Let's Knit Magazine - Your knitting, your style

Hey everyone,

I have been on a site called http://www.knitty.com and there is a brilliant pattern for pair of anklet socks called “breeze”.  If you go on the site and write in “breeze” on the search bar it will come up with another section that you have to click on.  You will see a ankle sock in a greeny kinda colour.

Anyway, if you can print it off and have a look at it, I have been having a problem.  I got to the bit where you have to do the gusset and then to Round 1 and Round 2.  I did these till I got to the point that says K1,ssk, k to end of Needle 3.

I did this but only needle 1 was reducing and not needle 3.  I think I misunderstood “ssk”.  I thought it meant slip stitch knitway.  Has anyone got any ideas.  I looked on their abbreviations eventually and it says to “ssk” is “knit two together” der. 

I got really annoyed with it and unpicked it.  It looks so cosy that I am not going to give up even though it takes a lot of concentration and no teenager kids around you.

I hope someone can let me see the end of the flipping tunnel to this pattern (oops sorry).

Love Susan

Hi Susan,
I’m just knitting my first pair of socks and did exactly the same thing you did, to the letter.  I had to look up SSK in the end…

SSK actually means “slip slip knit”, which means slip two stitches from left-hand needle onto right-hand needle, then insert left hand needle into both(front left to back right i think...), yarn round end of right-hand needle and lift stitches off with left hand needle.... so it’s sort of like knitting two together but using the needles the other way around.

It’s harder to explain than to do!  Basically it is the same effect as slip one, knit one, pass the slip stitch over - you decrease a stitch and it looks the same as where you have been knitting two together on needle one, but if you just knitted two together on needle three it would look different.

That sounds like gibberish to me, but I’m hoping it will make sense to you!

*edit to add link to perhaps a clearer description, with drawings… http://www.lionbrand.com/cgi-bin/faq-search.cgi?store=/stores/eyarn&faqKey=80 *

Thanks Claire, I think i will just treat it as knit two together.  I dont know why you have to do it the other way, because it’s not really giving it much effect.

Anyway, I’am going to go shopping, give my bedroom a change around and then when my husband goes off to work at 2.00pm, am going to sit down and concentrate with my knitting.

Thanks again for your help. 

Love susan

You’re welcome
I’d really recommend that you try the SSK thing because it does make the two decreases look the same and once you’ve got it it’s just as easy to do - but of course it’s up to you at the end of the day.
Happy knitting this afternoon!