How do I decrease 1 stitch at beginning and end of row ?

Deccrease 1stitch at each end of next 9 rows, then on foll 23 [25: 24: 28: 30: 32: 31] alt rows. 39141:41:43:43:45:45] sts.

Does anyone have a good link to a video on how to decrease when purling ?

I looked and ended up making a mess

Thank you

Hello
What is the stitch pattern on the right side of the fabric? Is it stockinette?
What decreases are you using on the knit side? Maybe SSK and K2tog? These are mirrored decreases.
If so you can use SSP and p2tog on the purl side and they will appear the same on the right side of the fabric.

The SSP, slip 1 stitch knit wise, slip a second stitch knit wise, return both to the left needle (purl wise, point to point) then purl 2 together through the back loops.

I would suggest, in most patterns, it makes a neater edge to place the decreases a stitch or 2 in from the edge rather then right on the edge. You will get a neater edge for seaming or picking up stitches if needed.

Hope this helps

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Thank you for the explanation and the link to the video.

It is the back of a sweater. And I’m at the top and of that back section where the sleeves are going to go.

I think I got in over my head. I undid a few rows.

The beginning of the pattern for the back is as follows

These 2 rows form rib.

Begin with a Krow, work in st st as follows

Continue straight until back meas 36 cm ending with RS facing for next row.

Then this is the part where I messed up:

The instructions say

Continue straight until back meas 36 [37: 39: 37: 37: 36: 38] cm, ending with RS facing for next row. Shape raglan armholes

Cast of 3sts at beg of next 2rows.

99[105: 111: 117: 121: 127: 133] sts.
Dec 1st at each end of next 7[7: 1: 9: 9: 9: 13] rows, then on foll 23 [25: 24: 28: 30: 32: 31] alt rows. 39 141:41:43:43:45:45] sts.
Work 1row, ending with RS facing for next row.

Thank you so much for any help you can provide me with !!

It looks like you will be doing decreases on the purl side and the video creations posted is great. I like doing ssp this way.
Easy SSP - Slip Slip Purl

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Great start on the sweater. Which size are you making (4th, 5th, 6th)?

Don’t panic. It will be fine and you can manage this.
Once we know which size you are making we can help with those instructions.
If you are not sure about working the decreases on the purl side you might knit up a 10 or 20 stitch swatch to practise on, that’s what I do with new stitches.

We’re with you all the way, just keep asking any time you’re stuck, and by the end you’ll have a lovely sweater.

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Ooh, I love the color, and your stitches look nice and even. The suggestion to do a practice swatch is a good one…it won’t take very long, and once you figure out the decreases you’ll be able to proceed with confidence! Please post ongoing photos, or at least a finished sweater…we love to see what everyone is working on!

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Thank you everyone.

I am still not clear on what to do.

My problem is that I don’t even know how to explain what I have done and what to ask.

I am on the RS purl so at the beginning of that row, I did two purls together. But then at the end of that row, what do I do ? How do I decrease? Do I do two purls together ? I thought on one side it should be a left leaning decrease and on the right side, it should be a right leaning decrease?

Thank you for your patience with me !

Don’t worry, you will get this.

You are right in thinking that mirrored increases will look nice with one edge leaning right and the other left, but I will say when I took up knitting after about 30+ years of not knitting so I was kind of a beginner although knew how to knit and purl, I made the first few sweaters not knowing about leaning decreases so all decreases were working 2 together either k2tog or p2tog and no one has ever noticed.

Mirrored decreases will be working 2 together at one edge and slip slip work together at the other edge. Knits or purls depending which side of the fabric you are on.

If you p2tog (purl 2 together) at the beginning of the row then you can SSP at the end of the row.
P2tog on the wrong side will look like k2tog on the right side.
SSP on the wrong side will look like SSK on the right side.

If you have used p2tog at the beginning of the row then you can use SSP at the end of the row.
Turn
Then work SSK at this edge (same edge as SSP) at the beginning of the row and work K2tog at the end of the row.
Turn
Work P2tog at this edge (same edge as K2tog) at the beginning of the row and SSP at the end of the row.

Make sense?

If you are not sure which rows to work the decreases on just let us know which size you are making so we can help.

There video I posted shows the Mirrored SSK, SSP, K2tog and P2tog and a drawing of a symbol for each which shows the lean.

The video GG posted shows a SSK and SSP on the same fabric, you can see they lean the same way and look the same. That video also shows an alternate method of producing the SSP if you wanted to use that.

Have a look a the videos.
Do they make sense?

Do you prefer a written description/instruction with photos rather than video? We can try to adapt to what works best for you (I liked the written descriptions when I started as videos went too fast even with slow mo and pause functions!).

If this doesn’t answer your difficulty just let us know.

If you working these decreases at the very beginning and end of row, they will become part of the seam. The orientation of the decreases won’t make much difference in that case.
If you place the decreases one or even two sts in from the ends, then you will see the way the decreases lean and will want them to be consistent.

I like to work a SSK near the beginning of the knit row so that the slant is toward the left (…\…) and a k2tog near the end of row so the slant is to the right (…/…).
When turned to the purl side, a p2tog near the beginning of the purl row mimics the slant to right (…/…).
A p2tog through the back loop or any of its variations, near the end of row mimics the slant toward the left (…\…).
That way you see a clean line of slanting decreases viewed from the knit side going up the line on the sweater.

P2tog pairs with k2tog
ssk pairs with p2tog tbl

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I finally got which WS decrease pairs with the RS decrease only very recently. Thank you for explaining it so well. When I do ssp I use the method in Suzanne’s video. It doesn’t scramble my brain. :wink:

Thank you so much. This really helped me.

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Excellent instructions. I learned this in sock making. Thank you for such a A greatly informative post.appreciated by us all.