If you want to add stitches to your project without forming any holes – even the tiniest ones – use twisted lifted increases.
This method forms increases that slant to the right and ones that slant to the left, and, of course, we can combine these increases to form neat raglan lines or vertical darts, and add shaping to the sleeves, waist, or any other part of any knitted project.
Since twisted lifted increases are easy to make and they do not leave any holes whatsoever, they are a great alternative to the “make 1 right” and “make 1 left” increases.
I learned this method from Annie, who figured it out in her quest for true hole-free increases. She kindly shared her findings with me, and, with Annie’s permission, I am happy to share this ingenious way with all of you, my friends.
Here’s how this twisted variation of the lifted increases works step by step.
HOW TO KNIT A RIGHT-SLANTING TWISTED LIFTED INCREASE
STEP 1
When you get to a spot where you need to add a stitch to the work, insert the tip of the right needle from right to left under the right leg of the stitch that is below the first stitch on the left needle.
Make sure you don’t get into the stitch itself. We only need to pick up its right leg.
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Place this lifted strand on the left needle so that the right needle is at the back of the left needle.
STEP 2
Wrap the tip of the right needle with the yarn as we do when we knit a stitch, and pull this wrap through, knitting the lifted strand through the back loop.
Because we twist the picked-up strand, we don’t give a hole any chance at all, even when we make a fairly loose fabric.
STEP 3
Knit the first stitch on the left needle.
Technically, we can purl this stitch, but in most cases, this stitch is knitted to give the increase a polished look.
If we make these increases in every other row or round and stack them on top of each other (for example, to shape a raglan line), we’ll form a neat line of increases with tiny twisted stitches slanting to the right.
HOW TO KNIT A LEFT-SLANTING TWISTED LIFTED INCREASE
STEP 1
Work to a spot that is one stitch before the spot where you plan to add a new stitch. Then knit one stitch.
We can purl this stitch if we want to, but usually, this stitch is knitted to keep the line of increases nice and tidy.
STEP 2
Insert the tip of the left needle from front to back under the strand between the first stitch on the right needle (the one we’ve just knitted) and the first stitch on the left needle.
Then move the tip of the left needle to the right and out of the stitch that is at the right-hand side of the spot where the left needle entered the fabric.
We’ve just picked up the left leg of a stitch that is two rows below the first stitch on the right needle.
STEP 3
Knit this picked-up strand through the front loop.
And voila – here’s a new stitch that slants to the left.
Make these increases in every other row or round, and you will form a neat increasing line with stitches branching out to the left and no holes in sight.
Because we twist the picked-up strands, the stitches those strands belong to become smaller, making the stitches above them (the ones that sit next to the added stitches) more prominent.
These prominent stitches form a lovely chain of elongated strands that marks the line of increases and turns it into a subtle decorative element.
But we form those prominent stitches only when we make increases no more often than in every other row or round. Otherwise, the twists tighten the fabric, especially when the fabric is already quite dense.
In most cases, we don’t need to make increases in every row or round, and we can easily use the twisted lifted increases side by side to form neat increasing lines when we form raglan lines or add waist shaping.
In fact, we can form two different kinds of increasing lines, depending on the way we place the increases.
If we make the right-slanting increase first, and then the left-slanting one, the increasing line looks like a chain of loose stitches framed by two lines of elongated strands.
When we start with the left-slanting increase, followed by the right-slanting one, the increasing line looks like a fairly dense line of Vs with elongated strands branching out to the right and to the left.
To soften these increasing lines, add one or two stitches between the increases.
Work these stitches in stockinette stitch for a sleeker look, or work them in garter stitch for a more decorative “bumpy” effect.
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