Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Easy Ways to Increase Stitches in Knitting

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While many knitters will make a scarf or a washcloth as their first knitting project, once you have the basics down you might want to add some shaping. There are lots of different ways to increase (and decrease!) stitches in knitting.

Usually a pattern will tell you which increase you should use, and the designer will have chosen that one for an aesthetic reason. For example: yarn overs make holes. Make 1 looks different from knit in the front and the back, which looks different from just casting on an additional stitch.

So, if the pattern you’re knitting calls for a particular increase, be sure to use that one.

If the pattern doesn’t give you a specific increase to use, you can use the one that you prefer. Knit in the front and back is usually a good choice, but it does leave a little bump so it’s not as invisible as a make 1 stitch.

I wrote an overview of all the most basic increase methods and why you (or a designer, which could also be you) might choose one over another, which you can read over at Our Daily Craft.

If you’re just learning how to knit and how to do these increases, working through each of them in a swatch like I did for the photos in that post can be helpful because you can get practice and see how the different increase compare visually to each other.

I admit it in that post but if a designer doesn’t specify what increase to use or if I’m just making something for myself and I don’t want to put too much thought into it, I’ll use a backward loop cast on stitch in place of a regular increase. They’re relatively invisible, totally easy to do, and you can do it anywhere it a row or round with no problems.

Do you have a favorite increase method? I’d love to hear about it!

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Pencil Knitting Patterns

Getting ready for back to school makes me think about pencil crafts, so let’s take a look at some pencil themed knitting patterns! 

I recently made a pencil on a circular knitting machine, and it was a fun, quick, easy project that uses little bits of leftover yarn (and if you don’t have yellow you can make it a colored pencil using whatever color’s your favorite). And if you want to make a bigger version check out this pattern from Orange Olive Road on Etsy.

If you want to knit a pencil pillow by hand, check out Sketchy, available on Ravelry from Shana S. Cohen. This one uses worsted weight yarn and has two size options and the choice to make a pencil with an eraser or a colored pencil. 

Pencil scarves seem to be the most popular kind of pencil knitting pattern, and there are lot of cute ones. This one from Cosy Craft UK mostly uses garter stitch, with some welts to add texture and what looks like an I-cord edging. It calls for DK weight yarn. 

If you want to go all garter stitch try this version from Emsley Co Creations, which uses five colors of DK weight yarn and just a little shaping to make the point of the pencil.

There’s also this fun, mostly stockinette so it looks like it curls a bit, pencil pattern that looks like it’s worked in chunky yarn from Little Knits Studio. This one uses just a little garter stitch and easy shaping for the point. 

If you don’t want a pencil scarf, how about some pencil socks? The No. 2 Pencil Socks from The Yarn Enabler are available from Ravelry and use five colors of sock yarn. They feature wide ribs to mimic the texture of a pencil and have options to be worked from the top down or the toe up. 

Needs Sharpening by Alexander Walker is a free pattern on Ravelry that uses five colors of sock yarn to make a sort of shortie sock. The little bit of black at the tips of the toes inspired the name. These, too, can be worked in either direction and are available in three sizes.