A step by step tutorial on the right-leaning k2tog twisted decrease
If you knit two stitches together, then you will get a nice almost invisible right-leaning decrease. Repeat it every two rows, and you get a lovely slanting decrease line you can use for the shoulders of sweaters or the tip of socks. But when your pattern features twisted stitches, that doesn’t look good. The solution: You have to knit two together twisted.
So in this tutorial, I am going to show you a couple of ways to achieve a k2tog twisted. You can use this right-slanting decrease when you are working on a project with a twisted rib stitch or Bavarian twisted stitches and you want the left stitch to lay on top of the right stitch twisted.
Note: The corresponding left-leaning decrease would be a simple k2tog tbl.
Instructions:
Step 1: Slip the first stitch on the left needle to the right needle purlwise.
Step 2: Slip the next stitch on the left needle to your right needle by inserting your right needle from back to front.
Step 3: Slip the two stitches back to the left needle (without further twisting them).
Step 4: Knit those two stitches together (through the regular front loop like you normally would).
This method works excellent when you are knitting together a purl/knit stitch and then a twisted stitch (ktbl). The decrease will perfectly continue the elevated line of stitches then.
Alternative for Two twisted stitches next to each other:
Important: When you are knitting together two twisted stitches, then you have to change the steps a tiny bit.
If you don’t do this, you will untwist that first stitch as you knit them together, and that will look less neat (see picture above). And likewise, if you were to knit the prior version with a purl & ktbl combination, you would add a further twist to the first stitch. And that’s probably not what you want either.
Step 1b): Instead of slipping the first stitch purlwise, you need to slip it by inserting the needle from back to front as well.
The rest is done exactly the same. You just need to adjust the way you slip the first stitch.
Alternative with traveling stitches
You can also incorporate a technique similar to the way yo uwould be knitting Bavarian twisted stitches. The outcome will be exactly the same, but maybe a tiny bit more condensed.
Basically you are preparing a 1×1 cable first, and then you k2tog tbl. Let’s take a look
Step 1: Do a traveling to the right (so, re-arranging the stitches so the left stitch is crossed in front to the right) but don’t knit the stitches as you normally would.
Step 2: Instead, knit the two stitches together through the back loop.
As this technique might seem to be a bit more complicated for beginners, I wrote a separate tutorial for the traveling twisted decrease so you can follow it step by step.
If you are more comfortable with the other technique, it’s no big deal. You should be aware, however, that the standard version involves 4 slips, while this version just 3. So, it’s in fact a bit more complicated and slower to knit.
Reading tip: The ultimate list of knitting decreases – centered, right-, and left-leaning alternatives for every project.
Anyway, that’s it. That’s how you knit two together twisted. Feel free to comment below if you still have any questions.
