K1, p1, k1 all in one stitch: a stitch structure post

This time I’m explaining the structure of the double increase that is often described as (k1, p1, k1) in 1 stitch to show the way it’s different from the kyok double increase. (A double increase adds two stitches to the knitting in one location.)

My other stitch structure posts can be found in my stitch structure tag or from the stitch structure link at the top of this page.

Notes

1. These posts aren’t meant as instructions for how to work these stitches; instead I’m showing the structure of the resulting stitches. I am not showing needles in the stitches as I feel they make it harder to see the fabric structure. There are plenty of online tutorials for how to knit this stitch.
2. The yarn is drawn to be much thinner relative to the stitch size than would be practical for actual knitting. Some of the stitch shapes are larger than usual, too. This helps make it easier to see the structure, but it doesn’t look exactly like the final knitting.
3. For this post, it might be useful to look first at my structure post for working (k1, p1, k1) along a strand of yarn.

Figure 1: Here are two finished rows of knitting, three stitches wide (imagine that there are more stitches to either side). I’ve drawn the first knit stitch of row three, with unknit working yarn behind the other two stitches that haven’t been worked yet. I plan to work three stitches anchored in the next stitch, adding two extra stitches to the knitting at this point. Turning one stitch into three is called a double increase.

My plan is to work three stitches in this one stitch. But I can’t just knit the stitch three times, as demonstrated in my structure post about elongated stitches. That would make a super large single stitch. I need to make a way to anchor the bottom of each stitch leg so they’re held in place.

However, first I’m going to redraw the setup to make room for the extra two stitches.

Figure 2: Each outer column of stitches is now leaning outward; this happens after increases in general. (The increases push the new stitches outward to make room.) I’ve enlarged the stitch that I’ll be drawing the three new stitches in more than it would actually be enlarged in the knitting. That center stitch does get enlarged in reality, pulling a little slack from the stitches to each side, just not this much, (See photo at end of post for how this stitch actually looks in context.)

Figure 3: A loop of the working yarn has been pulled through the stitch in the row below from back to front, forming a knit stitch. As is usual with a knit stitch, the bottom of each leg is anchored by the stitch it emerges from. The tail of yarn that’s attached to the ball of yarn is held behind the rest of the knitting; it would be easy to knit another stitch at this point.

Figure 4: Since the next stitch is to be purled (a loop pulled from front to back through the stitch in the row below), the working yarn needs to be brought to the front. It can’t just be pulled through the stitch below, since that would simply enlarge the stitch that’s just been knit, so the working yarn gets wrapped over the top of that stitch to bring it to the front.

Figure 5: A loop of the working yarn has been pulled through the stitch from front to back, forming a purl stitch.

The working yarn has been wrapped one and a half times around the head of the stitch below between knit and purl, making that transition lumpier than the one between knit and yarnover from the kyok.

The working yarn is still held in front of the work, ready for another purl stitch, but the next stitch is going to be knit.

Figure 6: The working yarn is brought over the top of the head of the stitch below from front to back to make it ready for a knit stitch.

Figure 7: A loop of the working yarn has been pulled through the stitch from back to front, forming the knit stitch that finishes off the double increase; I’ve also drawn the knit stitch that finishes off the row.

The middle three stitches of the third row are all anchored in the middle stitch of the second row.

The working yarn wraps around the top of that middle stitch one and a half times between each knit and purl. The two wraps go in opposite directions. (If you’re familiar with yarn structure, it’s S twist for the first, and Z twist for the second.)

Note: these wraps don’t happen when switching between normal knits and purls because there’s no strand of yarn they could be wrapped around in that situation.

I’m less fond of this increase than of the KYOK because it’s a little lumpier and I suspect it uses more yarn.

Figure 8: Here is how (k1, p1, k1) in 1 stitch looks when knit in real yarn. I’ve copied the photo and highlighted the stitches in the second with the same colors as above, with an added row of yellow worked in the top of the stitches of the third row .

Three stitches emerge from a single stitch; the middle stitch is difficult to see; what’s visible is mostly the bumpy wraps between each knit and purl stitch.

After blocking, the stitches in the column below the increase widened; I think this has to do with how bulky the increase is. This is the first time I’ve noticed this effect, so it might be something to do with this particular yarn at this particular gauge. Or maybe I’ve just never noticed it before.

Figure 9: I’ve put a photo of (k1, yo, k1) in a single stitch to the left of the photo of (k1, p1, k1) in a single stitch. This is not quite as good a comparison as I’d hoped, because the gauge is a bit different. I thought I knit both swatches on the same size needles, but either I didn’t, or I was feeling much more tense when I knit the (k1, p1, k1) in a single stitch.

Still, I think it should give the general idea. They both have three stitches emerging from a single stitch. The yarnover version is less lumpy and the yarn moves more freely in the fabric; in my opinion, this improves the blocking. However, the head of the stitch that the increase is attached to is visible, making something like a tiny purl blip. I don’t mind, but if you do, you might want to go with the version with the purl in it.