Shaping

Increase or decrease evenly calculator

Patterns often say “increase (or decrease) evenly across the row” and leave the math to you. Enter your stitches and how many to add or take away, and get the row written out.

Stitches now

Increase by

Enter whole numbers of stitches to see the row written out.

How to use it

Enter the stitches you have now and how many to increase or decrease.
Choose knitting or crochet, and flat rows or in the round.
Work the row as written. Flat rows keep plain stitches at both edges, so shaping stays away from the seams.

Questions

How do I increase evenly across a row?

Divide the stitches by the increases to find how many to work between each one. For 60 stitches and 8 increases in the round, work 7 or 8 stitches, then increase, 8 times. The calculator spreads any remainder through the row.

Which increase and decrease does it use?

Knitting uses M1 (make one) and k2tog. Crochet uses 2 single crochet in the next stitch and sc2tog. Swap in the ones your pattern uses; the stitch counts stay the same.

Why does flat knitting leave stitches at the ends?

Working flat, the first and last stitches go into the seam or edge, so the shaping is placed between them. In the round there are no edges, so it repeats all the way around.