Stitch: Decrease

Definition

A Decrease stitch occurs when the stitch count is reduced in the knitting project subsequent to the cast on row. Like the bind off stitches, a decrease is fundamentally either right-slanting or left-slanting. A secondary differentiation between decrease methods is location: whether the decrease is added to the project in the current row which is being knit or to one of the previous rows. With these considerations in mind, one is well-equipped to make an informed and artistic choice. Keep in mind that names of decreases are not standardized; that is to say, depending on the source, different methods can be intended by use of the same or similar terms.

The most common decrease occurs when two stitches are worked together so as to create one stitch in the new row; keep in mind that more than one stitch can be decreased in a single stitch (for example, K2tog can become K3tog, SSK PSSO). When working a knit stitch, the most typical are SSK (slip, slip, knit) for left-slanting and K2tog (knit 2 together) for right slanting. The corollaries of these stitches for working purl stitches are SSP (slip, slip, purl) and P2tog. As with the increases, there are countless variations on how to make decreases. Links are provided below to instructions for the types of decreases recommended in my designs.

K2Tog (right slanting)

K2Togtbl  (right slanting with a twist)

K3tog (right slanting)

SSK (left slanting)

P2Tog (left slanting)

SSP (right slanting)

P2tog TBL (left slanting)

Decreases Used in My Designs