Learn how to knit an s2kp stitch, this easy center double decrease knitting stitch is a must-know technique for your next knitting project!
I mean, can we just talk about something for a minute? Who in the world thought s2kp was a good stitch name? Particularly when there is a DIFFERENT stitch called sk2p?!
I would like to lodge a formal complaint. It’s just confusing.
And I personally think things like THIS are one of the things that make knitting seem scary and unapproachable. I mean, knitting already has kind of a snooty reputation. Do we really need to make it worse?
S2kp is less commonly abbreviated as sl2-k1-p2sso which, while longer, I think, makes more sense. But for the purposes of google and this post, I will begrudgingly continue to call is s2kp.
It really is a shame that the name is confusing because this is really a handy stitch. Often times when you decrease or increase in knitting the new stitch will slant either to the left or the right. For decreases, this happens based on which of the original stitches that you started with ends up on top at the end. Does that make sense?
So, for example, imagine a k2tog. When you knit two stitches together, you insert your needle into them both from left to right and the left stitch ends up leaning over on top of the right stitch. This makes it look like it’s slanting to the right.
But s2kp is great because it’s actually a CENTERED double decrease. That means you are taking 3 stitches and decreasing down to one. But because of the way you knit an s2kp, the overall stitch does not appear to lean either way, it’s centered! This can be super handy in designing a knitting pattern, particularly for something that’s symmetrical across the center line!
So, how do you knit an s2kp?
- Start an s2kp with your yarn behind your work
- Slip the first two stitches knitwise together from your left knitting needle to your right knitting needle
- Then knit the next stitch on the left needle
- Use the tip of your left needle (or your fingers) to life both slipped stitches up and over the knit stitch and off the right knitting needle
- An s2kip is a centered double decrease knitting stitch!
See, that was easy!
How To Do an s2kp (Slip 2, Knit 1, Pass Slipped Stitches Over)
Learn how to do an s2kp which is an easy centered double decrease for knitting!
Materials
Tools
Instructions
- Start an s2kp with your yarn behind your work
- Slip the first two stitches knitwise together from your left knitting needle to your right knitting needle
- Then knit the next stitch on the left needle
- Use the tip of your left needle (or your fingers) to life both slipped stitches up and over the knit stitch and off the right knitting needle
- An s2kip is a centered double decrease knitting stitch!
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Lyn says
Thank you for this useful tutorial. As a beginner, it is very easy to follow and I learned a lot.
I love the look of this decrease and I would like to do a mirrored increase with a similar look, meaning a nice raised central column of 1 stitch with the newly added stitches seemingly leaving from under it on each side. The CDI with kbf is too flat. I also tried M1L, k1, M1R which is better but this is giving a very weak raise and there’s the small holes.
Any help is appreciated, thanks!