Somewhat esoteric

Posted 3 Oct 2014 by JC

For some time now, it’s been possible at Stitch-Maps.com to draw stitch maps with symbols for twisted, left-leaning decreases – that is, for left-leaning decreases where the top stitch has a half-twist to the left, like the twist of a k1 tbl. And just like a k1 tbl, they’re done by simply working stitches through their back loops, leading to straightforward abbreviations like k2tog tbl.

• K2tog tbl on RS, p2tog tbl on WS
• K3tog tbl on RS, p3tog tbl on WS
• P2tog tbl on RS, k2tog tbl on WS
• P3tog tbl on RS, k3tog tbl on WS

Recently, though, I’ve had requests for twisted decreases that lean to the right, or are centered. These somewhat esoteric decreases are a little funkier to do, and so they don’t have common abbreviations. Still, Stitch-Maps.com needs knitspeak before it can draw a stitch map, so I’ve chosen to use abbreviations like k2tog twisted.

What does this mean for you? In short: you now have six new symbols at your disposal. Check them out:

• K2tog twisted on RS, p2tog twisted on WS
• K3tog twisted on RS, p3tog twisted on WS
• Cdd twisted on RS, cddp twisted on WS
• P2tog twisted on RS, k2tog twisted on WS
• P3tog twisted on RS, k3tog twisted on WS
• Cddp twisted on RS, cdd twisted on WS

Want to know how to work one of these twisted decreases? Check out the “Decreases” section of the symbol key and abbreviations list.

Side note: When entering knitspeak, you can also say ssk twisted, sl1-k2tog-psso twisted, ssp twisted, and sssp twisted, to place left-leaning twisted decreases into a stitch map. But when displaying written instructions, Stitch-Maps.com will replace those abbreviations with k2tog tbl, k3tog tbl, p2tog tbl, and p3tog tbl, to be consistent with stitch patterns already in the site’s collection. (Truthfully? I figure it’d be easier to use the convenience buttons on the Contribute page.)

Now for the big question: why might you want to use all these twisted decrease symbols? Well, I don’t know about you, but I suspect I’ll find them handy for mapping the work of Hitomi Shida, a fantastic designer and author of one of my all-time favorite stitch dictionaries, Knitting Patterns Book 250. Several of the stitch patterns in that book make use of both left- and right-leaning twisted decreases. Here are a couple examples:

Questions? Comments. You know where to find me.