Increase & decrease evenly calculator
“Increase 12 stitches evenly across the row” is one of the most common instructions in a pattern, and one of the easiest to miscount. Enter your stitch count and the change to get exact instructions, or switch to over several rows to space sleeve or waist shaping.
Work this row
(k7, M1) 2 times,
80 → 92 stitches. M1 = make one (or your preferred increase).
How increasing evenly works
Worked flat, the row is split into one more section than the number of increases, so no increase lands on the edge stitch. 80 stitches with 12 increases makes 13 sections: (k7, M1) 2 times, (k6, M1) 10 times, k6 to end (80 -> 92 sts). In the round there's no edge, so the stitches split into exactly as many sections as increases.
For decreases, the row splits into as many sections as decreases, and each section is worked as “knit to the last 2 stitches of the section, k2tog”. 80 stitches with 12 decreases gives (k5, k2tog) 8 times, then (k4, k2tog) 4 times, for 68 stitches.
Spacing shaping over rows
For a sleeve that goes from 60 to 80 stitches over 40 rows, increasing one stitch at each edge, you need 10 shaping rows, so increase every 4th row 10 times. When the rows don't divide evenly the calculator splits them into two intervals, e.g. every 6th row 6 times, then every 7th row twice.
More calculators
- Gauge calculatorYour gauge doesn't match the pattern's? Get the stitch count that keeps the same finished size.
- Pattern resize calculatorMake a piece wider or narrower at the pattern's own gauge, keeping the designer's ease.
- Rows for length calculatorHow many rows or rounds you need to reach a length at your row gauge.
Do this math inside your pattern
Upload your PDF pattern to GatheredFolk and ask Purl, our pattern helper: it reads your pattern, uses these same calculations for your size and gauge, and tracks your rows as you go. Free to start.
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