase or m2 for short. It can also be referred to as a “double make 1” (m1) increase. It basically consists of working 2 m1 increases directly after one other in the same strand of yarn between 2 stitches in the row directly below the one you’re currently working.

The m1 increase is a directional one. This means that there is a left leaning version (m1l) and a right leaning version (m1r). The m2 version that consists of first working a m1r, followed by a m1l, makes a very decorative horizontal strand in the fabric. This is the version I’ll show you below. Different looks can be achieved by first working a m1l, followed by a m1r, working m1r twice, or a m1l twice. Experiment and choose the one that gives the look you like for a particular project!

Please do note, that since this increase uses the strand of yarn already there between stitches, it tends to tighten up the knitting. For this reason I advise to work one or more plain rows between increase rows, especially when stacking them.

Materials used

Yarn: * Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color 128 Lime Green.

Needles: * KnitPro Zing Fixed Circular Needles. In this tutorial, I used the 4 mm (US 6) size with a cable length of 80 cm (32 inches).

Working a m2 increase step by step

  1. First take your knitting. Here I’ve continued with the little swatch I used with a previous tutorial.

    M2 increase - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

  2. Knit to the spot where you want to make the increase.

    First, work your way across the row until you’ve reached the point where you want to make the increase. In this case, I will be making the M2 increase 5 stitches in from the left edge. I’d make the increase in the middle of my swatch for a truly centered result, but alas, my swatch has an odd number of stitches.M2 increase - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

  3. First we start the m1r increase

    To do so, lift the thread between the stitch just knit and the next one from the back with your left needle.M2 increase - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

  4. Insert the right-hand knitting needle into the front of the loop.

    M2 increase - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

  5. Wrap the yarn around the needle…

    M2 increase - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

  6. … and pull in through, slide the stitch of the left-hand needle to complete the m1r part of this double increase.

    M2 increase - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

  7. Next, we’re going to tackle the m1l part of the increase.

    To do so, lift the thread between the stitch just knit and the next one from the front with your left-hand needle.M2 increase - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

  8. Insert the right-hand knitting needle into the back of the loop.

    M2 increase - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

  9. Wrap the yarn around the needle…

    M2 increase - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

  10. … and pull in through, slide the stitch of the left-hand needle to complete the m1l part of this double increase.

    M2 increase - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

  11. This is how it looks after this increase has been worked in 3 RS rows.

    Pretty, isn’t it? And that’s all there is to it!M2 increase - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

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Thanks to my Patreon supporters for bringing you this freebie! Creating quality patterns and tutorials is a lot of work and resource-intensive. However, I find it important to give you free content like this tutorial. Thanks to the generous support of my Patreon supporters, I can make it happen. Thank you, patrons! Click here to join, or click here to read more about La Visch Designs on Patreon.

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tutorial – working a double yo

Tutorial working a double yo

A yarn over (abbreviated as “yo”) is a simple way to increase stitches and deliberately make a little hole in your knitting. I wrote all about it in this tutorial. A double yarn over is exactly what it seems to be: a yarn over that creates two new stitches instead of a single one as with a regular yarn over. And yes, the hole that it creates when using this stitch in lace is bigger as well. In patterns, it’s sometimes referred to as “yarn over twice”.

This tutorial will give you step-by-step instructions on how to work the “double yarn over” increase.

Materials used

Yarn: * Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color 155 Vintage Pink.

Needles: * KnitPro Zing Fixed Circular Needles. In this tutorial, I used the 4 mm (US 6) size with a cable length of 80 cm (32 inches).

Working a double yo step by step

For this tutorial I made a little swatch in stockinette, with garter stitch borders to prevent it from curling.

The swatch

1. First, work your way across the row until you’ve reached the point where you want to make the increase. In this case, I will be making the double yo increase 2 sts in from each of the garter stitch borders. But, I don’t want to increase the total number of stitches on my needles. This means that for every double yo worked, there should also be 2 stitches decreased. In this example I’ll be working a k2tog before the double yo and an skp after it.

Step 1

2. In the below picture I’ve worked the k2tog decrease.

A decrease has been worked

3. To make the double yo, wrap the yarn around the right-hand needle twice. To do so, do the following twice: move the working yarn from the back to the front between the needles and then over the right-hand needle back to the back of the work.

Wrapping the yarn around the needle twice

4. In the following picture I worked the skp decrease directly after the double yo.

Another decrease worked

5. This is how it looks after working the entire row, with one more repeat of steps 2-4:

After finishing the row

The wrong side steps of working a double yo

6. Now we’re going to work the wrong side of the fabric. This is where the magic for making a double yarn over really happens. First, work to the point where you encounter the double yo loop.

The double yo loop

7. The trick with working the double yo on the wrong side row, is to work both a knit and a purl stitch into the double yarn over loop. Both are needed to allow the second stitch to remain a separate one. The order, however, doesn’t matter. I prefer to start with a purl stitch when working stockinette, because that takes out the counting: just purl along until you encounter a double yarn over loop, then work a knit stitch as your second stitch into the loop. In the picture below, I just worked the purl stitch and moved that part of the loop off my left-hand needle.

First, purl in to the double yo loop

8. Next, I worked a knit stitch into the second part of the double yarn over loop:

Next, knit in to the double yo loop

9. This is how it looks after the complete WS row has been worked:

After the WS has been worked

10. In the below picture a few more rows in stockinette have been worked. Do you see there are 2 columns of knit stitches above each double yo?

Double yo in stockinette fabric
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Thanks to my Patreon supporters for bringing you this freebie! Creating quality patterns and tutorials is a lot of work and resource-intensive. However, I find it important to give you free content like this tutorial. Thanks to the generous support of my Patreon supporters, I can make it happen. Thank you, patrons! Click here to join, or click here to read more about La Visch Designs on Patreon.

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tutorial – working a purl-side left-leaning lifted increase

Tutorial working a purl-side left-leaning lifted increase

In previous tutorials I already showed you how to work a Right Leaning Lifted Increase on both knit– and purl-side of your project. The knit-side version of the Left Leaning Lifted Increase, we’ve also covered. This one is usually named Left Lifted Increase with the abbreviation LLI. So, now it’s time to focus on the purl-side Left Leaning counterpart! The purl-side version is called the same, only with “purl” added after it. Left Lifted Increase (Purl) with the abbreviation LLIP.

You may remember it from before: A lifted increase is an increase that you work from a stitch below the one next on the needle. To work this stitch, lift it to work into it.

Materials used

Yarn: * Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color 128 Lime Green.

Needles: * KnitPro Zing Fixed Circular Needles. In this tutorial, I used the 4 mm (US 6) size with a cable length of 80 cm (32 inches).

Working a purl-side Left-Leaning Lifted Increase step by step

I’ve made a little swatch, continuing the same one from the previous tutorial. And since this increase is worked on the purl-side, I’m knitting this bit in reverse stockinette.

The swatch

1. To make the increase a left-leaning one, we have to lift the left-side of a stitch unto to the needle to work into it. This means we will work the increase 2 stitches below the last stitch knit. In other words: You’re not looking at the stitch below the loop on the right-hand needle, but the one below it. I’ve indicated this stitch with the tip of the third needle pictured below.

2. To start, insert your left-hand needle from bottom to top into the second horizontal purl bump below the last worked stitch on the right-hand needle.

Step 2 in working a purl-side left-leaning lifted increase

3. Next, place the lifted stitch on the left-hand needle…

Step 3 in working a purl-side left-leaning lifted increase

4. …. wrap the yarn around the needle as you usually would to make a purl stitch …

5. … pull the yarn through the stitch …

6. … and complete the stitch by slipping the worked stitch off the needle. You have now increased one stitch.

That's how to work the left-leaning lifted increase!

The below picture shows how the left-leaning lifted increase looks after 2 more increase rows. The first picture shows the purl-side, the second the knit-side. Increases are worked 2 stitches in from both garter stitch edges.

The left-leaning lifted increase
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Thanks to my Patreon supporters for bringing you this freebie! Creating quality patterns and tutorials is a lot of work and resource-intensive. However, I find it important to give you free content like this tutorial. Thanks to the generous support of my Patreon supporters, I can make it happen. Thank you, patrons! Click here to join, or click here to read more about La Visch Designs on Patreon.

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tutorial – working a yo

tutorial working a yo increase

A yarn over (abbreviated as “yo”) is a simple way to increase stitches and deliberately make a little hole in your knitting. On its own, it can be used to add shaping to your knitting project. When combined with strategically placed decreases it makes lace, either as a single design element or as all-over patterning. Yarn overs also have other applications. Think for example off simple buttonholes, when paired with a k2tog decrease.

This tutorial will give you step by step instructions on how to work the “yarn over” increase.

Materials used

Yarn: * Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color 128 Lime Green.

Needles: * KnitPro Zing Fixed Circular Needles. In this tutorial, I used the 4 mm (US 6) size with a cable length of 80 cm (32 inches).

Working a yo step by step

I’ve continued with the little swatch I used with my previous tutorial on working the sl2-k1-p2sso centered double decrease.

swatch

1. First, work your way across the row until you’ve reached the point where you want to make the increase. In this case, I will be making the yo increase 2 sts in from each of the garter stitch borders.

step 1

2. To make the yo, move the working yarn from the back to the front between the needles and then over the right-hand needle back to the back of the work.

working a yo

If you’d be wanting to make the yo in reverse stockinette, the working yarn would already be at the front of the work, So, in that case, it would just be a matter of wrapping the yarn over and around the needle, and back to the front of the work.

When wanting to make a yarn over between a knit and a purl stitch or vice versa, you’d have to make adjustments regarding where you’re moving the yarn from and to. The main thing to remember is that you want to wrap the working yarn over and around the needle, before bringing it to the correct position for continuing your knit.

3. And below, you can see how it looks when 2 more rows with yarn over increases have been worked.

several rows with yo increases

And that’s all there is to it!

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Thanks to my Patreon supporters for bringing you this freebie! Creating quality patterns and tutorials is a lot of work and resource-intensive. However, I find it important to give you free content like this tutorial. Thanks to the generous support of my Patreon supporters, I can make it happen. Thank you, patrons! Click here to join, or click here to read more about La Visch Designs on Patreon.

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tutorial – working a kfb

Working a kfb

There are lots of ways to increase the number of stitches on your needle. Knitting in the front and back of the same stitch, also known as the kfb increase, is a relatively easy one. The kfb increase is also known as a “bar increase” because it forms a little horizontal bar in your work.

Due to this little bar, this increase is virtually invisible in garter stitch. When used in stockinette, as shown in this tutorial, it forms a series of decorative bars along the increase line. This how-to will give you step by step instructions on how to work the “knit front and back” increase.

Materials used

Yarn: * Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, a good value, good quality 100% acrylic yarn, here in the color 128 Lime Green.

Needles: * KnitPro Zing Fixed Circular Needles. In this tutorial, I used the 4 mm (US 6) size with a cable length of 80 cm (32 inches).

Working a kfb step by step

I’ve made a little swatch and will be making the increases 2 sts in from each of the garter stitch borders.

The swatch

1. First, work your way across the row until you’ve reached the point where you want to make the increase. In this case, I want the increase 2 sts in from the garter stitch border on the right. A kfb first makes a knit stitch, followed by the extra “bar” stitch on the left of it. Because of this, I start working the kfb over the second stitch.

Find your place.

2. To start, insert the right-hand needle knitwise into the front loop of the stitch.

step 3 of making a kfb

3. Wrap the yarn around the needle…

step 4 of making a kfb

4. … and pull it through the stitch. Do not let the original stitch slide of the left-hand needle yet!

step 5 of making a kfb

5. Now we insert the right-hand needle knitwise into the back loop of the stitch.

step 6 of making a kfb

6. Wrap the yarn around the needle…

step 7 of making a kfb

7. … and pull it through the stitch.

step 8 of making a kfb

8. To complete the kfb increase you can now let the original stitch slide from the needle. This is how it looks now: a knit stitch with an extra “bar stitch” to the left of it.

step 9 of making a kfb

9. In this swatch, I’m also making an increase on the left side of the fabric. Because I want the bar stitch to be 2 sts in from the garter stitch, I now have to work the increase over the 3rd stitch from the right of the garter stitch edge stitches.

Making sure to increase symmetrically

This is how it looks after the entire row with its 2 increases has been worked:

Do you see the bars?

And here again, after 3 increase rows total have been worked, each with 2 kfb increases.

The result

And that’s all there is to it!

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Thanks to my Patreon supporters for bringing you this freebie! Creating quality patterns and tutorials is a lot of work and resource-intensive. However, I find it important to give you free content like this tutorial. Thanks to the generous support of my Patreon supporters, I can make it happen. Thank you, patrons! Click here to join, or click here to read more about La Visch Designs on Patreon.

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tutorial – knitting the m1bl increase

Knitting the m1bl increase - by La Visch Designs

As you know, there are many options to work increases in knitting. Take for example the various m1 increases. A disadvantage of the regular m1 increase is, however, that it’s worked into the horizontal strand between two stitches in the row below. This causes the knitting to become tighter when they’re stacked over multiples rows. Especially when working in stripes or garter stitch, this can cause the lines to become distorted.

And that is where the m1bl increase comes in. The m1bl increase is also known as “Make 1 with Backward Loop” or the “Backward loop increase”. And when worked correctly it’s almost invisible! This is due to the fact that it doesn’t use yarn from the row below, but is given its own amount to be formed. Also, the m1bl increase can be used to either increase mid-row or cast-on stitches at the end of the row. The m1bl is basically the same as the thumb method of casting on, also known as the “single cast-on”, “e-wrap cast-on” or the “backward loop cast-on”.

Directional increase

The m1bl increase is a directional increase. This means there is both a left-leaning and a right-leaning version, which mirror each other when used together. This can be very useful in projects where paired increased are needed and it may be visually pleasing to be symmetrical. Think for example of both sides of a top-down triangle shawls spine, or bust shaping in a garment.

Sometimes there is no indication of a direction given in the pattern, usually denoted by plain “m1bl”. If that is the case, you can choose which version you like best, or easiest to make. Often I don’t bother using both versions of the m1bl increase. I mean, it’s so invisible on its own!

In my patterns you can find the following description for the m1bl increase:
Make 1 with a backward loop (m1bl): With your thumb, make a backward loop with the working yarn over the right-hand needle and pull to tighten.

Below you can find how this increase is worked.

Knitting the left-leaning m1bl increase step by step

1. Take your working yarn and loop it as shown in the picture below, with the yarn going to the project in front.

Knitting the m1bl increase - by La Visch Designs

2. Next, insert the tip of the right needle from back to front through the loop.

Knitting the m1bl increase - by La Visch Designs

3. Pull the yarn snugly around the needle.

Knitting the m1bl increase - by La Visch Designs

4. On next row when you come to the loop added, purl (as shown here for stockinette) or knit (for garter stitch) as usual.

Knitting the m1bl increase - by La Visch Designs

Knitting the right-leaning m1bl increase step by step

1. Take your working yarn and loop it as shown in the picture below, with the yarn going to the project in the back.

Knitting the m1bl increase - by La Visch Designs

2. Next, insert the tip of the right needle from front to back through the loop.

Knitting the m1bl increase - by La Visch Designs

3. Pull the yarn snugly around the needle.

Knitting the m1bl increase - by La Visch Designs

4. On next row when you come to the loop added, purl (as shown here for stockinette) or knit (for garter stitch) as usual.

Knitting the m1bl increase - by La Visch Designs

The results

And this is how knitting both right- and left-leaning versions of the m1bl increase are worked! The result in stockinette is shown below, with the right-leaning version on the right of the swatch and the left-leaning one on the left. In this small swatch, there are three increase rows worked every other row, at a distance of 3 stitches from the garter stitch edge.

Knitting the m1bl increase - by La Visch Designs

As you can see in the below picture, the increases are fairly invisible in reverse stockinette. The same holds true in garter stitch!

Knitting the m1bl increase - by La Visch Designs

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tutorial: knitting M1L and M1R increases

Knitting M1L and M1R increases - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

Many knitting patterns do not consist of rectangles but have a different shape. Think of a hat or a triangular shawl. To make contours in your work, you can make it wider by increasing your number of stitches, and narrower by decreasing them. When knitting lace both increases and decreases are indispensable. Knowing about knitting M1L and M1R increases, therefore, comes in very handy.

Being able to work a wide variety of increases is, therefore, a very important skill for a knitter.  In this post, I’m going to show you how to make increases by lifting the horizontal thread between the stitch just knit and the next one. These increases are referred to as “make one left” (abbreviated M1L) and “make one right” (abbreviated M1R).

Left? Right?

Now you may wonder what is meant by “left” and “right” in this context. Depending on how exactly you make the increase, it leans to the left or to the right, relative to the surrounding “normal” stitches. This can be very useful in, for example, a sweater where increases on both sides of the neck opening are needed. In this particular case, it may be visually pleasing to be symmetrical.

Sometimes there is no indication of a direction given in the pattern, usually denoted by plain “M1”. If that is the case, you can choose which version you like best, or easiest to make.

Knitting a M1R increase step by step

In this variation, you increase by lifting the thread between the stitch just knit and the next one from the back with your left needle, then knit (RS) or purl (WS) into the front of the loop. The resulting extra stitch leans to the right.

1. Lift the thread between the stitch just knit and the next one from the back with your left needle.

Knitting M1L and M1R increases - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

2. Knit (RS) or purl (WS) into the front of the loop.

Knitting M1L and M1R increases - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

3. The result of the right-leaning M1R.

Knitting M1L and M1R increases - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

Knitting a M1L increase step by step

In this variation, you increase by lifting the thread between the stitch just knit and the next one from the front with your left needle, then knit (RS) or purl (WS) into the back of the loop. The resulting extra stitch leans to the left.

1. Lift the thread between the stitch just knit and the next one from the front with your left needle.

Knitting M1L and M1R increases - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

2. Knit (RS) or purl (WS) into the back of the loop. The latter may be a bit challenging, but as with everything practice makes perfect.

Knitting M1L and M1R increases - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

3. The result of the left-leaning M1L.

Knitting M1L and M1R increases - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

And this is how knitting M1L and M1R increases is done!

The M1 increase really is one of my favorites, not in the least because they give an almost invisible result. See for example in the picture below. In this small swatch, there are three increase rows worked every other row, at a distance of 3 stitches from the garter stitch edge.

Knitting M1L and M1R increases - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

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