The Knitting Fiend

From time to time, a debate breaks out on the knitlist over this controversial issue.

Do the following two decreases look different at all:

1. the “ssk” meaning “slip 1 stitch, slip 1 stitch, knit into both stitches”.
2. the “skp”, “skpo” or “slip 1, knit 1, psso”. All three abbreviations mean the same thing: “slip 1 stitch, knit 1 stitch, pass slipped stitch over knit stitch” .

I should begin by mentioning everyone agrees the two decreases are similar in appearance. If you look at the swatch to the left, and squint, you may, or may not, be able to tell that I worked 6 decreases. Two are worked with an “skp” in the fashion considered “standard”; two are worked with an “skp” worked in a nonstandard way, and two were worked using the ssk. No matter how bad your eyes are, it’s easy to see all three slant left; so they are similar.

The controversial issue is this: can anyone tell any difference at all? As usual, my answer is a resounding “That depends.”

I’ll tell you why I think this.

First, let’s consider the standard directions for working an “ssk”, or “slip-slip-knit”, a very popular left leaning decrease. To work this, the knitter, slips a stitch knitwise as shown above left, slips the next stitch knitwise, then inserts the tip of left needle into the two slipped stitches as shown above right, wraps the yarn around the right tip and draws through a knit stitch.

What does this look like? The photo just below shows 3 decreases. My finger is below the center decrease which I labeled “tskp”, and which looks a little twisted; the “ssk” is shown to the right and is label “ssk”.

In a moment, I will explain how to work the “skp”, which is show to the left of the center stitch. But, first, I’ll digress.

The attentive reader probably noticed I italicized knitwise when describing how to slip. I did this because normally when stitch pattern directions tell you to slip but don’t specify knitwise or purlwise, the knitter is expected to slip the stitches purlwise. The reason you normally slip purlwise is because, when working a fancy stitch pattern, you usually want to make sure the stitches still “sit” the same way on the needle when you work the next row. (If you want to read way too much about how stitches “sit”, read “Stockinette Ad Naseum”.)

Unfortunately, there are a number of “standard methods” that tell you to slip, don’t specify “knitwise”, but expect you to just remember that, for this case, you slip knitwise. The “ssk” is one of these. In fact, the whole purpose of slipping stitches during the “ssk” is to change the way the stitches sit; this prevents the stitches from being twisting when you knit them together. So, you have to slip them knitwise.

Now I’ll describe how I worked the “skp”.

To work the “skp”, you slip a stitch knitwise, just as was done for the “ssk”. You knit the next a stitch. Finally, insert the left hand needle tip into the slipped stitch on the right hand needle, as shown to the left, and lift that stitch over the knitted stitch, and drop the slipped stitch.

The result is shown to the left in the photo shown above. Now, you can examine that decrease and compare it to the one on the right. You tell me you can can see a difference. I believe you. Yeah. Right. Moving on . . .

Ok. Now, I’ll admit, I can’t tell the difference. In fact, the structures of the two decreases are identical, so they should look exactly alike. But, it is possible that some knitters ’ssk’ and ’skp’ may look different if they tend to pull the stitch a lot when they pass it over the slipped stitch while knitting an ’skp’. This would make the front stitch larger and the back stitch smaller. But, you could fix that by just pulling your fabric sideways and then lengthwise a few time. That tends to even out tension variations.

So, why do some people insist they can tell the difference. Let’s discuss a variation I’ll call the “non-standard skp”. One reason it’s often done is that some knitters don’t know that you are “supposed” to slip the stitch knitwise when working a “skp”. In fact, many knitters consider this standard. They assume they should slip purlwise, since slipping purlwise is the “normal” convention when working stitch patterns. (Go figure.)

To work the “non-standard skp”, slip a stitch purlwise, as shown to the left. Knit the next stitch. Finally, insert the left hand needle tip into the slipped stitch on the right hand needle, as shown to the left, and lift that stitch over the knitted stitch, and drop the slipped stitch.

Now, compare the decrease shown in the center to the ones on either side. Examine the base of the center decrease carefully; you’ll notice the right leg twists over the left leg. It’s twisted; that’s why I’ve labeled it “tskp” for “twisted skp”. It looks a just a bit different from the other two.

Of course, as I noted, some people consider the “tskp” the normal “skp”. So, yes the “skp” sometimes looks different from the “ssk”. It looks different if you slip the stitch in the “skp” purlwise instead of knitwise and create a “tskp”. Otherwise, it looks pretty darn similar to the “ssk”.

At least that’s what I think.

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This is filed under “how to knit”.