Dear SweaterBabe,

I, too, am knitting my first cardigan.

I believe I understand the reverse shaping with one pestering question: When I make the left front (have already knitted the right front) and I need to decrease stitches: where I had decreased for the Right Front using the pattern instructions K2Tog. , will I now use the SSK decrease method since I am on the opposite side?

The pattern doesn’t specify. Can you help me? Thanks !

-- Karen E. in Gaylord

Dear Karen,

Yes - if you are wanting to "mirror" the effect you have on the Right Front side, you would do an SSK instead of the K2tog.

The K2tog slants right (when you are looking at the Knit side, i.e. the Right side of your work), whereas the SSK decrease will slant left.

This will give you a nice symmetric look to your shaping.

Sometimes it is not specified in the instructions which specific method of decreasing to use if the decreasing is happening along the edges and will be hidden inside the side seams.  Other times, it is omitted so the knitter can decide what their preferred method is.  I personally try to be explicit in all of my SweaterBabe.com patterns, but the standards are different for different pattern writers and publications.

Hope that answers it!

Happy knitting!

-- SweaterBabe

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