How to evenly space increases or decreases across a row

Type the stitches you have and the stitches you want. The calculator writes the row for you, with every M1 or K2tog placed so the shaping is spread evenly along the row, whether you knit flat or in the round.

How the spacing works

The plain stitches are split into groups of equal size with one change, an M1 or a K2tog, between the groups. When the stitches do not divide evenly, some groups get one extra stitch. Those groups are spread along the row instead of bunched at one end, and a single leftover stitch goes in the first group. In flat knitting the extras are mirrored, so the row looks the same from both edges.

A flat row has one more group than it has changes, because a change cannot sit on the edge. A round has as many groups as changes, because the end of the round runs into the start.

Example: going from 60 to 80 stitches in the round needs 20 increases with 3 plain stitches between them, so the row is (K3, M1) 20 times. Going back from 80 to 60 gives (K2, K2tog) 20 times.

Reading the row text

M1 (make one) adds a stitch by lifting the bar between two stitches and knitting it. K2tog (knit two together) turns two stitches into one. If your pattern uses another increase worked between stitches, or an SSK for the decrease, work it in the same places.

After the row, count the stitches on the needle. The total printed at the end of the row text is what you should have.

Common questions

How many increases or decreases fit in one row?

An M1 sits in the gap between two stitches. A flat row has one fewer gap than it has stitches between the edge stitches, so that is the most it can take; a round has a gap for every stitch. Decreases are limited to half the stitches, because each K2tog uses two.

What if the shaping is spread over many rows?

Twelve decreases over 96 rows is a different question: one decrease every 8th row, not twelve in one row. This page spaces stitches within one row only.