Hello! I don’t understand how this works. I know it means slip slip knit them together. What I don’t understand is if you slip two stitches to the right needle how do you knit them together. Please help again.
Ssk
I’m sure this is included in the free videos in the section on decreases. Usually you slip the two stitches one at a time knit wise (but there is a version where you slip the first st knitwise and the second one purlwise–I perfer this one). To knit them together you move the left hand needle into the first st and on through the 2nd one on the right hand needle from left to right on the side of the RHN closest to you. Then from there you yarn around and knit the two together.
After you slip the 2 sts (separately) put the L needle into the front of them and wrap the yarn around the R needle to knit together. I like them both slipped knitwise.
This probably doesn’t make much sense to you as a new knitter. Don’t feel bad. I just figured this out myself only a year or two ago. You wonder, why do I have to know so many decreases? Can’t I use just one all the time?
The answer is no. A knit two together and an ssk are different. If you look closely at the two decreases, you will see that the knit two together slants to the right and the ssk slants to the left. This has to do with shaping a garment in a certain direction.
When you knit mittens, obviously you want a nice rounded shape on top to fit around your fingers and to make it look nice. A knit two together will shape the left side of your hand, and the ssk will shape the right side. It will look something like this:
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k2tog ssk
This is the reason for the two decreases. You will notice this direction by looking at the base of the stitches you have just decreased. I suggest that you knit a small swatch and just practice those two decreases until you gain confidence. You can look at the sides of your work to see how these shape whatever it is you’re knitting. You’ll see gentle curves on both sides. Good luck!