Floss Field.
SearchSaved
All crafts

Increasing and decreasing · Beginner

Increases

To increase in crochet, work two stitches into the same stitch. Each increase adds one stitch: a row of ten becomes a row of eleven. In single crochet (UK double crochet) a pattern writes it "inc" or "2 sc in next st", and it is done the same way in every basic stitch.

How to work it

  1. One stitch

    You are part way along a row, with one loop on the hook. Work one single crochet into the next stitch of the row below, the first one you have not yet worked into, in the usual way: push the hook under both strands of its top, from the side that faces you through to the back; take the yarn that leads to the ball over the hook from back to front (up behind the hook and over its top toward you), and draw it back through the stitch, to the side that faces you (two loops on the hook); take the yarn over again, the same way, and draw it through both loops on the hook. One loop is on the hook.

  2. A second in the same place

    Two single crochet stand in the same stitch of the row below: their two posts meet in one stitch, and their two tops lie side by side at the left end of the new row. One loop is on the hook.

    Push the hook into that same stitch again: under the same two strands, from the side that faces you through to the back, beside the stitch you have just made. Work a second single crochet there in the same way. One loop is on the hook.

  3. Count

    Two stitches now stand in one stitch of the row below, and the row has one stitch more than it had. The stitch after these goes into the next stitch of the row below that has nothing in it yet.

At a glance

Used for
making a piece wider; flat circles, which grow by the same number of stitches in every round; turning the corner of a border
Abbreviation
inc
In a pattern
Written "inc", or spelled out as "2 sc in next st". Both mean two stitches in one stitch.
How much it adds
One stitch. Three stitches in one place add two.
In a round
Spread the increases evenly round the round. In a flat circle, every round adds as many stitches as round 1 had.

An increase is not a new stitch to learn. It is two ordinary stitches that share one place.

In a row, an increase can go at the beginning, in the middle or at the end. The pattern says where.

In a flat circle, the increases are spread evenly round each round, and every round adds as many stitches as round 1 had. A circle that starts with 6 single crochet goes to 12, then 18, then 24.

A round of increases is written as a repeat. "(Inc, sc) 6 times" means an increase, then one plain stitch, six times over: 12 stitches become 18. In the next round one more plain stitch stands between the increases, and 18 become 24.

When the increases of each round sit directly above those of the round before, the circle grows corners. Moving them along from round to round keeps the edge round.

Tips

  • Patterns do not all write an increase the same way. Look for the pattern's own list of abbreviations.

When it goes wrong

My circle is ruffling at the edge.
It has too many stitches. Check that each round adds only the number it should, and count the round.
My circle is curling up into a bowl.
It has too few stitches. Check that no increase was left out, and count the round.

Left-handed

The pictures show the hook held in the right hand. For the left hand, read each picture as its mirror image.

Questions

What does "inc" mean in crochet?
Increase. Work two stitches into the next stitch, so that the row or round gains one stitch.
What does "2 sc in next st" mean?
Work two single crochet into the next stitch. It is an increase of one stitch.
How do I increase in single crochet?
Work one single crochet into the next stitch, then a second single crochet into that same stitch.
How do I increase evenly in a round?
Put the same number of plain stitches between one increase and the next, all the way round. A flat circle of single crochet that starts with 6 stitches has 6 increases in every round, and each round has one more plain stitch between them than the round before.
Is an increase done differently in double crochet (UK treble)?
No. In every basic stitch an increase is two stitches worked into the same stitch.

Where to go next

Stitches

Tools