Centered Single Decrease (csd)

The Centered Single Decrease is not invisible, but it is magically slant-less. You work it over three stitches to decrease one stitch, and the two stitches that remain manage to lean neither right nor left. Fun fact… Some people refer to this decrease as the Bunny Ears Decrease because the finished stitches look like two little ears veering in opposite directions!

Here’s our Centered Single Decrease tutorial, where we show you how we do it…

First, work a left-leaning decrease over two stitches, similar to a slip slip knit (ssk), but you slip both stitches knitwise. Here’s how…

Slip one knitwise.

Slip a second stitch knitwise.

Insert the left needle into the front of both slipped stitches, then knit them together.

Next, you’ll work a right-leaning decrease over two stitches, the first of those stitches you will have to pick up…

Insert the left needle into the second of the stitches you just knit together (the one in back), and place it onto the left needle, ready to be worked…

Insert the right needle into the next two stitches on the left needle and knit them together (like a k2tog).

That’s it… One stitch decreased and the remaining stitches remain centered. No leaning here!

Practice, Practice, Practice

Put what you learned in our Centered Single Decrease tutorial to work with our free Top + Bottom Top pattern.

The Top + Bottom Top is worked from the bottom-up. Cast on with a fingering-weight yarn and then rapidly decreased using the Centered Single Decrease to continue at a larger gauge!

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