When a knitting pattern indicates that you need to make a yarn over, it means that you need to increase the number of stitches in a row or leave a space in the weft to make buttonholes or lace. Although the technique may vary slightly between English stitch (the thread is held in the right hand and "thrown" over the needle) and the continental one (the thread is held in the left hand and then "picked up" with the needle in the right hand), the basic principle does not change.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: English Technique
Step 1. Complete the stitch before moving on to the yarn over
Both needles must be inserted into the piece with at least one stitch on the right one.
Step 2. Bring the thread forward
If you are making purl stitches, the yarn should already be in front. If, on the other hand, you are making knit stitches, then bring the free yarn between the needles, in front of the work.
Step 3. Wrap the yarn around the right needle
This movement allows you to carry it with you to work. If the next stitch is to be purl, keep wrapping the yarn around the left needle, until it is in front of the piece between the two needles (basically you need to make one and a half turns).
Do not move on to the next stitch until this step is done. The yarn over is practically an extra point
Step 4. Complete the next stitch
Proceed as normal, whether it's a purl or knit stitch. Alternatively, you can decrease by one stitch.
Some instructions indicate a double yarn over. In this case, wrap the yarn once more on the right needle, just like you did in the third step
Method 2 of 2: Continental Technique
Step 1. Complete the stitch before moving on to the yarn over
Both needles must be inserted into the piece with at least one stitch on the right one.
Step 2. Gather the yarn from behind the piece using the right needle
Bring the iron towards you by passing under or behind the wire. This way the yarn itself stays on top of the right needle but behind the piece. Grab the thread with your right index finger to prevent it from slipping off the iron.
- If the next stitch is purl then you can make the yarn over in the same way, except that the yarn must be in front of your work at the end of the stitch and not behind.
- Do not move on to the next stitch until you have completed this step, as the yarn over is essentially one more stitch.
Step 3. Complete the next stitch
Proceed as normal, regardless of whether it is a purl or knit stitch. Alternatively, you can decrease by one stitch.
