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Your Guide to Knitting Decreases

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Last week I shared a little bit about knitting increases, so it makes sense we’d continue our learning with a look at knitting decreases.

I feel like there are fewer options for decreases in knitting than there are increases, but it may just be that there are a few that are used really commonly. Most of the time you will use either knit two together or slip, slip, knit. K2tog is usually the decrease most people learn first, and when you want to be a little fancier and start using mirrored increases you can add in ssk. (For reference, knit two togethers slant to the right, while slip, slip, knits slant to the left.)

I have always loved this visual guide to knitting decreases from Knitting Help, which shows you what all the different decreases look like and how you can pair different decreases that lean different ways. For example you can also pair a knit 2 together with a slip, slip, purl instead of a slip, slip, knit, which makes a tighter looking decrease than a ssk.

The page linked above has written instructions for each decrease, as well as links to videos if you need them. it only covers single decreases, which are the most common kinds of decreases, but sometimes you want to decrease more than one stitch at a time.

In that case you will want to use what’s known as a double decrease. The most common of these is known as the centered double decrease, which is a great design element when you don’t want a decrease that leans. (It’s done by slipping a stitch, knitting two together, then passing the slipped stitch over the stitch you just worked.)

But there are other options, as this post from Tonia Knits explores. It describes 10 different ways to make double decreases. Between these two pages you’ll probably have every decrease you could ever need in your knitting career!

[Photo: Knitting Help.]

Learn Basic Decreases to Shape Your Knitting

Your Quick Reference Guide to Common Increases and Decreases

Make Prettier Decreases with This Tip

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Add Mushrooms to Your Knits with these Fun Knitting Patterns

A few years ago I wrote a post that was full of patterns for knit mushrooms, but I don’t think I ever did a post that was knitting patterns with mushrooms on them, so today’s the day. 

I love the Fungi Beanie from Jacki Bean, which calls for worsted weight yarn and uses duplicate stitch to add the mushrooms and other details. I think the colors she used for the design are tonal/multicolor so it doesn’t use as many colors as it looks like, but you can use whatever red, green, brown and white yarn you have in your stash for those details. 

How about some mushroom socks? The Magic Toadstool sock form Stone Knits includes a ring of mushrooms around the leg, contrasting heel and toe and a little more colorwork at the toe for extra cuteness. As shown it uses four colors and comes in three sizes. 

Or there’s the Fairy Ring Socks from Katie Green, which have mushrooms of two sizes on the legs, plus a bit of wavy grass. They have a contrasting cuff, heel and toe and some colorwork flecks in the body of the sock as well. This one is available in eight sizes to fit everyone from a baby to an XL adult. 

This trippy cowl from Hunt Hand Knits looks like a lot of fun to knit. The Fungus Among Us Cowl is shown using four colors of DK weight yarn, though you can do it with as few as two if you’d rather. 

Stitch some mushroom mittens with this cute pattern from Holly C Watson. This design uses three colors, and it’s shown with a self-striping yarn on the mushroom caps, which makes the colors change without you having to do any work. The pattern is charted but it’s a pretty easy repeat. The mittens are one size. 

If you don’t feel like knitting mushrooms but still want to give your project a touch of the forest, the Toadstools Cardigan from Julie Taylor may be what you’re looking for. It’s stitched as a plain cardigan worked in DK weight yarn and sized for newborns up to 4 years old. The mushrooms are added with embroidery and the pattern includes the design, which you can trace onto water soluble stabilizer to stitch the mushrooms onto your sweater. Or anything else you want. You can find this pattern on Ravelry.