Left leaning decreases: the runners up--an uber-geek techno-weenie presentation

includes 17 illustrations
Ok, I gotta say it: those were a lot of comments to the last post--the one about the possibility of including some sewing techniques. Many thanks to all who responded, and to all who will respond. The drawing for the prize--the $20 gift certificate to Knitpicks--will be on TECHknitting's blogiversery post (Nov 5, 2007). In the mean time, it's back to mundane nuts and bolts stuff about knitting--today's post is about MORE left leaning decreases.

The current series on left-leaning decreases is the result of a lot of experimentation over a lot of (pre-internet) years. At different times, different left leaning decreases were my favorites, but now I have settled on two: the SYTK and the Crochet Hook Method (CHM), each of which previously starred in a post of its own. However, that doesn't mean that some of the other left-leaning decreases with which I flirted weren't handsome creatures, too. I've picked the runners up below. One of these, runner up #2, is a specialty decrease you might want to remember for those situations where you HAVE to make a left leaning (as seen from the front) decrease by working from the back (purl) side of the knitted fabric.

Before we plunge in, I must warn you: this is one of the geekiest (and longest) TECHknitting posts yet. If deep-seated geekishness is not in your nature, you might want to flee read a different blog for today...

If you're still game, here we go with 5 more left leaning deceases. Each one of these, IMHO, is an improvement on ssk and psso, but some are better than others. I've arranged these in reverse order according to my own scale of desirability (yours may vary). Runners up number 5 and 4 I find to be barely an improvement over ssk, while runner number 1, discussed last, is the one I'd go with if SYTK and the CHM suddenly fell off the face of the earth.

* * *

RUNNER UP DECREASE #5: Slip, Knit (sk) In this variation on slip, slip, knit, only the first stitch is slipped knitwise to the right needle and then returned to the left needle (illustration 1, below) The second stitch in sk remains on the left needle and is knitted together with the slipped and re-slipped stitch from its original position (illustration 2, below).The finished sk adds a half-twist to the second (green) stitch, and so removes some of the slack from the top (red) stitch. It is also faster than ssk, as it takes fewer movements. This makes it something of an improvement over ssk, but, at least in my hands, sk remains far from a perfect match for k2tog. Further, even if you liked sk, it'd be easier to do runner up decrease #2, the 1-step sk.

* * *

RUNNER UP DECREASE #4: One-step sk. This is an improvement over runner up #5, regular (two-step) sk, because, as you can see, the finished product for 2-step sk and 1-step sk are identical, but the one step variation is quicker. One-step sk is so nifty and time-saving that it was my steady date for a long time, we went through many great times together. Yet ultimately, I had to move on. Sadly, over time, I was forced to acknowledge that the result of sk (one- or two-step) is pretty much the same as ssk--too much stretching of the top (red) stitch leaves it loose and sloppy on the fabric surface.

* * *

RUNNER UP DECREASE #3: Changing the orientation of the stitches in the row below at the time those stitches are created. In this variation, the stitches to be worked together in the decrease column (the green stitch and the red stitch) are knitted so as to change their orientation on the face of the work--in other words, they are knitted so that AT THE TIME OF CREATION, they lay LEFT arm forward, not right arm forward, and makes them already oriented for ssk. Stated yet otherwise, creating the green stitch and the red stitch to lie left-arm forward means there is no reason to do the slip knitwise, slip knitwise part of ssk--the green and red stitches are CREATED to lay the "slipped" way, ready for the final knit with no further steps to be taken at the time of decrease.

As to how the change in orientation is made at the time of creation, this depends on whether the work is circular or flat. If circular, the stitches to be decreased (the green and the red) are oriented left arm forward when knitting on the face of the fabric. This is done by means of wrapping the standing yarn "over the top," when knitting these two stitches, a mode of yarn wrapping usually labeled "wrong." For flat knitting, the change of orientation is made on the back while purling by means of wrapping the yarn "around the bottom," again, a mode of yarn wrapping usually labeled "wrong." The stitch which does the joining--the blue stitch--may also be oriented left arm forward; this is done by wrapping the standing yarn as shown, before knitting this stitch (i.e. wrapping "over the top")
Thinking logically, orienting the stitches to be knit together so they lay left arm forward at the time of their creation would mean there is *NO MANIPULATION* necessary, no "slip, slip." This is a potentially wonderful boon. And, for some knitters, this solution does work--a good and pleasant outcome. My knitting philosophy is: "Do what works for you." There are various successful ways to knit and we are not martinets. I will share with you, however, that I have never been notably successful with this technique--for me, the creation of stitches which cause a couple of changes of orientation within the row ruffles the fabric face in a distracting manner. If you are interested further, there is a great deal more about why I believe this is so here. (I have put this discussion on a "click through" page instead of in the main blog because experience shows that an eager minority of knitters--you know who you are!--can be passionate about change-of-orientation issues. For these readers--a whole separate page awaits.)

* * *

RUNNER UP DECREASE #2: Re-arranging the order of the stitches on the back.
Step 1, below: Slip the first purl (red) stitch to a stitch holder (here, a bobby pin) and hold it on the side of the fabric towards you Step 2, below: Slip the next purl stitch to the right needle purlwise (right arm forward). Replace the first stitch onto the left needle, right arm forward, then return the second stitch to the left needle by slipping it back from the right needle. This re-arranges the stitches--puts then in different order than they started off. As you can see, the green stitch, which will lie on the fabric surface, crosses in front of the red stitch.

Step 3, below: Give the red stitch (the one which will stay on the back of the fabric) a mighty yank. This draws the slack away from the top stitch (green) on the fabric face. insert the right needle into these two stitches in the usual manner for purling. Next, insert the right needle in the usual manner for purling. Step 4 (below): Purl the red and green stitches together for the finished product.
I think this method of re-arranging the stitches from the back is an improvement over ssk. The manipulation mainly takes place with the red stitch which will wind up behind. This draws slack yarn away from the face of the fabric for a tidier top (green) stitch, especially once you add the "mighty yank" step to the red stitch.

However, it two disadvantages which I find offputting. First, it must be worked from the wrong side--the purl side. In stockinette, at least, this means a stitch holder, for it is far more difficult to be sure of one's place in the wilderness of purl bumps on the back than on the smooth front where decreases show. Yet, even the thinnest stitch marker leaves a trace, for at least some extra yarn must be used to "bridge over" the marker. Adding extra slack where too much slack already accumulates doesn't strike me as a good idea. Second, working with a stitch holder slows down the work. I do admit that in practice, the holder is probably not necessary unless the yarn is ultra-slippery. After all, a single stitch temporarily taken off the needles will not go far. Yet, re-capturing a loose stitch is annoying in its own right, and the more so in splitty yarn (superwash, silk, cotton, alpaca...).

Despite these disadvantages, however, you might want to put this one in your memory bank for the rare occasion when you are to make a leftward decrease on EVERY row, and you are working a flat piece of knitting. The reason? This from-the-back method is a perfect match (when viewed from the front) for ssk and a pretty good match for SYTK. Stated otherwise, there will be little noticeable variation between decreases done from the front by ssk or SYTK, and decreases made from the back by this method.

* * *

RUNNER UP #1: Re-arranging the order of the stitches on the front of the fabric at the time of making the decrease (they don't stay disordered--they end up just like ssk, only tidier). This solution to the ssk problem works for the same reason re-arranging from the back works: the second stitch (the one behind--the green one) is manipulated more than the one in front (red) which pulls slack yarn away so the top (red) stitch lies neater and tidier than an ordinary ssk. Just as in the method of re-arranging from the back, in this method, too, it is best to give the stitch behind (green) a big yank, to transfer even more excess yarn to the back of the fabric.

Despite the real improvement this method displays over an ordinary ssk, this still isn't my fave--it involves a holder (or it involves re-capturing a loose stitch) and (to me--your mileage may vary) doesn't look as good as SYTK. The sequence is identical to that for re-arranging from the back side, the only difference being you do it from the front (and likely do not need a marker to show where the line of decrease is).

As you scan over these pictures, it will, of course, occur to you that you could easily twist the green stitch, thus conferring some of the advantages of SYTK on this method too, but if you're going to do that, why not just go with SYTK in the first place?

* * *

This list of alternate left-leaning decreases is by no means exhaustive. My fellow-blogger Nona (she of the side-to-side socks) offers a beautifully photographed series in which she experiments with 7 types of left leaning decreases. (Nona's been MIA since late August--say you're coming back, Nona!) And even MORE decreases exist: some even appear in the comments to previous posts in this very series--and many THANKS are due those who posted their own personal faves.

If you've gotten to the bottom of this post--if you're still standing after all this verbiage about left-leaning decreases, then you deserve an award. (The knitting-needle cluster is bonus for those who also went to the click-through page about change of orientation.) Congratulations! You are one of the few...the proud--the uber geek techno-weenies of knitting!

And, hey, while we're speaking of uber-geek -techno-weenies, a BIG thank-you goes out to Persnickety Knitter who sent an e-mail correcting a typo in runner up number 2 (the typo has been now been fixed). *Thanks* Persnickety!

--TECHknitter
You have been reading TECHknitting on "5 alternative left leaning decreases"

A POLL with a chance at a PRIZE!

We interrupt the series on left-leaning decreases to ask a question...

Dear Readers: Right from the beginning, the sole point of this blog has been to infect YOUR mind with the knitting tricks which are desperate to ESCAPE mine. Two insistent tricks which have recently been knocking to be be let out involve sewing. So, here's the BIG QUESTION:

Would YOU be interested in posts which include
sewing techniques?

The specific ideas that really want out are these:

First, a series about how to line a sweater-jacket. A reader wrote a long time ago asking for such a series, but I've waffled shamefully because I wasn't sure that this belongs in a knitting technique blog.

This series would include everything, from start to finish: what materials to use for lining, how to use the jacket to create the pattern for the lining, how to add an underarm gusset, how to sew the lining itself together, and how to stitch the lining into the jacket.

Also included would be a couple of posts on putting a zipper closure into a garment. While handy for all genders and ages, experience shows zippers are especially attractive to kids and men. Kids are often too impatient or unskilled to operate buttons, and (taking a risk with stereotyping here) men who "don't like sweaters" will sometimes wear zippered ones when they might not wear buttoned or pull-over ones...

The second idea which keeps knocking to get out of my head is a series on a wonderful storage and transport system for WIP's--a sewn cover-bag with replaceable liner baskets. The WIP's live in the interchangeable baskets with all their parts--the pattern, the yarn, the needles (and depending on your age, your extra pair of reading glasses). The cover-bag fits over the baskets. When you leave the house, you throw whichever WIP suits the situation into the cover-bag--a simple scarf for noisy and distracting places, a lace shawl to keep you company while you sip coffee, a sweater with miles of plain knitting for the airport. The cover bag has handles and makes it easy to carry around the basket of work without spilling or losing anything, the interchangeable baskets mean you won't accidentally leave part of your project home..

You'll be able to follow these two series if you can do the following three things:
1) sew straight stitches on a sewing machine
2) sew zig-zag on a sewing machine
3) overcast (whip stitch) by hand
Any sewing technique harder than these (and there are very few) will be explained and illustrated just like knitting posts are: with line drawings and illustrations.

So... would you find these two subjects interesting, or does this sound like too much sewing?

To encourage response from readers who don't often comment (you lurkers know who you are!) and to reward those who do, there will be a

PRIZE DRAWING!!

All readers responding before November 5, 2007 will be entered in a random drawing for one $20.00 KNITPICKS gift certificate. (Knitpicks is one on-line store where $20.00 can actually buy you something!--HOWEVER, if you are responding from outside the USA and your name is drawn--we'll figure out an equivalent prize that you can use--never fear...) The winning name will be drawn and posted on November 5, 2007 (TECHknitting's one-year Blogiversary!!) so if you've reading this in the archives, and it's before H-Hour... go for it.

With a big thank you for your feedback--

--TECHknitter

The crochet hook method of left-leaning decreases--part 4 of right and left decreases

includes 6 illustrations
A long time ago TECHknitting promised you TWO new ways of making left-leaning decreases. In September 28th's post, the first part of the promise was kept with a little number called SYTK (slip, yank, twist, knit). (BTW: The last 3 drawings in that post were corrected on 10-2.)

Today's post fulfills the other half of the promise by presenting the second method--the CROCHET HOOK METHOD (CHM).

To be honest, of the two, the SYTK is the more versatile. SYTK can be used anywhere a left-leaning decrease is wanted--in a paired decrease situation, or for spiraling decrease. By contrast, the CHM is more limited--it works best on a spiraling garment where there are ONLY left leaning decreases, such as hats, or spiral-knit socks or mittens. This is because, while the CHM makes an insanely beautiful left-leaning decrease, it creates tension issues if you try to pair it with a right leaning decrease. Specifically, the CHM "overtightens" the fabric, creating a distinctive (and very beautiful) "welt." As beautiful as this welt is (see photo below) it is difficult (although not impossible--see the small print at the end of this post) to pair with a right leaning decrease such as k2tog.

One more thing before we start: this method evolved during my search for methods to tighten up ssk. It still serves the function of improving ssk, but I've added a couple of additional wrinkles. An argument could be made that the CHM is merely a method of improvement for ssk, or an argument could be made that this is a whole new method. However, regardless of whichever it is, here's how to do it:

CROCHET HOOK METHOD for making (improving?)
LEFT LEANING DECREASES.

Step 1 (below). To begin the crochet hook method (abbreviated CHM) you place onto a holder, the stitch to the RIGHT of the FIRST left leaning decrease--the purple stitch. In the illustration below, a safety pin is used as a stitch holder. Next, make the left leaning decrease as a slip, slip, knit (the ssk is shown as the red, green and blue stitches). (Click HERE for complete directions for ssk.) Contrary to the usual instructions for good-looking decreases, with the CHM, you are supposed to make the ssk as LOOSE and SLOPPY as you POSSIBLY CAN (really!)

Continue as directed by the pattern, making ssk's where they ought to be, but remembering that, when you count your stitches, there will be ONE LESS STITCH than there ought to be, so do. not. panic. when counting!

* * *

Step 2 (below) When all the decreases are done, you perform the next step. Begin by knitting around to the ladder above the stitch put on the holder. Take that first stitch off the holder. Next, thread a crochet hook through the front of the stitch, as shown. Then, hook up the first rung of the ladder to create a stitch. (This "hooking up" maneuver is the same move as if you had dropped a stitch, and were correcting with a crochet hook.) Continue hooking up the ladder rungs until you've gotten to the top of the decrease line. Pull the working yarn through at the top, place the newly created stitch on your right needle, and you will see that you again have the correct number of stitches which your pattern calls for.
Two more things:

• the decreases in the illustration are done every other row, but this method works regardless of how many "plain rows" lie between the decrease rows.
• although the temptation is nearly overwhelming to try the hooking step after only a couple of decreases, it'll look better if you save the hooking until the end. Hooking up all the ladder rungs at once gives a more even tension. If curiosity is killing you, go ahead and try it, but don't say I didn't warn you!

* * *

Step 3 (below) The finished CHM fabric.

* * *

Of course, the three drawn illustrations above make it all look clear and easy. But, when you come to do this trick, the ladder rungs won't be showing as they do in the illustration--they will be hidden next to the decrease. Also unlike the illustration, the small purple ladder rungs don't turn into regular sized stitches. The process of turning ladder rungs into stitches overtightens the neighboring stitches so much that the effect reaches well beyond the ladder, and that's how the "welt" illustrated in the opening photo was formed. In other words, hooking up the little ladder rungs means that the new stitches formed from them are cramped and tight, the ssk's next door are yanked up tight, and so are the stitches two and even three columns in--it is this ridge of overtightened stitches which creates the welt.

The drawn illustrations above also doesn't show how very loose the ssk's really are before they're tightened, so I've added a photo illustration below which does. These photos show a "before" and "after" shot of a hat knit purposely knit with very loose ssk's, which were then tightened by the CHM. As you can see, those are VERY loose ssk's, indeed.
A note about fabrics: The gray fabric in the above illustration was knit loosely with a thickish yarn on large needles, (Plymouth Encore on size 5 needles). (Ok, yes, for me size 5's are large, because I knit loosely--3 sizes less than what standard pattern instructions call for.) The purple hat in the first photo illustration was knit tightly with thin yarn on small needles (Dale of Norway Baby Ull on size 0 needles). The CHM works for both kinds of knitting, although I will share with you that it was considerably easier to work the crochet hook through the the thicker, looser fabric of the second (gray) hat.

I'll close this post with an analysis of using the crochet hook method in a paired decrease situation with right leaning decreases, for a raglan decrease, say, or a V-neck knit from the bottom up.

The advantage of the CHM is that it makes a really, really lovely decrease, as nice as (or even nicer than) the SYTK. It is hard to overstate how lovely the welts look in person. But those lovely welts make it hard to match the CHM left leaning decreases with k2tog right leaning decreases. And, those welts in the CHM are nearly unavoidable: even when you think you are knitting your ssk's so loose that no welts will form, the CHM tightens the left leaning decreases beyond the tightest you could possibly knit the right leaning decreases, and there are those welts again!

In other words, the welts are the beautiful side effect of cramming in a whole extra stitch row, but the welts also have the disadvantage of making it hard to match these left-leaning decreases with right leaning non-welt decreases.
See for yourself: Both parts of the photo above were knit at the same gauge, on the same needles, of the same yarn (Brown Sheep Bulky). The line of decrease of CHM (green) is much tighter and smaller, and the stitches are much smaller than the k2tog line of decreases (blue) despite the fact that the ssk's in the CHM method were knit VERY loosely.

HOWEVER ... however. If you are still determined to use CHM in a paired decrease situation, it IS theoretically possible to also tighten up k2tog by the CHM. In other words, if you really want to use the CHM to make those distinctive welts in a paired decrease situation, you can knit the k2tog's AND the ssk's LOOSELY, then tighten up both the k2tog's AND the ssk's with the crochet hook method. This would create welts along BOTH lines of decrease, and would look very well on a garment in plain stockinette. If you tightened up both lines of decrease with the CHM, the lovely welts created would serve to reinforce the design element laid down by the garment decreases, both left leaning AND right leaning.

Bottom line: the crochet hook method makes lovely left-leaning decreases along the edge of welt. It is best reserved for spiraling garments--those featuring only left leaning decreases without any corresponding right leaning increases, such as hats. However, (see the fine print above) you CAN use the CHM in a paired decrease situation if you're willing to mess around.

Have fun with this! --TECHknitter.
(You have been reading TECHknitting on: the crochet hook method for left-leaning decreases.)

A new method for left-leaning decreases: SYTK (slip, yank, twist, knit)--part 3 of the series "right and left decreases"

includes 10 illustrations


Here is a new method for left-leaning decreases, a method I call SYTK. SYTK stands for "slip, yank, twist, knit." Of all the variations on left-leaning decreases I've experimented with over the years, I think this one lies closest to the intersection of good looks and ease of creation. Some alternatives may look as good, but they are more complicated to make, some alternatives may be as easy to make, but don't look as good. The advantages of the SYTK are these:

• it can be worked from the front (a major advantage, to me, at any rate)
• it requires no re-ordering of stitches (the stitches are never taken off the needles and reversed in position--a procedure which, although it leads to good results, I find annoying and time consuming).
• it gives a nearly perfect match for k2tog
  

Below are the how-to illustrations. Do not be discouraged that there seem to be so many steps--the whole business takes only a few seconds. The point of having so many illustrations is to leave no doubt about how to do a SYTK--every little part has its own picture, and that'll avoid confusion, I believe. At the end is a photo comparing SYTK with k2tog. The post finishes with a tip on perfecting the SYTK in grabby wool.

THE SYTK, illustrated

Step 1 (below) Slip the first (red) stitch from the left needle to the right needle. Slip the stitch KNITWISE (left arm forward) as shown. This is the SLIP part of the SYTK maneuver--the part represented by the first letter "S."
Step 2 (below) Leaving the red stitch on the right needle, insert the tip of the right needle into the next stitch (green) on the left needle. Be sure the tip of the right needle is inserted under the right arm of the green stitch, as shown. Now comes the fun part: making sure that you have enough of each needle inserted to anchor the stitch completely, perform the "Y" part of the SYTK--the YANK! Pull the right arm of the green stitch towards you with the right needle at the same time as you pull the left arm of the green stitch away from you with the left needle, thus opening up the stitch as much as possible. You don't want to bend your needle or stretch the actual fibers of the stitch, but you certainly want to YANK enough to pull all the slack yarn from both surrounding stitches into the green stitch.
Step 3a (below) Begin the TWIST ("T") part of the SYTK decrease by removing the right needle tip, thus returning the now-enlarged green stitch to the tip of the left needle.
Step 3b (below) Using the tip of the right needle, TWIST the green stitch, and return it to the tip of the left needle, as shown. Check to be sure that the formerly right arm lies ON TOP, as illustrated by the little PURPLE ARROW. If the stitch is twisted the wrong way, take it off and re-twist it so that it lays as shown--this is fairly important to the final appearance.
Step 3c (below) Return the much-enlarged, now-twisted green stitch to the tip of the left needle.
Step 3d (below) Slip the red stitch onto the tip of the left needle, taking care that it remains LEFT ARM FORWARD. This ends the "Twist" portion of SYTK, the "T."
Step 4 (below) Insert the right needle into the BACK ARMS of the red and green stitches, as shown, and twitch the standing yarn over the right needle, in position to knit a stitch.
FINISHED SYTK (below) Draw the standing yarn through the red and the green stitches to make a new stitch (blue). This is the final, the KNIT step of SYTK--the "K."
You should now have a rather nice left-leaning decrease looking at you from your right needle. The reason this works is because it mimics the situation you get with a k2tog. Recall from the first post of this series that a k2tog is performed in such a manner as to squeeze the hidden second stitch AND ALL ITS EXCESS YARN behind the first stitch. Recall from the second post of the series that both ssk and psso leave the first stitch on the surface of the fabric, together with all the excess yarn it has accumulated from being manipulated. By adding a YANK step to SYTK, the excess yarn from the surface stitch is all transferred to the hidden second stitch, and by adding a TWIST step, that excess yarn is prevented from slipping out again. Further, the twist step aligns the only visible part of the second stitch (the arm which started off as the right arm, but was twisted forward to become the left arm) to lie in the same direction as the top stitch. In other words, the TWIST step makes the only visible portion of the second (green) stitch follow the left-leaning orientation of the top (red) stitch. Here is the photographic evidence:

A final note: In grabby yarn, the top (red) stitch may not be completely re-oriented by the slip maneuvers you have performed on it in steps 1 and 3d. This lack of orientation reveals itself in a proportionately shorter right arm, and a proportionately longer left arm, and disturbs the appearance of the left decrease column. Therefore, in a grabby yarn you may wish to add one further step.

Per the illustration below, after the decrease has been finished, insert the tip of the left needle under the right arm of the already-knitted top (red) stitch. GENTLY adjust the red stitch to lengthen the right arm while simultaneously shortening the left arm, and you will see that the stitch orientation improves. Be MILD in your adjustment--you only want to redistribute yarn in from the left arm of the top stitch to the right arm of the same stitch. You don't want to tug so hard that you undo all your previous effort--you don't want to drag slack back from the second (green) stitch and dump it back into the top (red) stitch.
Dear readers--have fun with this, and I hope you like it as well as I do!

--TECHknitter (You have been reading TECHknitting on "SYTK (slip, yank, twist, knit), a new method for left-leaning decreases.")

Left decreases, the evil twin--part 2 of right and left leaning decreases

includes 8 illustrations
This is the second in a 4-part series about right and left leaning decreases. The most common RIGHT LEANING DECREASE (knit 2 together) was covered in the first post. Today's post is about the two most common LEFT LEANING DECREASES: slip 1, knit 1, pass the slipped stitch over (psso) and slip, slip, knit (ssk).

Today's post is in two parts.

• The first part is a simple tutorial about how to make psso and ssk.
  
• The second part explains just what it IS about psso and ssk that makes them so sloppy looking (and so different looking from right leaning decreases).
  

After today's post, the background stuff will be out of the way, and TECHknitting will turn to 2 new ways to make left leaning decreases.

PART 1--TUTORIAL on PSSO and SSK

To make PSSO, there are three steps:

1. (below). Slip the first stitch (red) at the tip of your left needle onto your right needle KNITWISE (left arm forward)

2. (below) Knit the next stitch (green). The result will be two stitches on your right needle--the one you slipped (red) and the one you just knit (blue). Insert the tip of your LEFT needle under the left arm of the red stitch (in other words, so the stitch is not twisted) and lift the red stitch over the blue stitch and drop the red stitch from your needle. (The blue stitch stays on your right needle)

3. (below) This is the final result, after the red stitch has been lifted over the blue stitch: only the blue stitch remains on the needle--one stitch where there were two before. The red stitch has been pulled to lie on top of the green stitch, and the slant of the red stitch (leftwards) dominates the decrease.

To make SSK, there are three steps:

1. (below) Ssk starts the same way as psso: you slip the first stitch (red) at the tip of your left needle onto your right needle KNITWISE (left arm forward)

2. (below). For the second step of ssk, you slip the next stitch (green) from left to right needle the same way--KNITWISE, left arm forward. Then, you flick the standing yarn over your right needle, and knit the two stitches together from this position.

3. (below) Here is the final result: The blue stitch is pulled (knitted) through the red and green stitches. Just like psso, only the blue stitch remains on the needle, leaving one stitch where there were two before. The red stitch has been pulled to lie on top of the green stitch, and the slant of the red stitch (leftwards) dominates the decrease.

PART 2--WHY LEFT LEANING DECREASES LOOK SO FUNNY
(COMPARING LEFT AND RIGHT LEANING DECREASES)

OK, so now we're ready to talk about the two main reasons why left leaning decreases are all bumpy and slouchy. First, If you look at the diagrams for both psso AND ssk, you'll see that you are manipulating the FIRST STITCH on the needle--the red one. You're manhandling it pretty severely, actually. In both psso and ssk, you grab that red stitch and stretch it out as you slip it from left needle to right needle. This draws extra yarn into that first stitch as the surrounding stitches play "pass-along." In other words, by sliding the first stitch from one needle to another, yarn that would ordinarily lie in surrounding stitches gets pulled up into the loop of the red stitch.

Second, you're changing the orientation of the red stitch--when it was first knitted (assuming you're not a combination knitter) it lay RIGHT arm forward. Slipping that first red stitch KNITWISE makes it lay LEFT arm forward. At the point where the orientation changes from right-arm-forward stitches to left-arm-forward stitches, for various esoteric reasons, slack develops in the yarn. (If you have an interest in yarn orientation, a lot more detail will eventually be posted when TECHknitting addresses "combination knitting.") For right now, suffice it to say that the change in orientation draws even more yarn into the first (red) stitch, in both psso and ssk.

Compare this sequence with k2tog. In k2tog, the top stitch is the SECOND stitch (green stitch), and it is never manhandled at all--it is never pulled up loose, never passed from needle to needle, and its orientation is never changed. (Click here for diagram, click here from more info on k2tog.) The stitch behind the top stitch (the red stitch in the k2tog diagram) never has a chance to pass any slack yarn along to the green stitch--that red stitch is nailed down behind the green stitch in a 1 step motion--it (and all its excess yarn) gets squeezed behind the green stitch before it ever gets a chance to play pass-along with the green stitch, and the one-step motion of k2tog reduces the opportunity for other stitches to pass along too much yarn, either.

The upshot is that, in left leaning decreases, the multi-step procedure means that the first (red) stitch is drawn up all big and sloppy. Then, even more yarn is delivered to the red stitch by the change in orientation. As you can see from the diagrams, psso is the worse offender--you manhandle that red stitch not just once (passing it from left needle to right) but twice (as you grab it and draw it up big in passing it over the blue stitch).

In both psso and ssk, this bumpy, loose, sloppy red stitch is then left to languish on the surface of the fabric. As the photos below demonstrate, left leaning decreases really are the "evil twin," in looks, at least, when compared to right leaning decreases. As you would expect, the extra manhandling of the top stitch means that psso ends up somewhat looser and sloppier than ssk. Yet, although ssk is somewhat better, it also does not approaches k2tog for tidiness. Here is the photographic evidence:


The upper part of each photo is the right leaning decrease--knit two together (k2tog)--which is included for comparison purposes--nice and even, aren't they? The lower part of the first photo (above) is slip 1, knit 1, pass the slipped stitch over (psso), the lower part of the second picture (below) is slip, slip, knit (ssk). Nice and sloppy, huh?
(Don't be confused that these samples are laid on their sides, that's just for illustration. Each swatch was knit so the cast-on edge is to the right, the cast off edge to the left.)

In sum, you can see for yourself how uneven the stitches are in the left-leaning columns, especially compared to the more even stitches of the right leaning columns. SSK (bottom of second photo) looks somewhat better than psso (bottom of first photo), but neither looks terrific...

(ALTHOUGH, as I said at the beginning of this series, the loose sloppy top stitch in ssk or psso has a tendency to tighten up as the garment is worn and washed. And, as ssk or psso is tightening up in this way, k2tog is loosening up. With wear and blocking, the second stitch that got squeezed behind the first stitch in k2tog eventually manages to give up some of its slack, and the rightward leaning top stitch of k2tog gets a bit sloppier. It's true that ssk an k2tog never look exactly the same, but they look a whole lot more like twins after wearing and a couple of washings than they do when you are first creating them. So, once again, all this stuff about improving your left-leaning decreases is, in some measure, a marker of our right-now culture, where we want everything to be perfect RIGHT AWAY! and RIGHT NOW!)

Ahem! Well, if my little screed about right-now-ism hasn't deterred you, or if you are naturally a perfectionist, or if you just like to fool with stuff, then stay tuned for the next post, which will show the first of two techniques to improve these sloppy, left-leaning decreases. Until then, keep knitting...

--TECHknitter
(You have been reading TECHknitting on "left leaning decreases")

Right decreases, the good twin--part 1 of right and left leaning decreases

Includes 4 illustrations

WELCOME BACK!

Welcome back to TECHknitting. I hope you all had a lovely summer, and that everything you wished for yourselves and your loved ones came true during these past few months. For me, the end of summer means my knitting batteries are recharged and it's back to illustrating knitting tricks for a second season. I hope you'll read along through this upcoming fall and winter, as more tricks desperate to escape my mind try to leap off the screen to infect yours.

WHAT'S the TOPIC?

Traveling through the knitting sector of the blogosphere, I read lots of complaints about left leaning decreases, especially "slip, slip, knit," abbreviated "ssk." A lot of you are complaining that your (left leaning) ssk's are sloppy--you're complaining that they don't look like much like your neat and tidy knit 2 together's (k2tog, right leaning). (Click HERE for sketch illustrations of both.) So, I thought you might like a series on right and left leaning decreases, with a focus on improving the left leaning ones.

Today's post, the first in the series of four, provides background material--it's all about the main right leaning decrease, k2tog. The second in the series will examine ssk as well as the left leaning decrease called "slip 1, knit 1, pass the slipped stitch over" (psso). The third and fourth posts will have illustrations and instructions for two new ways to make left-leaning decreases.

A CAVEAT

One thing before I dig in. The fact is, that loose ssk (or psso) might not be as bad as you think. Knitting while you are creating it doesn't always look a whole lot like knitting once you are wearing it. Those loose, bumpy, left leaning decreases on your needles will eventually even out and look a great deal more like the tight and tidy right leaning decreases you admire, while the right leaning decreases will relax to bring the appearances even closer. The appearance won't be identical, but it'll be a whole lot closer than it is on the needles. As the great Elizabeth Zimmerman put it in the opening pages of her magnificent book, Knitting without Tears:

"I used to think that people in the Olden Days were marvelously even knitters, because all really ancient sweaters are so smooth and regular. Now I realize that they probably knitted just as I do, rather erratically, and that it is Time, the Great Leveler, which has wrought the change--Time and many washings."

I am quoting the greatest-knitter-of-us-all to absolve you if you aren't inclined to wrap your mind around all the complications I am going to dig into. If you can live with ssk (or psso, or any other method of left-leaning decrease you know) then you will find that these left-leaning decreases only improve with age. If you choose to, you will be justified in resolutely ignoring the lumpy left-leaning decreases on your needles, knowing that in the fullness of time, they WILL look better--and you can skip the rest of this post and read a different blog for today.

IF, HOWEVER, you're still with me, if ignoring lumpy bumps isn't in your nature, or if you just like to fool around with things, here we go...

WHY DECREASES "LEAN"

Knitting, as you know, is connected in the rows AND in the columns. You can rip it out row-wise, or you can create runs by ripping it out column-wise. This means that anything you do to any knitted stitch in any given row not only has the potential to affect the stitches on either side of it in that row, but also has the potential to affect the column in which that stitch lies. In fact, it is the column effect of stacked decreases which is the most eye-catching --isolated single decreases can be done any old way, really, without making much of a difference to the finished fabric.

Used in pairs, or in matching columns, right leaning decreases and left leaning decreases are meant to be twins. And, in a purely mechanical sense, they are. Each performs the same function in mirror image. Either type of decrease removes one stitch from the knitted fabric, eliminating one column of stitches so there is now one column of stitches where two columns were before. In the illustration below, a right leaning decrease causes two bright green columns to become one dark green column, while a left leaning decrease causes two bright blue columns become one dark blue column.

Just at the spot where the two columns are bridged to become one, the little scar of the actual decrease appears (outlined in red). This scar marks the two stitches bridging over the two old columns. The topmost stitch must slant either right (green) or left (blue) causing the resulting fabric to look as if the left column leaned over and ate the right column or vice versa.
When these little decrease scars are stacked atop one another, a pattern appears: the column in which the decrease consistently lies appears to be eating all the columns slanting away below it. This is the familiar line of decreases which provides the spiral shaping to a hat crown knitted bottom-up, the decreasing diameter of a sleeve knit from shoulder to cuff, the lines of decrease on either side of a raglan shouldered sweater knitted bottom-up, or the line on either side of a v-neck knitted bottom-up. (The sweater below is clearly a mutant: regardless of whether it was knit top-down or bottom-up, some of the shaping lines (red) would have had to be knit as stacked increases, not decreases, but I think you get the idea...)
A continuous line of right leaning decreases are easy to make, and they look lovely and tidy as they slant off rightwards with no sloppy malformed stitches. Right leaning decreases are the good twin--the column of the decrease features regular, even stitches. The only difference between the right-leaning decrease column and the surrounding columns is its slant--the stitches of the decrease column and the stitches in the surrounding fabric look the same. In fact, in a right leaning decrease column, the stitches are generally so even that is difficult to tell which of the stitches is in the actual decrease row, and which in the "plain" row(s) in between the decrease rows.

By contrast, the stitches of the column in which a left-leaning decrease appears look different than the surrounding stitches, and not just because of the slant. The stitches in a left-leaning decrease column are looser and sloppier--its easy to tell which is the decrease row and which the plain row(s) between decreases--the decrease row is the one sporting bumpy loose eye-catching yarn loops. In comparison to right leaning decreases, left leaning decreases are the evil twin.

As stated above, the situation is actually worst just at the moment you are knitting the left-leaning decrease--it isn't actually all that much of a difference once the garment has been worn and washed a few times. But if this aspect of knitting is still driving you "knuts," then to solve this problem, we'll start by looking at the good twin, right leaning decreases.

THE MECHANICS OF A RIGHT-LEANING DECREASE

To make the right leaning decrease called knit 2 together (k2tog) you insert your right needle "knitwise" (from left to right) into the second stitch (green) on your left needle, and then thread it through the first stitch (red) on your left needle, also knitwise, as shown below. This leaves the two stitches on the tip of your left needle impaled on knitwise on your right needle, as shown below.
The standing yarn is brought into position to create the next stitch and the red and green stitch are knit together from this position, with the green stitch which caps the leftmost column on top. The green and red stitches are knitted together with the new stitch (blue). Because the green stitch from the left column is on top, it appears that the left column leaned over to the right and ate up the rightmost column, as shown below.
Let's think about that sequence again. To make a right leaning decrease, the stitch (red) which lay on the very tip of the left needle was squeezed to the back of the fabric as the second stitch (green) overlaid it. In other words, when the two stitches were knitted together, that first red stitch was forced to the back for all time, as the second, dominant green stitch came to the front of the fabric. If you take the time to knit a quick k2tog right now, turn it to look at the back (reverse stockinette side) of the fabric. You will see a surprisingly large lump where the excess yarn from the first stitch (red) now lays on the back of the fabric. Closer examination shows that very much of the bulk of this second stitch has been squeezed to the back of the fabric. Turn your k2tog over again to expose the fabric face, and you will see that the right arm of the second stitch stitch (green) lays very near to the surface of the knitted fabric--that first red stitch has been so thoroughly squeezed backwards that very little of it comes between the right arm of the second (green) stitch and the fabric surface. The red stitch has been "disappeared."

None of what you've just read is going to change anything about the way you knit k2tog. The real point of this post was to provide the background for the next post. The next post is about the mechanics of slip, slip, knit (ssk) and slip 1, knit 1, pass the slipped stitch over (psso). Until next time...

--TECHknitter
You have been reading TECHknitting on "right leaning decreases (k2tog)."

Unexpected delay

Fortunately, everything is fine here at chez TECH (and many thanks to those who have written to inquire!) However, due to unexpected delay in managing the non-knitting parts of life, TECHknitting will, regretfully NOT resume right after Labor day, but will resume instead on September 20.

Stay tuned for 2 new ways to create beautiful left-leaning increases.

Have a good rest of the summer, and knit on.

--TECHknitter

Gauge, again--a cautionary tale

Dear readers: here is a little summer interlude in the nature of a cautionary tale. TECH- knitting's summer break has allowed time to knit on a big project--a sweater. The body is made with a circular needle, but the arms with dpn's. I forgot, but now remember (the hard way!!) that gauge can change EVEN when you use the same size needles. Knitting with dpn's requires the gauge to be tight enough to prevent the needles falling out of the work, while knitting around with circulars does not present the same issue--you can knit a lot looser because the circular needles aren't going anywhere. Moral of the story: Check your gauge when you switch from one kind of needle to another, regardless of whether the two needles are the same size. That way, you can avoid being an idiot like me--who had to knit a three-armed sweater.

--TECHknitter

Closed for the season

Sometimes, life gets in the way of knitting. Thankfully, all is well at chez TECH, but I need to now turn away for 6 weeks or so, and devote some significant time taking care of the non-bloggy parts of life. Despite my intentions, I may not be able to stay away from the blogosphere--you all are rather addictive! So, there may be a stray post or two between now and the beginning of September. Mostly, though, TECHknitting will resume right after Labor Day with new tricks and tips--including TWO NEW WAYS to do beautiful left-leaning decreases.

See you all again in September. Until then, have a great summer, and knit on.

--TECHknitter

Part 3 of working ends in with a sewing needle: weaving ribbing

I thought I was done with ends forever, but evidently not quite yet. By e-mail and comment, there have been several requests for a diagram of weaving-in ends along a column in ribbing. Without further ado, here it is:--TECHknitter

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PS:  Here is a link to a post with 10 (!)  different methods of working in ends in knitting, eight of which are "as you go."
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You have been reading TECHknitting on: "weaving in ends in ribbing")