CSD-back: centered single decrease with center stitch at the back

I’m shifting from using the “bunny ears” names for a set of four knitting stitch methods, and I’m rewriting the instructions while I’m at it. “Centered single decrease” is a more descriptive name for the basic maneuver. Today’s post is about a version of the decrease where the center stitch hides at the back of the decrease.

The goal of this stitch pattern is to start with three stitches and decrease away the center stitch by knitting it together with the stitches to either side, in such a way as to make the center stitch hide behind the outer two stitches, which lean toward each other.

It will probably take a while for me to edit the older stitch patterns on my blog that contain it, but I plan to use this name from now on.

Terminology note:

I’m trying to get away from using “left” and “right” needles to help left-handed knitters who work in the opposite direction. (Though they will need to flip the images.) In this post I’m going to say “active needle” for the one the new stitches end up on, and “supporting needle” for the needle holding the stitches from the previous row.

Instructions for CSD-back:

Illustration and photo of three stitches on the supporting needle, ready to be knit together.
Setup

Setup: Here are three stitches sitting on the supporting needle, ready to be decreased together.

The stitch closest to the tip is stitch A (light green), the middle is stitch B (medium green), and the third is stitch C (dark green).

Step 1

Step 1: Slip stitch A knitwise.

Step 2

Step 2: Knit stitch B without removing it from the supporting needle. Pass the slipped stitch (marked with a star) over the stitch that was knit into stitch B.

Step 3

Step 3: Stitches B and C are still on the supporting needle: knit them together.

Result: The end result looks as if there’s two decreases sitting on the needle next to each other, but only one stitch has been decreased away. Three stitches have been turned into two, and the middle of the three original stitches is hiding in back.

This is the stitch combination I unvented when I needed a combination of stitches that served this exact purpose, It and the variation that has a yarnover in the middle are part of why I don’t think the “bunny ears” name is descriptive; they look nothing like a rabbit to me.