Options for Increasing Stitches

This time of year I’m always thinking about the basics of knitting and the little things we can do to make even simple patterns look a little more interesting and beautiful (see my post “On the Importance of Details” for more on that).

So when I came across this article on increasing from the Twist Collective I knew I wanted to save it and share it. Most of the time knitting patterns will tell you what sort of increase to use, but if they don’t or you just want to change up the look of your project there are a lot of ways to add stitches. It can be as simple as a knit in the front and back or a decorative eyelet or get slightly fancier with a make 1 or a lifted increase.

None of these is difficult to execute, but they do all bring a different look to your project, so it’s worth having a bunch of increases (and decreases, though that’s a talk for another day) in your repertoire so you can use whatever a pattern calls for or whatever increase you like the look of best.

[Photo via Twist Collective.]

Fall will be here before we know it, and that means there are holidays coming right behind where we might be entertaining at home. It’s always fun to have a hand knit touch in your home for other people to see, and if you’re going to be in the kitchen all day you might as well have some nice knit dish cloths to use.

I love this little plaid hand towel from Darling Jadore. Use a little bit of leftover cotton yarn from another project for the plaid portion. It looks like the horizontal stripes are worked as you knit and the vertical stripes are done with duplicate stitch, making this a quick and easy project even newer knitters can make.

Combine garter stitch and an easy eyelet pattern worked sideways to make the Annette Dish Towel from Cluck Cluck Boots, which is meant to be reminiscent of flour sack towels. It calls for DK weight yarn and you can work it in one color or two (or even three!).

Add a little more texture with this set of kitchen towels from Whileberry Creative. They’re mostly worked in garter stitch with borders in easy knit/purl patterns, and you can work them in sport or worsted weight yarn.

Two of Wands Shop has another cute allover knit and purl pattern they call the Seersucker Textured Tea Towel. It’s an easy repeating pattern worked in worsted weight yarn, and there’s a chart in the pattern you can use, but don’t have to, if you want to practice knitting from a chart.

The Classic Cloth dish towel from Handmade Home by Connie is another one that can use a little leftover yarn in a contrasting color, or you could color block it our use stripes throughout the pattern. This one uses worsted weight yarn and another easy repeating knit purl stitch pattern.

If you like to hang your towel on the oven handle or elsewhere but it’s always falling off, try the Stay Put kitchen towel from Fancy Step Knits. This project is worked in garter stitch and includes a hole partway through so you can pull the towel through itself over a rod or handle. Stripes are optional but a nice addition.

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