Pattern Help - Decreases on Purl Side?

Hi!
I’ve been away from knitting for about a year now. I decided to start up again with a simple sweater I could wear in the office.

Here is the free pattern from Tahki Stacy Charles.

I started with the back piece - 11 inches of st st. So far, so good…until I get to the decreases for the sleeve. I don’t get confused by the first bit which I think I did correctly:
“Shape Armholes
Bind off 4 (4, 5, 5, 6, 6) sts beg next 2 rows.”

Here is the part that threw me:
"[B][U]Dec 1 st each end next 5 rows.[/U][/B]"

So I did a k2tog after the first two st on the right side followed by ssk before the last two st. That seems right to me. Then I turned it to the wrong side…and it seems weird now. I don’t remember doing p2tog and whatever its mirror is on previous sweaters. I only remember my right side decs.

So I guess my question is:

Am I supposed to be doing those decs on the wrong side as well and also how do I do them?

Gosh, this is the longest thing I’ve ever written on the internet! Thank you so much if you are able to read and help! :heart:

Yes, it looks like you’ll be decreasing on purl rows also. I would p2tog on the left then ssp when I got to the end, I think. Here’s the link to the decreases video page, that’s the best way I can think to help you.
http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/decreases

HTH

That’s cute!

I found it on Ravelry and the one person who posted anything has some info that might be helpful.
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/ladylau/one-button-jacket

I agree, you’ll be decreasing on the purl side (p2tog on right edge and sspon the left edge). I’d put the decreases one stitch in from the edge. So knit one, ssk, knit to 3 sts from the end, k2tog, k one and the same edge st on the purl side. The decreases line up nicely and the edge st makes it easier to seam.
Perfect sweater for the office.

You’ll want the purl incs to match what you did on the knit row, so you’d ssp at the beg of the row and end with k2tog. That’s different from what the others said because you did the k2tog at the beg of the knit row and ssk at the end. A p2tog looks like k2tog on the knit side and ssp looks like the ssk on the knit row.

The knit decreases should definitely be a ssk at the beginning of the knit row and a k2tog at the end of the row. That way the decreases slant in toward the center /__. Thanks for picking that up Sue. But I do think that you would need a p2tog at the right edge or beginning of the purl row and a ssp on the left or the end of row to continue that pattern of slanting decreases.

The knit decreases should definitely be a ssk at the beginning of the knit row and a k2tog at the end of the row.

Actually, they don’t have to be. They can slant toward the edges rather than the center; this is called a ‘fashion’ or ‘full fashion’ decrease. I do it that way at times and it makes a firmer edge. The only thing is she should be consistent. So if she wants to do k2tog at the beg of the row and ssk at the end, then the WS row should match and be ssp at the beg and p2tog at the end.

Wow! Thanks guys! :grphug:

I had forgotten all about ssp - thanks for the link, GrumpyGramma!

I have inserted a lifeline and am working the k2tog at the beginning and ssk at the end just to see if I like the full-fashion look. Then I’ll rip back and try it a different way. I’m interested to see the difference between the two styles.
Suzeeq, thanks for telling me that I need to mirror the purl side decreases - I was definitely wondering about that!

A basically concur with everyone who volunteers help!

Decreasing on the Purl side has always been a fussy thing for me. When I work the decrease the way I think it should be done, I immediately turn the work around to face me (RS) and take a look at what I just did. If I don’t like it, I try Plan B.

I hate it when you can’t get around doing decreases on the WS, the purl side. Bah!