Recently while I was browsing through Instagram. I saw a video featuring a left leaning decrease with a technique that I had never seen before. I thought I should share it here, in case any of you had never seen it before neither.
I’m going to review the two common left leaning decreases that I usually use before introducing the variation that I saw.
How to do left leaning decrease knitting
The SSK Knit - Slip Slip Knit
The first left leaning decrease that I learned was the SSK (slip, slip, knit). However, I have always been little bit dissatisfied with it. The stitch just doesn’t look as nice as the right-leaning K2Tog (knit two together) stitch. Especially in my sock projects, I feel like one side of my sock gusset always looks a bit less tidy as the other.
SKP - Slip Knit Pass Over
As an alternative to the SSK, I have occasionally used the SKP (slip, knit, pass the slipped stitch over). Although I’d like to imagine it is a superior stitch to the SSK, I just don’t notice that much of a difference. I still think it doesn’t look quite as nice as its right leaning counterpart.
The New Left Leaning Decrease Technique
Here comes this new left leaning decrease technique that I saw. I’m not sure if it has an official name, but really it is just a slight variation of the SSK stitch. It goes as follows: slip the first stitch knit wise, then slip the second stitch purl wise, then knit them through the back loops.
The knitter in the video (unfortunately I forgot to write down their account) knit an SSK and this new technique side-by-side. I much preferred the look of this new stitch, so I just had to learn it.
I thought it might be helpful to create a video that compares all three of the left leaning decreases. Watch the video here:
Did you already know this left leaning decrease technique? Which of the three stitches that I mention here is your favourite to use? I think it is so great that I can still learn exciting new techniques after so many years of knitting. There is always something left to learn!
Explore our knitting blog for more tips like this. Perfect both for beginner knitters who wants to learn how to start knitting and the advanced veteran looking for inspiration!
