How do you all feel about the SSK stitch (slip, slip, knit)? While it certainly serves a purpose for creating direction with your decreases, it can sometimes feel a little clunky.

The photo above is a portion of the stitch design in my pattern Washed Ashore; It’s a modern lace design that relies heavily on directional decreases to create both the visual interest AND the shape of the front of the garment. Do you see the smooth decrease lines that go both directions? This particular lace design relies on decreases that go two different directions – in combination with eyelet increases – to create waves down the front of the garment. The traditional SSK doesn’t always give you the neatest results, depending on the design, so when the need arises, I swap out the SSK with something else.

Next time a pattern suggests SSK, try this:

Knit two stitches together through the back loop (k2togtbl); it’s one clean movement, and the result is an almost perfect mirror to k2tog. This tidy decrease helps to create smooth lines throughout the lace work.

Pretty slick, right? Try it and see what you think!