An interesting and ever growing study; Increases and Decreases .

Increases:

Stacked Increases:

Purl Side Stacked Increases (in paired order)

m1pL
Insert left needle tip under the bar from
FRONT TO BACK, then purl tbl of stitch (twisting)

m1pR
Insert left needle tip under the bar from
BACK TO FRONT, then purl stitch as normal

Knit Side Stacked Increases (in paired order)

m1kR
Insert left needle tip under the bar from BACK to FRONT the knit that stitch as normal

m1kL
Insert left needle tip under the bar from FRONT to BACK the knit the stitch “tbl(twisting)

If either m1pL OR m1kL stitch isn’t twisted correctly i.e.not knitted through the back loop OR M1pR OR m1kR, knitted through front loop, then congratulations, you’ve just made a very tight eyelet hole instead of an invisible increase!! Btw very useful if that’s what you needed.
If a pattern calls for a m1 on the Purl side of your fabric or a m1 the Knit side of your fabric you can choose whichever knit or purl increase you like as they are not stacked and a pattern will not emerge in your work.

M1R Also known as: Make 1 Purl (M1P), Make 1 Right (M1R): Lift Strand Between Stitches From BACK to FRONT with Left Hand Needle then Knit Through FRONT Loop. By knitting through the front loop you are adding a right twist to the increase, making it invisible.

M1L Also known as: Make 1 Knit (M1K), Make 1 Left (M1L): Lift Strand Between Stitches From FRONT to BACK with Left Hand Needle then Knit Through BACK Loop . By knitting through the back loop you are adding a left twist to the increase, making it invisible.

Lazy M1 Rule If pattern calls for an unspecified M1, just choose the one easiest to make. However, this choice matters if they are stacked on top of each other, as they will create a distinctive slant either left or right.

M1A: aka Make One Away, an easy all purpose increase, however, is loose and can show a small hole. When a pattern says to increase or to “make one (M1)” you can use this, or any of the other M1 increases.

M1T: Make 1 Towards is basically a backwards loop cast on the right needle increase.

Y/0: Yarnover before knit st (front over to back) or Yarn Round Needle aka reverse Y/O before purl st ( ). Creates Lace Hole. Note: if you feel the eyelet holes produced in your yarn over is too large or little fingers may get caught up in the hole, on flat knitting only, you may purl the YO on the wrong side tbl or PURL tbl to tighten up the hole or check out the M1RL note above.
Yarnover for throwers
Yarnover for throwers purl to knit stitch
Yarnover for Pickers

Inc (kf&b): Knit st forward and back, aka Bar Increase named for a distinctive bar that appears. Left Leaning.

m1p: make one purl (purl side).
Right, Left or Decorative m1p
m1pr pick up running yarn from back to front and purl.
m1pl pitch up running yarn from front to back ptbl

The Lifted Increases: The Least Visible of Increases
May be done with knit stitches or Purl stitches by lifting either the right or left legs of the stitch below up and on the knitting needle. I like to use M1 increases but if pattern calls for this there is a reason the designer chose to use it. Lifted increases are called by different terms such as RLI (Right Lifted Increase) or RLINK (Right Lifted Increase), same thing just newer and older terminology. Also see LLI vs LLINC, again same thing both mean Left Lifted Increase. These increases are paired increases so use them together!

• Right & Left Lifted Knit Increases RLI and LLI

• Right & Left Purled Lifted Increase RLPI and LLPI

Just the same thing but under different name:

RLINC Right Lifted Increase from the stitch below.

LLINC Left Lifted Increase from the stitch below.

Continental Increases Review of Above

kf and pf aka bar increases.

Decreases:

A] Right-Slanting Decrease
1) K2tog Insert needle into the next two stitches and work them as one. You will have one less stitch.

B] Left- Slanting Twisted Decreases
1) SSK: (Traditionally Taught, Sloppy Method) Slip 1st stitch as to knit, Slip 2nd stitch as to knit; knit tog through back loop. Looks messy.

2) SSK: (Alternate Method 1) Slip 1st stitch as to knit, Slip 2nd stitch as to purl; knit tog through FRONT loop. GREAT FOR WORKING AFTER A YO (a tight yo will take wobble out of Dec)

3) SSK: (Alternate Method 2) Slim Trim SSK ( for Stockinette Stitch in the round)

4) SSK: (Alternate Method 3) Alternative Left Slanting Decrease SSK (RS) Wrap the two knit sts to be decreased with an opposite wrap (WS) Purl those two stitches together tbl. (for flat knitting)

5) SKPO - Slip, Knit, Pass Slipped Stitch Over (psso). skpo or written out in patterns, Slip 1 stitch knitwise--K1--psso: according to mon tricot magazine: Slip one stitch as if to knit, knit the next stitch, then with the left needle pass the slip stitch over the knit stitch. One stitch is decreased. If you’re really picky so the bound off (cast off ) stitch will not be larger than the knitted stitch, you can work this decrease as follows: slip 2 stitches knitwise, work a yarn over and pass the 2 stitches over this yarn over.

3) k2tog tbl

4) Prior Row Twisted Orientation Left Slanting Decrease:
Set Up, Prior Row:Below Paragraph. (Flat knitting)

Continental Decreases Review

From Lily Chin’s Book: Knitting tips & tricks: Shortcuts and Techniques every knitter should know. Potter Craft, New York. 2009.
(For flat knitting)
“You’ll notice how there’s only one way to do a right-slanting decrease (k2tog) yet there are several ways of working the left-slanting decrease. And they never quite match; the left-slanting decrease is always looser and sloppier. With all that tugging and manipulating and pulling, of course these stitches will loosen up. And they require extra moves: 4 for ssk and 3 for skp. although k2tog tbl is only one move, the stitches are wonky. These extra moves slow down the work and break up the rhythm…

I have a perfect left-slanting decrease that I guarantee will be the closest match to a right-slanting decrease, and it only requires 1 move. The one drawback is that you have to prepare for it the row before you do it. We normally like to work our decreases on thee right-side (or RS) rows. This means that on the wrong-side (WS) row before you have to do the left-slanted decrease, you also have to know where those two stitches are.

It’s not too difficult since we tend to work the decrease a stitch or two from the end. Work to those two stitches on the wrong side and insert your needle as if to purl into the first of these; stop. Think about how the yarn normally wraps around the needle in a purl. Go through the motions if you have to. Now wrap the yarn around the needle in the opposite direction, going underneath the needle first to the back then over the top and to the front, and complete the purl. Repeat this on the next stitch. Purl the remaining stitches normally. When you begin to work the next right-side row, notice that those two stitches are turned the opposite way. They have been primed for you to knit them through their back legs now; they will not twist. That’s because they have been preeturned from the row before when you purled throwing the opposite way. It’s almost as if you’ve done the slip, slip alredy for slip, slip knit (ssk).“

EphieM’s Final Note on SSK

I have battled ugly ssk’s and have been fooled by “perfect” ssk advice and last night by accident, I found a stunning ssk after hours of paired K2tog and SSK decreases by working in flat knitting. Here it is:

On the Purl side of the work prepare both
K2tog and SSK.

1) Prepare K2tog by slipping two stitches Purlwise (do not purl just slip these two stitches. Continue purling until you get to where the SSk is going to be.

2) Prepare SSK by slipping two stitches Knitwise (do not purl just slip these two stitches. Continue purling until you get to the end of work.

A) Knit until you come to your SSK, Knit the two prepared stitches together through the back loop. Beautiful.

B) Knit until you come to your K2tog, knit the two
prepared stitches together as usual. Beautiful.

Magic two VERY paired decreases!!!

LINKS:

Continental Increases

<a href=“http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring03/FEATtheresa.html “>More Increase Decrease Help

Center Raised Double Twisted Decrease
ROW1: slip two stitches tog knitwise, knit the next st, pass two slip stitched over knit st. ROW2: PURL (ws) continue

ROW 1 & 2 Note: On subsequent ROW 1, the two slip stitched are the one before the raised spine and the raised spine knit st after spine then pass sts over.

Working Study Notes:
Green Leaf: Following helpful advise of doing YOs for the increases and the decreases on the outsides and that it’s absolutely necessary to soak and block each leaf if you want it to stay flat.

White Leaf: M1 and original decrease directions followed.

From robinhill:
The pattern: CO 3 stitches & purl one row.

Leaf bottom: Working stockinette st, on all knit rows: knit to center st, yo, knit 1, yo, knit to end. Purl backside. Do this until leaf is as wide as you would like it (about 7 increase rows).

Leaf tip: Continuing in st st, on next knit rows: ssk, knit to last 2 sts, k2tog. Purl backside. When 3 sts remain, slip first 2 sts knitwise - knit 1 - pass 2 slipped stitches over the knit one.

Note: an alternate decrease for the tip is to k2tog for the first 2sts, knit to last 2 and ssk. This is the leaf in the second to the bottom photo.

Break yarn and pass through the remaining st. Block, pinning down the edges.