Yarn Over Knitting (YON)

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Yarn over knitting is one of the abbreviations that seems to confuse many beginners.  This instruction is also sometimes called Yarn Round Needle or just Yarn Over.  The short form of this knitting instruction is YO, YON or YRN.

This stitch is used to intentionally create a hole in your knitted fabric usually when you are knitting a lace pattern, but it is also sometimes used as an increase stitch on plain knitted fabric.

© Brelbeest | Flickr  Lace Knitting Stitch Patterns

Yarn over increases the number of stitches on your needle by one, and more often than not it will be accompanied by a matching decrease (k2tog for example) so that the number of stitches remains the same for the row.

Yarn Over Knitting Instructions

If YO Occurs Between 2 Knit Stitches

Bring the yarn to the front of the work in front of the stitch you have just completed. Take the tail of your yarn and take it up and over the right-hand needle so that it is at the back of the work again.

Insert the tip of the right-hand needle into the front of the next stitch and knit as you normally could.

If YO Occurs Between 2 Purl Stitches

Take the yarn to the back of the work in front of the last stitch you completed. Take the tail of the yarn up and over the right-hand needle.

Insert the tip of the right-hand needle into the front of the next stitch and purl as you normally would.

If YO Occurs Between a Knit and a Purl Stitch

Take the tail of your yarn up and over the tip of the right hand needle (from the back to the front). Insert the needle into the front of the next stitch and purl as you normally would.

If the YO Occurs between a Purl Stitch and a Knit Stitch

Take the tail of your yarn up and over the tip of the right-hand needle (from the front to the back). Insert the needle into the front of the next stitch and knit as you normally would.

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