How to Decrease Stitches in Knitting

A little while back I shared my post about how to increase knitting stitches, so now it’s time to take them away.

There are a lot of different ways to decrease stitches, just as there are a lot of ways to increase stitches, so my collection isn’t exhaustive, but it does cover the most common knitting decreases you are likely to encounter as you begin your knitting journey.

For example, knit 2 together. This is probably the most common decrease out there, and if you don’t care how it looks you can use it most of the time. It’s often paired with a slip, slip knit or SSK, though, because a knit 2 together leans to the right and the SSK leans to the left.

This pair of decreases looks great when you want to emphasize the decrease line (say, if you’re working a raglan design from the bottom up) or if you want the decreases to point inward on each side, as when you work decreases for a sock toe.

While the SSK is by far the most common left-leaning decrease, you can also try out a slip 1, knit 1, pass the slipped stitch over, which is not quite as prominent in the knit fabric (to my eye, anyway, it doesn’t seem to stick out as much) so it’s a great one to try.

And of course there are double decreases you might use in lace or other situations where you don’t really want a decrease that leans in either direction and you need to take out two stitches at once.

All of these are easy to do (though I will admit to always having to think through which decreases lean which way, just like I have to look up how to make a make 1 left or make 1 right each time) and you can find a quick tutorial for each in my guide to knitting decreases over at Our Daily Craft.

Do you have a favorite decrease? I’d love to hear about it!

Not too long ago I did a test knit for another designer that was for a cabled cardigan. It’s really cozy and nice but it just about broke me in a ton of different ways. I couldn’t get gauge, which I suppose is my own problem, but mainly I was somehow both bored and forced to pay attention at the same time.

Because it used the same cable all over, I always had to know what row I was on, but nine out of ten of those rows, nothing in particular was going on. So I couldn’t stop paying attention, but what I needed to attend to was boring.

It may have ruined me for knitting cabled sweaters, but maybe I just need something that’s more engaging. Like this Modern Aran Cardigan pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.

This is a reworking of an old pattern from their archives, and you can tell that form the classic look of the cables and the oversized feel (nothing cropped about this one!). It has allover cables, but like a classic Aran sweater it’s not the same cable, so you’ll have to pay attention to what row you’re on and what cable turns happen for which cables on that row.

Because of this, it’s considered an intermediate knitting pattern, but if you’re comfortable working from multiple charts at once it shouldn’t be a problem for you. There are three different charts and seven different cable moves.

Also because the pattern is so big and boxy there are only two sizes available, with a finished chest measurement of either 49 or 63 inches (that’s 124.5 or 160 cm). It’s up to you to decide how much ease you would like and whether that will work for your body.

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn (and calls for another classic, Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool). It calls for six buttons and includes pockets to make it extra cozy.

This one looks like a great winter project to make and to wear if you’re up for a bit of a challenge. You can grab the free pattern or buy a kit with the yarn needed direct from Lion Brand Yarn.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

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