Learn Basic Decreases to Shape Your Knitting

There comes a time when every knitter needs to learn how to shape their knitting. You can only make so many straight projects! Whether you’re looking to shape the top of a hat or the armholes and sleeves of a sweater, you’ll go far learning just two decreases: knit 2 together and slip, slip, knit, known in knitting language as k2tog and ssk.

The k2tog is usually considered the most basic, and it is really easy to do; just pretend two stitches are one and knit them together. This makes a right-slanting decrease and is fine for most applications. It’s not super prominent, and it’s usually what most of us default to when a pattern just says “decrease.”

SSK is a little more involved, but it’s not at all difficult. Slip two stitches as if to knit, then take the left-hand needle through the stitches from the front and knit them together. This makes a left-slanting decrease that is more prominent than a k2tog, but they are often paired for decorative effect in projects.

Here’s a quick video to show you the basics of both:

Do you have a preferred decrease? I’d love to hear about it.

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Recently I shared a collection of Easter egg knitting patterns, and as we all know chicks are what comes out of eggs, so it’s only right to share some chick knitting patterns too. Chicks are perfect for spring decor even when it’s not Easter time, and they are so cute and fun to knit, too.

This fluffy chick from Sincerely Louise can also be worked in less fuzzy yarn if you’d rather. It’s worked flat and seamed so it’s a good one for newer knitters who might not be comfortable working little projects in the round. You can grab the pattern on Etsy.

This little chick from Fluff and Fuzz on Etsy looks like it’s still wearing part of its shell! There’s also an option without the white details, and you can knit these little hats as well. They’re worked in DK weight yarn. (She also has a super cute tiny egg shaped chick in a half shell that’s a free pattern on Ravelry.)

If you want ta chick that’s even more in an egg, this egg-shaped chick from Purl Soho may be what you’re looking for. It’s worked in super fine yarn so you can make a bunch of chicks with a skein or two of yarn, or use leftovers to change up the colors.

Alan Dart has a cute pattern that includes two halves of a broken egg and a chick that fits inside. It calls for DK weight yarn.

The spring chick pattern from Barbara Prime is a sweet little bird shape that you could make as other birds worked in different colors. The pattern doesn’t specify yarn weight, so use whatever yellow (or other color you like) yarn you have on hand to make birds of different sizes.

Make a cute, fuzzy, felted chick with the Chick Wobblers pattern from Cindy Pilon (available on Ravelry). These little chicks come in two sizes and have an “internal wobbler” so when you try to tip them over they wobble back up.

Check out this White fluffy Easter Chick knitting pattern over on our Sister site Craftbits.com Fluffy Easter Chick Knitting Pattern.

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