There is a bit of confusion around paired purl decreases. First, because the slant of the decreasing line is determined by the way it looks on the knit side of the fabric and not on the side we see when we make these decreases.
Also, because the slant doesn’t really matter much if the purl side of the work is the right side of the project – the bumpy texture formed by purls makes the decreasing lines almost invisible.
Confusing or not, these methods are widely used in cases when we decrease one or more stitches at each side of the fabric in every row.
When it happens, paired purl decreases are used alternatively with paired knit decreases – “knit 2 together” (k2tog) and “slip, slip, knit” (ssk).
In this tutorial, we’ll take a look at the most common ways to decrease stitches on the purl side of the work so that the resulting stitches slant to the right or to the left on the knit side of the fabric.
To learn from a video tutorial:
RIGHT LEANING PURL DECREASE
This is the easiest purl decrease out there. Because it is so simple, we use it in most situations when we need to decrease stitches on the purl side of the work.
When we are making fully fashioned decreases, we use this way to decrease stitches to make a right-slanting line of decreases.
You probably guessed that we are talking about “purl 2 together” – a decrease that is often mentioned in patterns as p2tog.
To make this decrease, bring the yarn to the front of the work, and then insert the tip of the right needle from right to left into the first two stitches on the left needle so that the tip of the left needle stays at the back of the right needle.
Wrap the tip of the right needle with the yarn as you normally do when you purl a stitch.
Pull the wrap through making one stitch out of two.
We’ve just got rid of one stitch while making a neat right leaning decrease on the knit side of the fabric.
LEFT LEANING PURL DECREASE
The most common way to make a left leaning purl decrease is to do the “slip slip purl” move that is also known by its abbreviation SSP. This decrease takes more steps than “purl 2 together”, but it is worth the effort if you want to shape a neat decreasing line that slants to the left.
Here’s how to make it step by step:
STEP 1
With the working yarn at the front of the work, insert the tip of the right needle into the first stitch on the left needle from left to right.
Ease the right needle out leaving this stitch on the right needle.
Repeat these steps again to slip one more stitch knitwise from the left needle to the right needle.
STEP 2
Insert the tip of the left needle into both slipped stitches from left to right.
Take the right needle out of those stitches leaving them on the left needle.
STEP 3
Purl the two slipped-and-returned stitches together through the back loop.
That means that we should insert the right needle into both stitches from left to right at the back of the work.
Then, wrap the tip of the right needle with the yarn and pull the wrap through purling these two stitches together.
We’ve just decreased one stitch. When we look at the knit side of the fabric, we’ll see that the resulting stitch is not twisted and it slants to the left.
Use the same logic when you need to decrease more than one stitch. To make a right leaning double decrease, purl 3 stitches together. To decrease two stitches with a slant to the left, make a “slip, slip, slip, purl” decrease.
SAVE IT FOR LATER:
This and 41 other in-depth tutorials are part of Knitting Collection #6.
