Increase or Decrease Evenly
Work out how to space increases or decreases evenly across a row or round. Enter the stitches you have now and the count the pattern wants; the tool splits the difference into even groups and tells you the interval.
Works the same for knitting and crochet. Each increase counts as one made stitch (for example M1 or an extra single crochet); each decrease counts as one k2tog or sc2tog.
Decrease evenly
12 decreases
96 to 84 stitches.
The plan
Work 12 groups of 8 stitches, ending each group with a k2tog or sc2tog.
Roughly one decrease every 8 stitches.
Before you work the row
This spreads the changes by count alone. It does not keep a stitch pattern, cable, or lace repeat aligned, and it does not steer changes away from edges or darts. To keep an increase off the very end of a row, move the last one in by a stitch.
Increase and decrease FAQ
How do I increase evenly across a row?
Divide the stitches you have by the number of increases you need to get the group size, then work that many stitches and make one increase, repeating to the end. If it does not divide evenly, make some groups one stitch larger and spread those larger groups across the row. This tool does the division and tells you how many of each group size to work.
How do I decrease evenly across a row?
It is the same split as an increase, but each group ends in a decrease such as k2tog or sc2tog, which works two stitches together. Divide the stitches you have by the number of decreases to get the group size. If there are too many decreases to leave at least two stitches per group, you cannot space them across a single row and should work them over two rows.
Does this work for both knitting and crochet?
Yes. The arithmetic is identical. In knitting a change is usually an M1 increase or a k2tog decrease; in crochet it is an extra stitch worked into one stitch or an sc2tog. Count each made or removed stitch as one change and the group sizes are the same.
What if the stitch count does not divide evenly?
There is almost always a remainder. The even solution is to make some groups one stitch larger than the others, spread as regularly as possible. For example, spacing 7 decreases across 95 stitches gives four groups of 14 stitches and three groups of 13. The result stays balanced across the row.
Does it matter where the increases or decreases land?
For plain fabric, even spacing is enough. For a stitch pattern, cable, or lace repeat you often need the changes to fall at set points, and this tool does not track that, so check the alignment against your chart. It also helps to keep a change off the very edge, which you can do by moving the last one in by a stitch.