A yarn over is a deliberate loop you create by wrapping yarn around your needle

A yarn over (often shortened to YO) is one of the most useful techniques in knitting. It creates a small eyelet hole in your fabric and adds a new stitch to your needle at the same time. You make it by bringing your working yarn to the front of your work, then moving it back over the needle to the working position. The result is a decorative hole that appears in your finished piece.

Yarn overs are used for lace patterns, buttonholes, and decorative details. They're also one of the easiest techniques to learn once you understand the basic motion. The key is knowing where your yarn needs to be before and after the yarn over, because that changes slightly depending on what stitch comes before and after it.

Key Takeaways

  • A yarn over creates both a new stitch and a hole in your fabric by wrapping yarn around the needle.
  • The exact motion depends on which stitches come before and after the yarn over in your pattern.
  • The most common yarn over happens between a knit stitch and another knit stitch, and requires only bringing yarn forward then back.
  • Yarn overs are intentional and visible, so they should appear exactly where your pattern tells you to place them.
  • If you accidentally create a yarn over when you didn't mean to, you can drop it and pick up the stitch below it to fix the mistake.

Yarn over between two knit stitches

This is the most common yarn over you'll encounter. After you knit a stitch, your working yarn is at the back of your work. To make a yarn over before your next knit stitch, bring the yarn forward between the needles to the front of your work. Then knit the next stitch normally, which automatically brings the yarn back to the rear as you insert the needle.

When you complete that knit stitch, you'll have created a new loop on your needle and a small hole in the fabric below it. The yarn has wrapped around the needle exactly once, which is what makes a yarn over work. If you look at your needle after the yarn over, you'll see an extra stitch sitting there—that's the yarn over stitch, and you'll knit it on the next row.

Yarn over between a purl and a knit stitch

After you purl a stitch, your working yarn is already at the front of your work. To make a yarn over before a knit stitch, straightforward bring the yarn back over the needle to the rear, then knit the next stitch. The yarn is already in the right starting position, so you only need to move it over the needle once.

This is actually simpler than a yarn over after a knit stitch because you don't have to bring the yarn forward first—it's already there. The motion is just one smooth movement: yarn over the needle, then knit.

Yarn over between a knit and a purl stitch

After you knit a stitch, your yarn is at the back. To make a yarn over before a purl stitch, bring the yarn forward between the needles. Then bring it forward again over the needle, so it ends up at the front where it needs to be for purling. Then purl the next stitch normally.

This yarn over requires two forward movements because you're starting with yarn at the back and ending with yarn at the front. Bring it forward to the front of the work, then forward again over the needle. It sounds like extra steps, but it's just the natural path the yarn takes between these two stitches.

Yarn over between two purl stitches

After you purl a stitch, your yarn is at the front. To make a yarn over before another purl stitch, bring the yarn back over the needle to the rear, then forward again to the front, then purl the next stitch. Your yarn ends up at the front where it needs to be for purling.

This is the least common yarn over you'll see in patterns, but it works the same way: the yarn wraps around the needle once, creating a new stitch and a hole. The motion is yarn back over the needle, then forward again to get into position for the next purl.

Reading your pattern to know where yarn overs go

Knitting patterns mark yarn overs with "YO" or sometimes "yo" in the written instructions. In charted patterns, a yarn over is usually shown as an open circle or oval. When you see that symbol, that's where you make the yarn over—not before or after, but right at that point in the row.

Most patterns pair a yarn over with a decrease stitch (like a knit two together, or K2tog) to keep your stitch count the same. The yarn over adds a stitch, and the decrease removes one, so your row stays the same width. If a pattern has yarn overs without decreases, your fabric will get wider as you work.

Fixing an accidental yarn over

If you realize you've created a yarn over by accident—maybe you brought your yarn forward without meaning to—you can fix it without ripping back the entire row. Drop the stitch from your needle and use a crochet hook or your working needle to pick up the stitch one row below. This removes the accidental yarn over and the hole it created.

If you don't notice the mistake until several rows later, you'll need to rip back to that point. It's worth checking your work every few rows, especially when you're learning, so you catch these mistakes early. Accidental yarn overs are one of the most common beginner mistakes, and they're straightforward to spot because they create holes where your pattern doesn't call for them.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between a yarn over and accidentally dropping a stitch?

A yarn over is intentional—you wrap yarn around the needle on purpose to create a stitch and a hole. A dropped stitch is an accident where a stitch falls off your needle and unravels downward. A yarn over adds a stitch to your needle; a dropped stitch removes one.

Do I count a yarn over as a new stitch?

Yes. A yarn over creates a new stitch on your needle, so your stitch count goes up by one. Most patterns pair yarn overs with decreases to keep the total stitch count the same across the row. If your pattern doesn't include a decrease after a yarn over, your fabric will get wider.

Can I make a yarn over on the purl side of my work?

Yes. The technique is the same—you wrap yarn around the needle once. The difference is which direction you're facing and which stitches come before and after. The principle is always the same: yarn wraps around the needle once to create a new stitch and a hole.

What if my yarn over looks too loose or too tight?

Yarn overs often look a bit loose compared to regular stitches, and that's normal. The hole is supposed to be visible. If it looks extremely loose, you may have wrapped the yarn around the needle more than once by accident. If it's too tight, you may not have brought the yarn all the way around. Practice the motion a few times on scrap yarn to get the feel for it.

How do I know if I did the yarn over correctly?

After you complete a yarn over, you should see a new stitch on your needle and a small hole in the fabric below it. The hole should be roughly the size of a regular stitch. If you don't see a hole, you may have just moved the yarn without wrapping it around the needle. If the hole is huge or the stitch is very loose, you may have wrapped the yarn more than once.