Hi - I am new here - wonderful site! - and have a seriously dumb question. Before posting here, I tried to find this topic on the forum but was unable to, so hopefully someone can help.
I understand that if my pattern doesn’t specify what decrease to use, I should use a decrease technique to have my stitches lean either right or left.
My problem is that I’m not sure which way they should lean - outward toward the seam, or inward toward the middle of the garment?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Are you knitting Continental or English style? If not, and you are knitting combined, you will need to turn you stitches before knitting a decrease so that the decrease will be “twisted” in the correct orientation. There is an excellent description of this in the “Knit: Combined” video here on the site. Amy shows the best way to orient the stitches for decreases.
I just realized that I should provide more information here so someone can better help me. I knit Continental and am knitting the back of a sweater, so I’m wondering about the decreases on the neck and raglan shaping. I’m thinking the decreases should lean outward toward the seam edges. Is this correct or should they lean inward toward the interior of the sweater?
For a raglan, or really any decrease, they can lean either way - toward the center of the section or toward seam edges. It’s really up to you how you want it to look. Cast on about 20 sts and do a few of both types and see which you like better.