Knit Front and Back (kfb) is a very common single increase that turns one stitch into two. On the knit side of stockinette, a kfb looks a bit like a purl stitch, and in fact, it is sometimes called a “bar increase” because of the horizontal “bar” on the increased stitch. Follow along with our Knit Front And Back (kfb) Tutorial!

KFB: Video Tutorial

Click To See Video Transcript

Hey guys, I’m going to show you how to Knit Front And Back. This is an increase method and it’s also sometimes called a bar increase, and that is because of these little horizontal bars that are created. You can see here on this swatch I’ve already started. I’m doing my increase a couple stitches in from the edge, so first I’m just going to take two knit stitches, and now I will show you how to Knit Front And Back. 

First, you knit into the front just as you would normally from front to back, pull your needle through, but before you let this drop off your needle, what you want to do is work into the stitch one more time, and that’s where the increase comes from. So what you do is you put your right needle into the back loop of that same stitch, knit it, pull it through, and then you can let it come off of that left needle. And then we’ve increased one stitch. 

I’m actually going to pull this out and just show it to you one more time. Okay. Starting from here. Again, first knit into the front without pulling it off the left needle, knit into the back, pull it through. Then you can let it slide off, just like that. I’ve worked this along the right side of this swatch, but this type of increase can really be worked anywhere. I have another swatch here where I worked a few rows increasing right in the middle, and you can see again this little horizontal bar that comes off the left side of the increase.

KFB: Step-By-Step Tutorial

To work a kfb, you knit into the front of the stitch as you normally would, then, instead of letting the stitch slide off the left needle as usual, you insert the right needle into the back of the same stitch and knit it. Having knit into the front and into the back of the stitch, it’s now safe to let it slide off the needle. And that’s it, you’ve created a new stitch!

We use this simple increase to shape the yoke of our Top-Down Circular Yoke Pullover. This beginner sweater pattern is a great place to practice your new skill of knitting into the front and back!

Knit Front And Back (kfb) | Purl Soho

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