How to Knit Front and Back (KFB): The Easiest Way to Increase (video included!)
- 21 hours ago
- 6 min read
If your knitting pattern tells you to knit front and back, or uses the abbreviation KFB, the good news is that this is one of the most beginner-friendly knitting increases to learn.
Keep reading and I’ll walk you through:
KFB stands for knit front and back. You might also see knitters describe it as knit front to back, knit one front one back, or a KFB increase. All of these phrases refer to the same basic idea: you knit into the front of a stitch first, then knit into the back of that same stitch before slipping it off the needle.
This turns one stitch into two stitches, increasing your stitch count by one.
KFB is incredibly simple, which is why it’s a lovely increase to learn early on. It does leave a small horizontal bar in your knitting, meaning that it isn’t the most invisible increase. However, you can make it work for some patterns and stitch types!
If you’re looking for a broader overview of increases, check out my post: How to Increase in Knitting: A Must-Read Beginner Knitters Guide.
When to Use the Knit Front and Back Increase
The knit front and back increase is great when you want to add a stitch in a super simple way that is virtually impossible to mess up.
Unlike M1L or M1R, you don’t need to find the horizontal bar between two stitches. You work directly into a stitch that already exists, which usually makes KFB feel much less fiddly for beginners.
You’ll often see KFB used in:
beginner-friendly knitting patterns
shawls and scarves
garter stitch projects
baby clothes
toys and small shaped pieces
I particularly like KFB when working garter stitch (meaning knit every row and the fabric looks bumpy on both sides). This increase creates a small bar, so it has a visible finish compared with other increases, but it’s also very easy to work once your hands understand the movement.
How to Tell the Front and Back of a Knitting Stitch
Before learning how to knit front and back, it helps to know where the front and back loop of the stitch are.
When a stitch is sitting on your left-hand needle, the front loop is the part of the stitch closest to you. The back loop is the part of the stitch sitting behind the needle, further away from you.
When you knit a stitch, you put your needle through the front loop from front to back. Except for specific techniques, you don't work into the back loop in standard knitting.
How to Knit Front and Back Step by Step
When your pattern says KFB, knit front and back, or knit into the front and back of the stitch, do as follows (step-by-step pictures below):
Knit to the point where your pattern tells you to increase.
Insert your right-hand needle into the front loop of the next stitch as if to knit (from front to back).
Wrap your yarn anti-clockwise and pull it through to make a knit stitch, but do not slip the original stitch off the left-hand needle yet.
Keeping the original stitch on the left needle, move your right-hand needle around to the back of the same stitch, ensuring you don't drop the new loop you just pulled.
Insert your right-hand needle into the back loop of that stitch, again moving the needle from front (closest to you) to the back.
Wrap your yarn again, (anti-clockwise) and knit through the back loop.
Now you can slip the original stitch off the left-hand needle.
Check your right-hand needle. You should now have two stitches where you previously had one.
You have now worked a KFB increase and increased your stitch count by one!
Common KFB Mistakes & Fixes
Why Didn’t My KFB Increase My Stitch Count?
This is probably the easiest mistake to make when you first learn KFB.
After knitting into the front of the stitch, your hands naturally want to slip the stitch off the left needle straight away. When I first started, I had to say to my self 'Knit front' as I knitted into the front loop, and 'knit back' as I knitted into the back loop....
Tiny tip: after the first knit stitch, pause and check that the original loop is still sitting on your left-hand needle before moving on.
Why Is It Hard to Knit Into the Back of the Stitch?
KFB can feel awkward because the second part of the increase asks you to knit into the back loop of a stitch that you’ve already worked into once.
If the stitch you're knitting into feels too tight, you may have pulled the knit stitch on the previous row too firmly. There isn't any immediate fix in this case, your knitting tension will balance out over time and with practice.
If it feels like you're wrestling with your needles, you might be pulling your yarn too tight when you knit into the front loop. Try to pull your working yarn just enough to actually move the needle around to the back of the stitch, then you can always give the working yarn a soft tug before slipping the increase stitch off your left hand needle to tighten up the increase.
Why Does My KFB Have a Little Bar?
Because that’s what KFB does!
The knit front and back stitch creates a small horizontal bar in your knitting. This is why KFB is sometimes called a bar increase.
If your stitch count is correct and the increase looks neat, you haven’t done anything wrong. That little bar is simply part of the structure of the increase.
Why Does My KFB Look Loose?
KFB can look loose if the original stitch is already a bit loose, or if you stretch the stitch too much while knitting into the front and back of it.
Try not to pull the first knit stitch too much before you work into the back loop.
At the same time, I wouldn’t try to fix looseness by yanking the yarn tight at the end. That can make the increase look uneven or make the following stitch harder to work.
As always, consistency is usually more helpful than force. Perhaps try this technique on a mini swatch before starting your project.
Did I Accidentally Make a Yarn Over?
If you have an unexpected hole next to your KFB, you may have accidentally wrapped the yarn over the needle at some point.
This can happen really easily when you’re still learning the movement.
A yarn over creates an extra stitch and a hole, so if your stitch count is one higher than expected, check whether your working yarn accidentally travelled over the needle at some point. You can usually recognise an accidental yarn over as a weird looking stitch.
KFB vs M1L and M1R: Can You Swap Them?
not really...
KFB, M1L and M1R all increase your stitch count by one, but they don’t look the same.
KFB works into an existing stitch and creates a small bar.
M1L and M1R use the strand between two stitches and create directional, virtually-invisible increases.
That means KFB is often easier for beginners, but M1L and M1R are usually better when you want more subtle shaping.
If your pattern specifically asks for KFB, use KFB. If it asks for M1L or M1R, I’d stick with those unless you’re happy for the finished fabric to look a little different.
What to Read Next
If you’re learning how to knit, these tutorials are a great next step:
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