My 5 Favorite Knitting Increases

let's talk about increases today i use five favorite increases for all of my west knits patterns and they are the make one right and left the knit front back the yarn over make one using a backwards loop and make one by knitting into the back of the stitch from the row below whoa what does that even mean where do you do these increases and what do they look like well i'm going to show you how to do each one and share why you would use it for a design or for following a pattern and when to substitute these increases so let's dive into these increases and take a closer look let's start easy with a knit front back knit into the front and back of one stitch just like that i love this increase because it's so quick really easy to knit and it's perfect for garter stitch and seed stitch let's do that one more time holding the yarn in your right hand knit into the front and back of the stitch i use this increase in garter stitch in seed stitch because it blends in with the fabric really nicely here is the knit front back knit and garter stitch and because garter stitch is so bumpy you don't notice the bump that you achieve from the knit front back if you work the knit front back in stockinette stitch you're going to see this extra little bump right here here here and here but in garter stitch it just hides into the fabric so for seed stitch and garter stitch knit front back is the way to go let's do a yarn over a yarn over you just place the yarn on top of the right needle and keep on going yarn over this increase is really quick really easy to do and it gives you a hole in the fabric you can use that hole to your advantage in shawls like the slumber shawl shown here and it makes those beautiful little polka dot yarn over eyelets that decorate the fabric really beautiful and it's really visible to give you that see-through moment in the fabric if you're working a purl stitch and then the yarn is in front you can yarn over and bring the yarn in front to purl again let's do that for you english style knitters holding the yarn in your right hand you just purl the stitch the yarn is in front wrap the yarn around the needle for a yarn over and purl the next stitch really quick really smooth the yarn over is very visible if you don't want a visible yarn over you could try the make one increase by doing a backwards loop cast on method so this is a make one using a backwards loop cast on just like that you twist the yarn and it goes on to the right needle if you do the backwards loop make one you can twist the yarn with your right hand like that and it doesn't matter which direction you twist the yarn you could also twist it towards you as long as you're getting that little lock that little overlap with the yarn make one increase this increase is also really good for stockinette stitch or any textured stitch pattern i used the make one increase for this painting brick shawl and it happens right here you can't hardly even see it it's really great to use the make one increase when you're starting a new color in a new right side row so with your new color right here is that make one twist it's also quite invisible and hidden but it's not as tight as the increase that i'm about to show you so the make one you could substitute that instead of a knit front back or you could do a make one with that backwards loop cast on instead of a yarn over i use the make one a lot with the backwards loop cast on it's a really good increase to substitute instead of doing other increases let's do the tightest increase if you want a solid fabric with no holes really tight and tidy make one left and make one right is the way to go for a make one left we need to lift this ladder between the stitches by going into the front of it so always use the left needle to pick up the stitch i left the front door open make one left go through the front and then twist that stitch let's do that one more time make one left i left the front door open and then twist that stitch by going through the back loop if you hold the yarn in your right hand make one left go into the front door and twist that stitch and make one right goes the other way make one right i'll be right back right go into the back so for make one right i'll be right back go into the back of that little ladder and twist the stitch by knitting into the front one more time i'll be right back go into the back of the stitch and twist it by knitting into the front if that stitch feels a little bit too tight as you're going into the front of the make one right stitch oh i can't get my needle through loosen it up first and then you have space to knit through the front loop to twist it that's going to make a really tight and tidy increase so we have make one rights happening here and make one left happening here you can hardly even see where those increases occur there's no spaces in the fabric it's really tight and tidy so use that make one left and right for a tight fabric if it feels too tight to do that make one left and right then feel free to substitute with the backwards loop cast on i love that backwards loop cast on it just saves your projects from having to think too hard about right left which one is which but use that saying i left the front door open i'll be right back and that's where the left needle inserts okay let's do one more increase knitting into the back of the stitch from the row below this is a make one increase where you go into the back of the stitch from the row below insert the right needle into that stitch from the row below and knit through it this increase is best for stockinette stitch so i have a little bit of stockinette stitch right here and it doesn't really matter if you go into the back of the stitch on the right needle or on the left needle some patterns will say and direct you which stitch to do in my patterns i don't say exactly to do this one or to do this one so it's up to you whatever's easiest knit into the back of the stitch from the row below and keep on knitting let's do that one more time here you could pick up that stitch and knit it same technique just from a little bit different stitch perspective but this stitch will also be quite closed and hidden pick up that stitch and knit it not this stitch but you go into the stitch below and knit that and it also creates a really invisible increase i did that make one by knitting into the back of the stitch from the row below in this top down raglan sweater and look at that there's no spaces where that increase occurs it's really smooth in stockinette stitch and it's not too tight so i really love that increase for stockinette stitch fabric that's my go-to knit into the back of the stitch from the row below let's check out some of the samples that feature those five increases here are the increased locations in the painting chevron's shawl this has a make one right make one left right left right left to slant away from that center spine of the point again if you don't like that make one right or make one left you could substitute a backwards loop cast on method and see how that looks in your fabric but i use the make one right and left for my increased points to get a really solid very crispy fabric for painting chevrons dotted rays uses yarn overs to shape the fabric there are double yarn overs in the center of this shawl which is really fun and exaggerated to get that holy decorative effect in the simple garter stitch fabric this is one of the easier west knit shawls to knit but it's really fun with the short rows and the unique construction it begins at the top center right here and it fans out with those double yarn overs and i put a knit front back increase at the edge of this shawl because knit front backs are perfect for garter stitch or seed stitch you don't really notice the bump that is created from that knit front back the knit front back is also a little bit more flexible than i make one right or left so that helped my edge a little bit it's not too tight and those double yarn overs oh they just steal the show here are a few more moments of that knit front back this is the vertices unite shawl so there are knit front back increases along some of the edges of this shawl and you can't really see those increases they don't make a hole the edges aren't too tight so knit front back is a really really a favorite for my garter stitch fabrics vertices unite is knit with five colors of yarn and it's color blocked and striped a really great pattern to practice your short row and increase techniques let's look at some make one increases the yoke of the painting brick sweater uses the make one using a backwards loop cast on method i use this increase for a lot of my top down sweaters because you can't see any holes you can't see the spaces you can't see where those increases are happening and that's the point i especially like the backwards loop cast on method for color work whenever you're starting a new color you do that backwards loop cast on and i don't have much to show you you can't see it and that's the point of the backwards loop cast on it happens throughout the yoke and it's so magically seamless and invisible here's one more top down sweater called the west knits go to raglan it has increases at the raglan locations right here this is a stockinette stitch fabric so i played with that make one increase where you're knitting into the back of the stitch from the row below and it's also quite invisible and it doesn't give you a hole or a space in the fabric and if it does that you might have a looser yarn or a looser tension so if you do get a hole or a space in that increased location you could try to make one right or the make one left but play around with the increases and see which ones work best for you for each individual project but i always recommend the increase that i used for my sample lastly let's look at some of those yarn overs this slumber shawl is a really easy west knits project because it's knit with thicker yarn you can use four shades of dk or worsted weight yarn to knit the slumber shawl and look at those yarn overs in the center what i love about yarn overs is that they're functional they give you that increase and they also decorate the fabric so as you play with the increases and the repeats and the rhythms of the shawl they make beautiful motifs to decorate the fabric in an effortless way yarn overs are easy to work very quick but they also add a fluidity and drape to the fabric so with this thicker yarn it's really quick to knit but that thick fabric is still quite drapey thanks to those yarn overs oh wow that was a lot um i i don't do all those increases in one project okay so pick and choose which one was your favorite increase do you usually gravitate towards one over the other i'd love to hear what increases you love so you can profess your love in the comments down below and is there an increase i missed am i missing out on an increase because those are like all the increases i use so let me know if you prefer another one there's no right way to do a knitting technique there's always another way so mix and match those techniques and all the patterns shared in this video will be linked down below so you can pick your favorite patterns share your progress on instagram with hashtag westnitz and i need to learn some new techniques i need to expand my toolbox of skills so when i learn a few new things you'll hear it here i'll share some new techniques with you soon so i'll see you in the next video

Channel: Stephen West

Views: 55,575

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Id: 6Kv59SKGlh0

Length: 13min 33sec (813 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 07 2021