Basic Stitches for Lace Knitting By Karen Soltys for the Stitch This! blog at ShopMartingale.com

YO SSK A yarn over, abbreviated YO, is a way to increase stitch count. Slip, slip, knit is a left-slanting decrease in which you also work Rather than knitting or purling into another stitch, you simply two stitches together, but it creates the mirror image of a K2tog. wrap the yarn around your needle before working the next stitch To make an ssk, insert the right needle into the first stitch on the in the pattern. This loop around the needle will make one more left needle. Slip it off the left needle and onto the right needle, stitch to knit on the following row. But because it wasn’t worked as if you’re knitting (but don’t work the stitch). Repeat, slipping into a stitch, it also makes a little gap or hole. When the knitting a second stitch off the left needle. Now slip the tip of the left is blocked to open up the holes, all the yarn overs create the needle into the front of the two slipped stitches. (That means the openwork in the lace knitting. Clever, huh? right needle tip will be behind the left needle tip. Got it?) Now, wrap the working yarn around the tip of the right needle, pull the loop through both stitches, and slip them off the needles. Congratulations, you’ve just made a slip, slip, knit decrease. It sounds much more difficult than it is, I promise. Look at your knitting. See how this decrease slants in the opposite direction of the K2tog?

Yarn over

K2tog Knit two stitches together is the most basic of all decreases. Some lace calls for nothing more than knitting two stitches together followed by yarn overs. Simply insert your right needle, into the first two stitches on the left needle in one motion, wrap the yarn over the right needle and pull it through both stitches at once. You’ve now knit them together and decreased one stitch. If you’re knitting a pattern where it matters if your decreases slant to the left or the right, you should know that K2tog is a right-slanting decrease. SSK

K2tog

YO, ssk, K1, K2tog, YO. Notice how the ssk slants to the left, while the K2tog slants toward the right.

1 SKP K2tog-tbl SKP stands for slip one stitch, knit one stitch, pass the slipped stitch Knit two stitches together through the back loop. Just when you over. You might also see this decrease abbreviated as PSSO, or thought there couldn’t be one more way to make a left-slanting “pass slipped stitch over.” Whichever way the instructions list it, decrease, here’s one more. This happens to be my personal here’s what you do: Slip one stitch from the left needle onto the favorite, as it really does make the exact opposite of K2tog. And, right needle; knit the next stitch on the left needle. Now use the it takes fewer motions to do this decrease than the variations tip of the left needle to lift the slipped stitch (the second stitch in where you’re slipping stitches and passing the slipped stitches on the right needle) up and over the stitch you just knit. Drop the over other stitches. I learned this from Donna Druchunas, who slipped stitch off the needle completely. Mission accomplished. shared it in Successful Lace Knitting. I’ve used it ever since.

For this left-slanting decrease, insert your right needle into the back of the first two stitches on the left needle. Wrap the yarn around the needle as if to knit, pull the loop through both stitches, and slip those stitches off the left needle. Easy peasy. My new favorite decrease!

SKP

K2tog-tbl

SKP

K2tog-tbl

2 Basic Stitches for Lace Knitting DCD A DCD is knitting shorthand for double center decrease. Wait, what? An alternate method for a DCD is to: Remember, lace knitting is made of yarn overs (increases) and corresponding decreases. Usually they’re made in pairs so that the 1. Slip two stitches from the left needle onto the right stitch count remains constant. But sometimes, you want a decrease needle. in the center of a lace panel or project with a yarn-over hole on 2. Knit one stitch. either side. To keep the stitch count even, you need to do a double decrease in the center to account for the two yarn overs. This 3. Pass both slipped stitches over the knitted stitch and off involves decreasing three stitches down to one stitch. Here’s how to the needles. Two stitches decreased. do that. It’s pretty much like doing the SKP.

1. Slip one stitch from the left needle onto the right needle. 2. Knit the next two stitches together. (K2tog = one stitch decreased.) 3. Lift the slipped stitch over the K2tog stitch and off the needles. (A second stitch decreased.) Slip two stitches together Pass the two slipped as if to knit. Knit the next stitches over the knit stitch on the le needle. stitch on the right needle. I told you it would be easy. But just to make things a bit more confusing, you may also see this abbreviated as SK2P, short for slip one stitch, K2tog, pass slipped stitch over. Got it? I knew you would!

DCD Sl 2, K1, psso

DCD Well, there you have it. The essential stitches you need to know Sl1, K2tog, psso for lace knitting.

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DCD. Notice how 3 stitches are decreased down to 1 stitch, www.ShopMartingale.com and flanked by YOs. K2tog-tbl

3 Basic Stitches for Lace Knitting