Yarn over

In knitting, a yarn over is technique in which the yarn is passed over the right-hand knitting needle. In general, the new loop is knitted on the next row, either by itself (producing a hole) or together with an adjacent stitch (e.g., in "tucked" slip stitches). The yarn-over may also be dropped on the next row, producing a longer stretch of yarn between the stitches of the previous row. Conversely, the effect of a yarn-over can be obtained by picking up the yarn between stitches of the previous row; the difference is that the yarn then is shorter, and the flanking stitches of the previous row may be overly drawn together.

The term "yarn-over" refers only to the act of wrapping the yarn around the needle, and not to the working of the next existing stitch. Yarn-overs are often used to increase the number of stitches, since knitting a yarn-over creates a new stitch where none existed previously, but does not use up a stitch on the needle. Yarn-overs are also common in eyelet and lace knitting, since they produce stable holes in the fabric.