How Do You Add a Stitch When Knitting? The Harm That Is Easy to Miss

To add a stitch when knitting, work two stitches out of one place instead of one. Garment patterns name four ways to do it: knit front and back (kfb), which knits into the front and then the back of the same stitch; make one left and make one right (M1L and M1R), which lift the horizontal strand running between two stitches and knit it twisted; the yarn over (yo), which wraps the working yarn around the needle and leaves a deliberate eyelet; and the lifted increases (KLL and KRL), which knit into the leg of a stitch one or two rows below. Each of the four adds exactly one stitch to the row. What separates them is where the new stitch sits and what it leaves behind on the surface of the fabric.

That last difference is where the damage hides. A knitter can finish a sleeve holding the exact stitch count the pattern printed, measure the length correctly, and still end up with a garment that hangs wrong. The Craft Yarn Council's Standard Yarn Weight System, the chart behind the numbered skein symbol on most ball bands, publishes a stitch gauge range for every yarn category and no row gauge at all. Row gauge governs how often you increase.

What changes on the needle when you add a stitch

One increase, one stitch. Alexa Ludeman, co-founder of Tin Can Knits and co-author of its free twelve-pattern Simple Collection, puts the kfb version plainly: "A kfb is an increase that uses 1 stitch to create 2 sts." The same net change applies to M1L, M1R, a yarn over and the lifted increases, which is why a pattern can print one stitch count at the end of a shaping row whichever method the knitter chooses.

A shaping row that increases at both ends adds two. Purl Soho's sleeve instruction for its free Lightweight Raglan Pullover reads "K1, make 1 left (m1L), knit to last stitch, make 1 right (m1R), k1. [2 stitches increased]". A top-down raglan round adds more, having four shaping points rather than two. Tin Can Knits' Flax works one increase before and one after each of four raglan markers, so a single increase round adds eight stitches, two to each sleeve and two each to front and back.

The count is the only property these methods share, and it is the only one a pattern checks.

The harm that is easy to miss: right count, wrong fabric

Purl Soho's Lightweight Raglan Pullover, credited on Ravelry to Purl Soho as designer, states its gauge as 28 stitches and 33 rounds over 4 inches (10 cm) in stockinette, which is 2.8 stitches and 3.3 rounds per centimetre. The sleeve increase round repeats every 7th, 6th, 6th, 5th or 5th round depending on size. For the 36-inch size the interval is every 6th round, worked 18 more times after the first, which occupies 108 rounds.

At the printed gauge, those 108 rounds measure 13.1 inches (33 cm) of tapering sleeve, and the 36 stitches added across them come to 5.1 inches (13 cm) of extra circumference at 28 stitches per 4 inches.

Now give the same instructions to a knitter whose row gauge comes out at 36 rounds per 4 inches instead of 33. Three rounds is an ordinary difference between two people working the same yarn on the same needle, and it changes nothing about the width, because the stitch gauge still matches. The 108 rounds now measure 12 inches. The taper reaches full upper-arm width 1.1 inches (2.8 cm) early, and since the sleeve is then knitted straight to a stated total length, that inch is spent at full width down the forearm.

Nothing in this failure announces itself. The stitch count is correct at every checkpoint, the tape measure agrees with the pattern, and the sleeve is still the wrong shape after blocking.

Frequency is fragile even for the people who write the patterns. Purl Soho maintains a published knitting errata page, where one correction reissues a sleeve schedule as "repeat Right Sleeve Increase Row every 6th (6th, 8th, 8th) (10th, 10th, 14th, 14th) row once, then every 4th row 5 (5, 5, 5) (6, 6, 6, 6) more times." Split schedules like that exist because the required increases rarely divide evenly into the available rows, and they are the instructions that get miscounted.

KFB, M1, yarn over and lifted increases compared

| Increase | Stitches added | Where the new stitch comes from | What it leaves on the surface | Edge limitation | |---|---|---|---|---| | kfb | 1 | An existing stitch, worked twice | Small purl bump at the base of the second stitch | None | | M1L / M1R | 1 | The running strand between two stitches, twisted | Twisted stitch leaning left or right | Not as the last stitch of a row | | Yarn over | 1 | A wrap of working yarn, untwisted | An open eyelet, on purpose | None; the hole stays unless closed later | | KLL / KRL | 1 | The leg of a stitch one or two rows below | Very little in stockinette | KRL not at the left edge |

Ludeman's description of the kfb gives a beginner the shortest available test: "A kfb looks like a knit stitch with a little purl stitch off of it." That bump is the standard appearance, not an error, and it sits on the left-hand stitch of the pair. In garter stitch it vanishes. In plain stockinette it reads as a row of dots marching up the shaping line.

Norman, who writes the technique tutorials at Nimble Needles, rates the lifted increases highest for concealment, calling them "super invisible" and noting that "Stitches like KFB or M1 often leave behind an eyelet or a bar that can be very noticeable if you are knitting in stockinette stitch." The same tutorial rules them out as a default: "These increases are all not meant for doing them in every row or round." Lifting the stitch below draws yarn from the surrounding fabric, and consecutive lifts tighten it.

The yarn over sits in a different category for a reason worth knowing. In her "Ask Patty" column for Modern Daily Knitting, teacher and author Patty Lyons describes the yarn over and the make one as effectively the same stitch, separated only by which leg you work into. The leading leg leaves it open; the trailing leg twists it closed. A yarn over worked as shaping and knitted through the back loop on the next row becomes, structurally, an M1.

How to work M1L and M1R on a knit row

Norman's instructions at Nimble Needles separate the two by the direction the strand is picked up. M1R begins "with the left needle coming from behind"; M1L begins from the front.

1. Knit to the position the pattern specifies for the increase.
2. Lift the running strand between the two needles onto the left needle, from the front for M1L and from behind for M1R.
3. Knit the lifted strand through the back loop for M1L, through the front loop for M1R.
4. Confirm the stitch count before moving on.

Step three is the one that fails. Knitting the lifted strand plainly, without the twist, leaves a hole, because the strand has to stretch to become a stitch and nothing closes the gap beneath it. The hole often passes unnoticed on the needles and shows up after blocking, when the fabric relaxes and the eyelet opens.

How far from the edge the increase should sit

Sources give different answers, and the difference tracks whether the piece will be seamed.

Purl Soho's seamless sleeve places the increase one stitch in from each edge of the round. Interweave's guidance for seamed garments moves shaping two stitches away, leaving an unobstructed column so the seam can run one full stitch in without crossing it. Sister Mountain recommends at least two stitches from the edge or marker for appearance alone. The tutorial site 10 Rows a Day notes that three stitches in is common for raglan shaping worked flat.

Separate the reason from the number and the answers stop conflicting. Seam allowance sets the minimum for anything that will be sewn; appearance sets it for anything that will not. This inset shaping is what the trade calls fully fashioned, the term Brooklyn Tweed uses for its own decrease tutorials.

One hard limit applies regardless of preference. Norman states it directly: "You cannot perform this increase as the last stitch of any row, since there will be no loop to pick up. In this case, you need to resort to the KLL or KRL."

How often to increase, and the arithmetic behind it

Take the difference between the two stitch counts, halve it if you are increasing at both ends, then divide the available rows by that number. The result is the interval, and when it does not divide evenly the schedule splits across two intervals.

Spreading increases across one row uses different arithmetic. Divide the stitch count by the number of increases: 72 stitches with 8 increases gives a segment of 9. Worked flat, split one segment across the two ends so the last increase does not fall on the final stitch. That produces k4, then [M1, k9] seven times, then M1, k5, an 80-stitch row evenly spaced. In the round the split is unnecessary, and the round becomes [k9, M1] eight times.

Gauge converts either calculation into centimetres. Tin Can Knits' Flax lists 18 stitches and 22 rows to 10 cm in stockinette in the round on the larger needle, which is 1.8 stitches and 2.2 rows per centimetre. The Craft Yarn Council's chart puts that yarn in the Medium category, spanning 16 to 20 stitches over 4 inches, roughly 1.6 to 2.0 stitches per centimetre. Two knitters at opposite ends of that band, holding the same ball band and the same pattern, build fabrics differing by 0.4 stitches per centimetre. Across a 50 cm chest circumference that is twenty stitches, which at Flax's gauge is 11 cm of fabric.

Where the sources genuinely disagree

Which mirrored increase goes at which end of a row is unsettled. Michigan Fine Yarns advises M1R at the beginning and M1L at the end to camouflage the shaping, reversing the pair when the line should be visible. Knitters on the Knitting Paradise forum describe the opposite arrangement as their standard. Norman treats the question as cosmetic, writing that neither stitch "will make your fabric lean to the right or left," since either arrangement produces the same triangular shape. The dispute affects how the increase stitches look, not the geometry of the piece, and one eleven-stitch swatch worked both ways settles it.

When the stitch is missing rather than added

A short count is a different problem from a shaping decision, and the fix depends on the cause. A dropped stitch leaves a visible vertical ladder running down the fabric below the needle. An accidental knit-two-together leaves no ladder at all. Diagnose before repairing.

For a ladder, Henni of Knit with Henni describes the crochet-hook repair as catching "the ladder in the row above and pull it through the loop," repeated rung by rung until the stitch reaches the top row and goes back on the needle. Returning it the wrong way round produces a twisted stitch that shows plainly against the surrounding V shapes. A stitch dropped only one row needs no hook. None of the tutorials consulted names the depth at which repair stops being worth attempting, which leaves that judgement with the knitter.

Without a ladder, the count was lost to a stray decrease. The repair is an M1 in the same column on the following row, accepting one slightly irregular stitch, or ripping back to the error.

Frequently asked questions

How can I add a stitch discreetly in knitting?

Lifted increases hide best. KLL and KRL build the new stitch from the leg of a stitch one or two rows below, so no strand is stretched and no bar appears. Nimble Needles calls them "super invisible" but warns they are "not meant for doing them in every row or round."

How do I add a stitch in the middle of a row?

Work an M1L or M1R between any two stitches. Lift the horizontal strand between them onto the left needle, then knit it through the back loop for a left lean or the front loop for a right lean. To spread several increases across a row, divide the stitch count by the number of increases.

How do I add a missing stitch in knitting?

First find out why the count is short. A dropped stitch leaves a visible vertical ladder below the needle; an accidental knit-two-together leaves none. For a ladder, hook the loose stitch with a crochet hook, catch each rung above it in turn, and return it to the needle untwisted.

How do I make an M1 stitch on a knit row?

Knit to the point of increase. For M1L, lift the strand between the needles from the front and knit into the back of it. For M1R, lift the same strand from behind and knit into the front. Both twist the strand, which is what closes the hole underneath it.

How do I increase at the end of a knitting row?

An M1 cannot be the final stitch, because no running strand exists past the last stitch to lift. Patterns place the increase at least one stitch in, as Purl Soho does with "knit to last stitch, make 1 right (m1R), k1". For the last stitch itself, KLL works and KRL does not.

How do I increase stitches in the round?

The methods are identical; only placement changes. Increases sit either side of markers rather than either side of a selvedge, and no segment needs splitting for symmetry. Tin Can Knits' Flax works one increase before and one after each of four raglan markers, adding eight stitches per increase round.