Machine Knitting: Decreasing

Knitting garments usually involves shaping and that means you will need to increase or decrease stitches. In hand knitting is easy to increase and decrease stitches across the row but in machine knitting it is really only possible at the ends of the row.

If you wanted to decrease across the row, then you would need to use a long circular knitting needle and then put back with some needles having two stitches. Or you could knit the row with decreases and then put back on the machine.

Simple one stitch decrease

The image above shows how to decrease on the left side of knitting. First pick up the edge stitch using a one-pronged transfer tool and then move it onto the stitch to the right. (On the right side you would pick up the edge stitch and move it onto the stitch to the left).

Push back the empty needles.

If you are using a difficult yarn or patterned knitting you can pull the needle into hold which might help the carriage to knit. (Make sure the carriage is set to knit needles in hold position).

Fashioned Decrease

A fashioned decrease is often used for raglan sleeves to make a nice effect on the garment.

A fashioned decreased edge can be made using a pronged tool. This creates a column of knitted stitches on the garments edge. For example a column of two stitches would be made with a 3-pronged tool. You could make a very wide column using a 7-pronged tool or a thin column using a 2-pronged tool.

.Here I am using the three pronged tool to do create a two stitch column.

To do this, I pick up 3 stitches on the edge, in this case on the right edge.

It then replace the stitches but one needle to the left, so that there is one needle with two stiches, one with one stitch and one with no stitches. This last needle is then pushed back into non-working position. You now have one less stitch, ie. you have decreased one stitch.

You do the same thing on the left edge of a garment by moving the stitches one needle to the right.

Pattern instructions should tell you on which rows you need to decrease to create the garment.

Happy Knitting!

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Carol

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