Knitting five stitches together is always a pain. No matter what kind of yarn we use and how perfect our tension is, inserting the right needle knitwise into five stitches at the same time is not easy.
We can make our knitting experience way more pleasant if we divide this awkward move into several simple steps. There are two ways to do it. Both ways form a right-slanting decrease that looks very similar to the one formed by the classic “knit 5 together” decrease.
In this tutorial, we’ll take a look at these ways one by one.
If you are a visual learner, watch every step in a video tutorial:
WAY #1
The decrease formed by this way looks identical to the decrease formed by the classic k5tog, and we can do it without any unnecessary struggling.
Here’s how it works:
STEP 1
With the yarn at the back of the work, insert the tip of the right needle from right to left into the second stitch from the tip of the left needle.
Pass the second stitch over the first one and off the left needle.
STEP 2
Repeat the previous step three more times passing three more stitches over the first stitch and off the left needle.
We’ve just turned five stitches into one. There is only one thing left to do.
STEP 3
Knit one stitch. This will be the stitch that has the other four stitches arranged around it like a flared skirt.
Continue to work on your project, smiling because you managed to make this cumbersome decrease without any effort.
WAY #2
This way to knit five stitches together is not only easy, but it also creates a much neater decrease. The stitches don’t look like they’ve been gathered in a bunch. Rather, they form a distinct slant to the right similar to the slant we get when we knit two or three stitches together.
STEP 1
Knit 2 stitches together.
STEP 2
Knit 1 stitch.
STEP 3
Knit the next two stitches together.
STEP 4
Slip three stitches from the right needle to the left needle. Do it purlwise, inserting the left needle into each stitch from left to right.
STEP 5
Pass the second and the third stitches from the tip of the left needle over the first stitch, just as we did in the first step of the previous way to knit five stitches together.
Then slip the resulting stitch purlwise to the right needle.
This way has more steps, but it is worth taking them in cases when you want to make clean right-slanting decrease.
We can use the same logic to turn six, seven and even eight stitches into one.
In way #1, simply pass as many stitches as you need to decrease over the first stitch from the tip of the left needle.
If you prefer to use the second way, knit stitches in pairs, then slip the resulting stitches to the left needle before you pass them over the first stitch.
Many thanks to Tom M. for reminding me of this cumbersome decrease. His question lead to a bit of research and a lot of experimentation. Thank you, Tom.
SAVE IT FOR LATER:
This and 41 other in-depth tutorials are part of Knitting Collection #6.