Knitting
How to read knitting shaping instructions
Shaping instructions give an interval and a count. “Every following 4th row” means three plain rows between each shaping row. “Alt rows” and “every other row” both mean an interval of two. “At each end” changes two stitches per shaping row, not one.
The shape of every shaping instruction
Almost every shaping line in a knitting pattern, however it is worded, carries the same three pieces of information:
- Where it starts — the next row, or a named row.
- The interval — how often after that.
- How many times — and then it stops.
Once you can pull those three out of a sentence, the sentence stops being intimidating. The difficulty is not the knitting; it is that the same three facts are written a dozen different ways, and two of those ways invite an off-by-one error.
The phrases, translated
| The pattern says | Interval | Plain rows between shaping rows |
|---|---|---|
| Every row | 1 | 0 |
| Every other row | 2 | 1 |
| Every alternate row / alt rows | 2 | 1 |
| Every RS row (working flat) | 2 | 1 |
| Every 3rd row | 3 | 2 |
| Every following 4th row | 4 | 3 |
| Every 6th row | 6 | 5 |
Two of those rows are worth pausing on. “Alt rows” is simply every other row, and it is the abbreviation that stops beginners most often. And “every RS row” also means an interval of two when you are working flat in rows, because the right-side rows are the odd-numbered ones — but it means something different if you are working in the round, where every row is a right-side row.
Note the third column. An interval of four leaves three plain rows between shaping rows, not four. That is the first of the two errors.
Off-by-one 1: which row is the first one?
Take the standard wording:
Decrease 1 stitch at each end of the next row and every following 4th row.
The first decrease is on the next row. The interval then counts from there, so the second decrease is on the fourth row after it — not on the fourth row of the piece, and not four plain rows later.
| Row | What you work |
|---|---|
| 1 | Decrease row (the “next row”) |
| 2, 3, 4 | Plain |
| 5 | Decrease row |
| 6, 7, 8 | Plain |
| 9 | Decrease row |
So the shaping rows are 1, 5, 9, 13 and so on: start + interval × (n − 1). The eighth decrease in that sequence falls on row 29, which is a long way from where people expect it if they have been counting fours from the beginning.
Off-by-one 2: “at each end” is two stitches
This is the one that ruins stitch counts, and it is entirely a reading problem.
“Decrease 1 stitch at each end” removes two stitches from that row — one at the beginning and one at the end. The “1” describes what happens at each end, not the total for the row.
| The pattern says | Stitches changed on that row |
|---|---|
| Increase 1 stitch at each end | +2 |
| Increase 1 stitch at the beginning of the row | +1 |
| Decrease 1 stitch at each end | −2 |
| Decrease 1 stitch at each end of every RS row, 8 times | −16 in total |
So “increase 1 stitch at each end of every 4th row, 8 times” adds sixteen stitches, not eight. Patterns usually print the stitch count you should have afterwards in brackets, and that figure is the check worth using: if your count does not match it, the mistake is almost always this one.
Working it out: a worked sleeve
A typical sleeve line, in full:
Cast on 44 sts. Work 6 rows in rib. Increase 1 st at each end of next row and every following 4th row until there are 76 sts.
Work it out before you start, not while you are knitting:
- How many stitches to gain? 76 − 44 = 32.
- How many per shaping row? Two, because it is at each end.
- So how many shaping rows? 32 ÷ 2 = 16.
- Where do they fall? Rows 7, 11, 15… increasing by four, sixteen times. The last is row 7 + 4 × 15 = row 67.
Now the instruction is three numbers you can set once: interval 4, sixteen times, first on row 7. Everything after that is counting rows, which is the easy part.
AT THE SAME TIME
Printed in capitals in most patterns, and for good reason: it means a second schedule starts while the first is still running. Neck shaping beginning partway through armhole decreases is the usual case.
The trap is that people finish the first schedule and then start the second, which makes the piece too long and the shaping wrong. Two things help. Write out the row numbers for both schedules before you start, so you can see where they overlap. And keep them on separate counters, because one number cannot tell you where you are in two schedules at once.
Keeping track of it
Three numbers have to survive the whole piece: the row you are on, how many shaping rows you have worked, and how many rows until the next one. Holding all three in your head is what people actually fail at — not the knitting.
- Work it out first. Convert the sentence into interval, count and first row before casting on. Doing this mid-row is how errors happen.
- Tap at the end of each row, never the start. Counting a row you have not finished puts you one out for the whole piece.
- Check against the bracketed stitch count. It is the only independent check the pattern gives you, and it catches the at-each-end error immediately.
- Count down, not just up. Knowing that the next increase is in three rows is more useful while knitting than knowing you are on row 34.
If you frog, everything has to move back together — the row, the shaping count and the countdown. A counter that recalculates them from the row number keeps them consistent; three figures written separately on paper usually do not.
Frequently asked questions
What does 'every following 4th row' mean in knitting?
Work the shaping row, then three plain rows, then the next shaping row. The interval is four, so three rows sit between them. If the first is row 1, the rest fall on rows 5, 9, 13 and so on.
What does 'alt rows' mean?
Alternate rows, which is every other row: an interval of two, with one plain row between each shaping row. 'Every other row' and, when working flat, 'every RS row' mean exactly the same interval.
Does 'decrease 1 stitch at each end' mean one stitch or two?
Two. One is removed at the beginning of the row and one at the end, so the row loses two stitches. This is the most common cause of a stitch count that does not match the figure printed in brackets.
How do I work out how many shaping rows I need?
Take the difference between your current stitch count and the target, then divide by the stitches changed per shaping row. Going from 44 to 76 is 32 stitches, and at two per row that is 16 shaping rows.
Which row does the shaping actually land on?
Start plus the interval times one less than the count. With the first on row 7 and an interval of 4, the sixteenth is row 7 + 4 x 15 = row 67. Counting intervals from the start of the piece instead of from the first shaping row is a common error.
What does AT THE SAME TIME mean in a pattern?
A second shaping schedule begins while the first is still running, most often neck shaping starting during armhole decreases. Finishing one before starting the other is wrong; write out both sets of row numbers first and track them separately.
Should I count the row at the start or the end?
At the end, every time. A row counted at the start is a row you have not worked, and mixing the two conventions in one piece puts you a row out with no way to tell where.
Does 'every RS row' always mean every other row?
When working flat in rows, yes: right-side rows are the odd-numbered ones, so the interval is two. Working in the round is different, because every round faces the right side.