How to Increase

Increasing is how you add stitches — working extra stitches into the fabric so a piece widens, flares or grows round by round. It’s how our cone-skirt angels open from a tiny neck into a full skirt, how the tree topper’s gown widens in carefully spelled-out increase rounds, and how every pumpkin swells from a little ring of stitches into a round, ripe body.

Step by step

The crochet increase could not be simpler: work two stitches into the same stitch. If a round says “increase in each stitch around”, every stitch gets a twin and your count doubles — 6 stitches become 12, 12 become 24, and away you go.
In amigurumi rounds, increases usually follow a growing rhythm — one stitch then an increase, then two stitches then an increase, and so on. Pop a marker into the first stitch of the round and move it up each time; the rhythm is very easy to lose without one.
Count at the end of every increase round and compare with the pattern’s number. A round that ends one stitch short will quietly skew every round after it, so catch the mistake on the round where it happens.
In knitting, the tidy all-rounder is kfb: knit into the front of the stitch as usual but don’t slip it off the needle — knit into the back loop of the same stitch as well, then let it go. One stitch has become two, with a tiny bar showing where you increased.
For a nearly invisible knitted increase, try the lifted increase (written M1): lift the little ladder of yarn that runs between the stitch you’ve just knitted and the next one onto your left needle, front to back, and knit into its back loop so it twists shut — no hole, and no bar either.
A yarn over (yo) makes a deliberate hole, which is a fault in a beanie and a feature in lace. Use it only where the pattern asks for it, and remember it counts as a stitch from the next row onwards.
Place shaping increases where the pattern puts them — at the sides, up a ladder, or spread evenly around. Increases bunched together make lumps; increases placed as written make smooth curves and clean flare, like a skirt kicking out at the hem.
Work increases at the same tension as their neighbours. A loose increase makes a baggy spot and a tight one puckers the fabric; steady and even is the whole secret, here as everywhere.
Mirror your increases with your decreases later on. A pumpkin that grows by an increase ladder shrinks by the same ladder in reverse — if the two halves match, the finished shaping sits beautifully symmetrical.

Patterns that use it

Cone-Skirt Angel Ornaments Crochet Pattern | 3 Hanging Angels PDF | Classic, Lacy Shell & Striped Mini

Aussie Christmas Angel Tree Topper Crochet Pattern | Waratah Red Angel, Wattle Gold Trim, Gum Leaf Halo PDF

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Crochet Collection Vol 1 | Grooved Pumpkins in 4 Sizes & Acorns PDF

Crochet Doll Clothes Patterns Vol 2 | Aussie Summer Safari Set, Striped Romper and Wattle Lace Dress for 30 cm Dolls PDF

Bookmarks & Book Sleeves Crochet Patterns Vol 2 | Floral Bookmark, Seahorse Bookmark, Garden and Sea Book Sleeve PDF

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Common mistakes

Using a yarn over as your everyday increase in plain fabric. A yarn over makes a deliberate hole — a feature in lace, a fault everywhere else, and it will glare out of a beanie.
Slipping the stitch off the needle after the front loop of a kfb and forgetting the back loop. No second stitch gets made, the count comes up short, and the shaping quietly falls behind the pattern.
Losing the increase rhythm in amigurumi rounds by working without a marker in the first stitch. One missed or doubled increase skews every round that follows it.

Tina’s tips

Keep a pencil tally by your chair and mark off each increase round as you finish it. Shaping rounds all feel the same by the third one — the tally remembers what your hands forget.
Consciously relax your hands on increase rounds. Extra stitches worked at a different tension to their neighbours are what make baggy spots and puckers, and they nearly always come from gripping harder without noticing.