Adding Raised Contrasting Color. Pow!

Embossed Leaf Hat

We briefly explored a Contrasting Showy Decrease in August when introducing the Showy version of the Central Double Decrease (CDD). In that post, we focused more on the texture. Now let’s take a closer look at the contrasting color, then we’ll add a single CC Showy Decrease to your repertoire too.

You can see the before and after versions of this decrease in the original August post and knit this swatch to compare them for yourself with this chart. 

Here’s how the Contrasting Showy CDD works:

1. Set Up: A CC stitch is added on the right side. It will be slipped on the next wrong side row to set up the first decrease (shown in row 2 of chart and photo 1 below).
2. Wrong Sides: The decrease stitch from the prior row is slipped. The stitch after  it (when knitting flat) is purled with CC (photo 2). The stitch before is purled in MC, not in CC.
3. Right Sides: There are 3 stitches in the CDD: the left one is in MC, the center one is the CC slip stitch and the right one is also in CC (photo 3). To work the decrease: slip 2 knitwise (photo 4), knit 1 with CC (photo 5), pass the 2 slipped CC over. Knit the next stitch in MC (photo 6) making sure to keep it nice and tight so there are no gaps.

Knitting a diagonal Contrasting Showy Decrease line.

The Embossed Leaf Hat shown above uses a similar concept but with a single decrease (k2tog and ssk). The same idea applies. Knit the decrease with CC on right side rows. On the wrong side, slip the decrease stitch from the row before and purl the adjacent stitch that it will be worked with in CC. Here’s an example of a diagonal k2tog Contrasting Showy Decrease line. To create a vertical line add the eyelets to the right of the decrease instead.

It gets really exciting when you combine a few of our favorite “Nuances”!

And, I never said the colors had to be the same! The top on these hats is dramatic, you’re going to love it. These are variations of the Vortex Hat. The pattern comes with 5 style options already and now you know how to add one more!

Now it’s easy to knit a hat for your favorite sports fan. Just twist the eyelets closed (knit tbl) and it’s great for guys too.

There’s more to come on this topic. I’ve got some design ideas bouncing around my head but I am forcing myself to stay focused and finish up some patterns for you first. They introduce two more ways to use the Showy Decrease so I am pretty excited about them. I’ll also update the Vortex pattern with this option soon.

Vortex Hat Trio

Here are some really helpful links:

• The original post on the Showy Central Double Decrease.
• The Vortex Hat: the blog post and web site page.
• The Embossed Leaf Hat uses the same 3 Nuances shown above.
• Two-Color Cast On: the blog post and free tutorial download
• Two-Tier Hat Top: the blog post and free tutorial download
• Showy Decrease: the blog post and free tutorial download.
• Our Ravelry Store

One comment on “Adding Raised Contrasting Color. Pow!”

1. Pingback: You’ll Never Look at Hat Brims the Same Way Again | Knitting Nuances

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