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How can "Yarn forward or YF" increase a stitch?

by Kim
(Colorado)

Hello! On your skirt patterns for the increase rows it says "yf". I understand this means "yarn forward", to bring the yarn forward between the needles. What I don't understand is how this increases the number of stitches. I've always knitted into the front and back of a stitch or lifted the strand between stitches. Any help will be much appreciated. I would love to make one of your skirts for my granddaughter for her birthday.

Thank you.
Kim

Answer

Hi Kim,

Thanks for the question.
Normally we knit with yarn in the back of work. When we place yarn in front of work and knit, we'll have to bring the yarn over the working needle in order to wrap it around the needle. This creates a new stitch with a hole (eyelet).
Try it and you'll see how amazing it looks. Can't wait to hear from you more about the skirt and the birthday girl.

Best Regards,

Ratcha

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Feb 16, 2024
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starstarstarstarstar 		yarn forward to create a hole in my Shawl
by: Ratchadawan

It sounds like you're working on a beautiful lace pattern where you yarn over (yarn forward) to create a hole, but somehow you're ending up with extra stitches. Here are a few things to double-check:

Yarn Over (YO): When you bring the yarn to the front to create a stitch, make sure you're not accidentally creating an extra yarn over elsewhere in your work.

Slip 1, Knit 2 Together (sl 1, k2tog): After the yarn over, when you slip 1 stitch and then knit 2 together, you're effectively decreasing one stitch, which should offset the yarn over you just made. It's essential to make sure you're slipping the stitch correctly (as if to purl) and then knitting the next 2 stitches together.

Count Stitches: Count your stitches regularly to catch any mistakes early on. If you notice you have more stitches than you should, you can carefully backtrack to find where the mistake occurred. I know you did count the stitches that why you found a mistake. Some lace pattern has different numbers of stitches in certain row.

Pattern Errata: Check if there are any pattern corrections or notes from the designer that address this issue. Sometimes there could be an error in the pattern that's causing the confusion. For example, sl1, k2tog is not common in lace knitting. Why slip and not passover?

Practice on a Swatch: If you're still having trouble, try practicing the lace pattern on a small swatch to see if you can identify where the extra stitches are coming from.

If you can provide more specific details about the pattern or the row where you're encountering the issue, I can try to offer more targeted advice.

Regards,

Ratcha
Feb 16, 2024
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starstarstarstarstar 		Yarn Forward to create a hole in my Shawl
by: Dezina

Hi there. My problem is kinda odd, and I undid a quarter of the way through knitting my shawl, really upsetting. When I am on the knit row the one creating a hole, I am told to yarn forward - create a stitch, then sl 1 K2tog, thus presumably not creating an extra stitch, however, I find that I have extra stitches and really am baffled by it. Now after restarting, I decided to count the stitches as I went, and low and behold extra stitches are present, it just doesn't make sense Increase then decrease to keep the same amount of stitches. The pattern doesn't refer to extra stitches created. Please can you assist? Many thanks. Trish

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