How To Do The SSK Knitting Stitch – Slip-Slip-Knit - Nimble Needles

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How to do the SSK knitting stitch – Slip-Slip-Knit

A step-by-step tutorial on the knitting SSK – a left-slanting decrease.

Your pattern tells you to knit an SSK, and you don’t know what it means? Then you came to the right place. In this tutorial, I’m going to show you exactly how to decrease stitches with this technique – even if you are an absolute beginner.

So, let’s dive right into it, eh?

What does SSK mean?

ⓘ In knitting, the abbreviation “SSK” stands for “slip, slip, knit” and it creates a left-leaning decrease. The term describes the counterpart to the right-leaning k2tog. If a pattern requires you to “SSK (3 times)”, then this means you have to perform this stitch three times. If you are on the left side of a garment and your pattern simply tells you to decrease one stitch, then SSK will be a good bet.

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Active Time 1 minute Total Time 1 minute

Materials

• Any yarn works. I am using the Schachenmayr Catania Grande in this tutorial

Tools

• Any type of needle. I am using the Knitter's Pride Dreamz here

Instructions

1. Insert your right needle into the first stitch on your left needle as if to knit.
2. And then simply slip that stitch onto your right needle WITHOUT knitting (you will only twist the stitch that way). A lot of patterns will simply write "slip a stitch knitwise" to describe steps 1+2
3. Insert your right needle into the next stitch as if to knit, and then slip it as well.You should now have two slipped stitches on your right needle that are twisted.
4. Re-insert your left needle into those two stitches and slip those two stitches back to the left needle again.
5. And now, insert your right needle into the back loop of these two stitches
6. Then, knit them together through the back loop (k2tog tbl). And there is the finished SSK knitting stitch on your right needle. As you can see, the loop leans a bit to the left.

Notes

Try to knit this decrease as gently as possible and DON'T stretch out the loops as you slip them. The more you pull and wiggle around, the more visible this decrease will become and you'll end up with an oversize and quite noticeable stitch in your project. So, try to knit to work at the very tip of your needles.

Also, you don't actually have to pull your right needle out when you slip them on the left needle. It's already in the right position to knit through the back loop. So you can actually skip step 5!

Reading tip: Feel free to check out my free knitting school for more tutorials.

Difference between K2tog and SSK

SSK creates a left-slanting decrease while knitting two together (k2tog) creates a right-slanting decrease. Together, they form a pair you can use to decrease a project evenly on both sides. SSK is typically used on the right side of your work, while K2tog is used on the left side. This might be a bit counterintuitive, but you want the stitches to lean left into the fabric, and if you were to use it on the left side, then they would lean outwards.

If you take a close look at the swatch above, you can see how both stitches look in a piece of fabric. I knitted SSK and K2tog on BOTH sides of the swatch so you can see how the respective decrease looks on either side of the work. And on the left side, at the very top of the swatch, you can clearly see what happens if you use a left-leaning decrease on the left side.

Personally speaking, I have to say that both sides have their charm. Typically, you create the most harmonic look when you use k2tog on the left side and SSK on the right side of a project.

However, do keep in mind that you sometimes also have to use right- and left-leaning decreases side by side. For example, when you knit a sweater bottom-up, and need to knit the raglan decrease lines. Then, most people will say that using SSK on the left side of the central decrease line looks better.

But do keep in mind that this is not set in stone. There are tons of use-cases (lace shawls come to mind), where you don’t want to have such a prominent ridge (however neat it might look) and will rather opt for the decrease line that lays perfectly flat.

How to let your SSK knitting decreases look a bit neater

SSK decreases can often look quite wonky – especially if you don’t knit at the very tip of your needles and accidentally pull out the loops too much. There are a couple of ways to improve the classic method:

• Purl the remaining stitch through the back loop on the return row. This untwists the stitches a bit and lets them appear a bit more like stockinette stitch (Note: If you are knitting in the round, then you obviously would have to knit them through the back loop).
• Slip the first stitch knitwise and then slip the second stitch as if to purl. This is also known as Slip, Slip purl, knit (SSPK), and will lay quite a bit flatter this way. But you will also be able to see both stitches layered on top of each other.
• Knit k2tog left instead – complicated but super neat.
• Knit SKP instead – easy and quite clean.
• The neatest option, in my opinion, is knitting an SSP from the wrong side.
• Some people also see good results with the one-move SSK.

Reading tip: The ultimate list of knitting decreases – centered, right-, and left-leaning alternatives for every project.

So, this is how to knit ssk. Feel free to comment with your questions!

20 thoughts on “How to do the SSK knitting stitch – Slip-Slip-Knit”

1. I’m missing something?! I can’t see the difference between k2tog and ssk? (I am an absolute beginner and this is like a minefield of foreign language that I’ll never understand!) What is the point of slipping the 2 stitches to move them back to knit? It seems pointless to move two stitches over then back again just to knit them? What am I missing? Sorry, I’m really dumb at this!!

   Reply

   • I don’t quite understand your question – there’s a whole paragraph about the difference? By slipping the stitches you change their orientation. So when you knit them together through the backloop, there resulting stitches appear balanced (and not twisted) in your finished work. If you don’T slip them, the result will be a twisted stitch.

     Reply

   • The ‘slip’ is a slight misconception. When I think of ‘slip’ I imagine a shower curtain slipping and sliding from one side to another, so then to slip a stitch back and forth doesn’t seem like it’s doing anything BUT, what is actually happening is the stitch is twisted BEFORE it is slipped. Have a look at step 1 again, see the stitch is facing you on the left needle, when you ‘slip’ it to the right in step 2 the stitch part facing you at the front on the left needle is now at the back of the right needle, so it has actually twisted, very different from the shower curtain idea! 🙂 Best thing you can do is knit a few rows and then try it out [it’s what I did 😉 ] Hope that helps!

     Reply

     • Very nice explanation! Hope we didn’t lose a newbie! I’ve been knitting for years but still keep a description on how stitches work in my bag.

       Reply

     • oh! I get it now. I stared for so long and kept thinking the initial steps were useless, but your explanation shed light on what’s actually happening. Thanks!

       Reply

2. I loved the video, very clear and easy to understand, the only problem I have is that I knit through the back loop. It ends up being k2tog. Would you recommend doing the same thing through the front loop then? Thanks

   Reply

   • I am not sure I understand this question. Are you saying you are combination knitter?

     Reply

3. Hi Norman! which is the decrease corresponding to SSK on the wrong side?

   Reply

   • ssp, says so in the last paragraph 😉

     Reply

4. It took me a while to catch on but once I did it was easy. Before it was hard. You did a great job presenting the ssk stich. It initially sounded like a foreign language to me. Thank you so much. I still have much to learn about knitting. I crochet more.

   Reply

5. So well done graphically and explaining. Gratitude!!

   Rita

   Reply

6. I’m working on a Noro pattern. When I did My swatch, I decided I hated SSK ( I’m a tight knitter and right handed!) The sweater is knitted flat, so I was pleased to see I can do the SSK through the back loop and then Purl on the next row. You saved my life!

   Reply

7. I am trying to to do a ssk (p1,k1) to decrease 4 stitches on a hat and I understand the ssk but not sure how you get 4 decreases. 1 decrease from ssk but how about the other 3?

   Reply

   • there seems to be information missing. Either you repeat that 4 times in that row or you decrease with ssk across 4 rows in the same spot. I am not aware of any (usefull) quadruple decreases.

     Reply

8. Hi Norman, I am/was an English knitter who has not knitted for some 15 years, now struggling to learn the Continental way. I love your tutorials very clear and easy to follow. Would you have instructions for the samples that you have done in your videos, especially for increasing and decreasing, I am trying to replicate the samples for practice.

   Reply

   • Hm…those are just super simple swatches I more or less winged. Something like CO 30 stitches R1: purl R2: k3, SSK, knit to end R3: purl R4: k3, ssk, knit to end repeat until 4 stitches are left.

     Reply

9. Hi, the tutorials for different decrease methods are great but I am doing stocking stitch and have to decrease at both ends on each row. I’m okay doing the first decrease on the knit row but am confused as to how to do the purl row so it matches what I did on the knit row. Can you help please, I’m a beginner.

   Reply

   • you would have to end the row with k2tog – knit two together. That’s the corresponding right-leaning decrease. You can also decrease on the wrong side with p2tog – purl two together.

     Reply

10. I prefer knitting the second stitch and then slipping the first back over it. The result is the same as the method shown above but especially with difficult (loosely threaded or very thick) yarns knitting through two stitches on the backside can be cumbersome.

    Reply

    • Yes, but then it’s not SSK anymore, but slip, knit, pass (over). I have a tutorial for that as well and that’S actually how I learned it in school. Technically speaking, they are the same, ofc.

      Reply

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