Preparing to begin working swatches for the twisted decreases and I believe there is another mistake. If I am working in stockinette and I need to make decreases on the RS rows, that would mean that I need to use knitted decreases. However, further in the directions it reads that the decreases can be worked on the RS or the WS. What am I missing?

There isn't an error in the directions. The task is to produce decrease which are twisted on the right side of the work. You can use either knitted decreases on the right side or purl decreases on the wrong side. As long as the decreases are twisted, any choice you make is fine. I think Montse Stanley's Handbook of Knitting is a pretty good source for these swatches. She provides lots of decreases to choose from. The point of these swatches is to 1) reinforce the concept of mirrored decreases 2) ensure that the knitter can differentiate between a twisted and untwisted decrease 3) know the difference between blended (decreases that blend in with the surrounding stitches) and full-fashioned (decreases which don't blend in with the surrounding stitches and are used for decorative effects) and 4) experiement with unusual decreases. Decreases of these sorts are found in more complicated lace patterns. Since Level II asks the knitter to produce lace patterns (and we prefer more complicated patterns to simple ones) we hope these decrease swatches may be helpful. We also hope that the knitters going through the program really research all the types of decreases (those worked on the RS and WS). We really do think about how these instructions are put together. We want the basic swatches to be building blocks for the more complicated swatches and projects.

You may also want to look at the articles on decreasing in the Members Only section of the website.

Arenda

Thank you for your reply and explanation. I read the article that you wrote already (thank you), as well as Hiatt's and Stanley's. My confusion lies with the wording that states that one is to "decrease 1 stitch every other RS row 5 times" for both 8 and 9. I know that the decreases will appear on the right side if they are purled. I guess I will knit 1" in stockinette and not end with a WS but a RS for the first decrease. Is that what was meant?

That could probably be phrased better but as long as the decreases are every other row who knows whether you made the decrease on a RS or WS row (except that we want you to identify the type of decrease you used). Really, all the committee members look at are the decreases (are they twisted and do they mirror each other?). Again, the point of these swatches is to encourage the knitter to investigate some of the lesser known decrease techniques. You may find one you like better than the more common ones. At least, if you come across one in an old pattern book, you will be familiar with it.

Arenda

Again, thank you for your reply. I enjoyed working on level 1 and I am so much more organized for this level. I appreciate the time that you take, Arenda, for assisting us through the levels.

I'm reviving an old thread here. . . .

I've read some past discussions of the Level 2 swatches using twisted decreases because I'm going back over my swatches and seeing which ones I'd like to take another shot at improving. My question on these 2 is whether the decreases are supposed to be inconspicuous. As when, in Level 1, we are to fiddle with our SSK technique trying to get it to look more like our k2togs. Are these twisted decs ideally supposed to be no larger than their neighbor stitches? Or is "decorative" OK?

By way of comparison, I've done several projects using the centered double dec (like swatch 10), and I know that those guys are going to protrude a bit. They have 3 stitches in them, there's no way around it. I try to have them straight and shapely, but "inconspicuous" is pretty much unattainable.

This is really wierd, but I had some questions about these swatches, and here is a thread that addresses my concerns!
What I need to know is this; the decreases on swatch 9 have to be different from the ones used in #8, so if I used K2tog thru back of loops on #8, is P2tog thru back of loops considered different? I read Arenda's article and there are two (or three?) different left leaning ones, but only one right leaning one if made on the knit side, but if decreasing on the purl side is considered a different one, then no problem.
I have a feeling that the central decrease isn't intended to be "inconspicous", but not "in your face" either. The pictures I've seen of it, it doesn't look like it was intended to blend in.
Diana

I worked #8's decreases on the right-side (knits), and #9's on the wrong-side (purls). I consider those different.
I'm looking forward to hearing from buckaroo/petipa on these queries, though. For me and Level 2, the end is in sight! (I'm excited! It's been fun and hard, educational and challenging, and it's starting to look like I've really accomplished something.)

As long as they are not the exact same decrease, it is fine. Making one set on the RS and the others on the WS is fine. We want knitters to look through some reference books and research different techniques. You may never encounter many of these decreases in a pattern but you may want to convert a pattern knit in the round to flat knitting. We want you to think of different ways to get the same slant and to consider whether the resulting decrease will be twisted or not.

Arenda

This thread is tremendously helpful to me, as I have been asking myself these same questions and have been researching and considering various options. I am glad to know that is the purpose of these swatches! It has been very interesting.
– Rachel