Slip slip knit (SSK) - is there an easier alternative?

[BettyButterknife]

I just don't get it. I can decrease by knitting 2 together, but can't get the hang of SSK. Have even watched videos online but still don't understand...

Please tell me there's an easier option!

Is that to reduce the number of stitches or to create a pattern?

SSK just means poke your right needle through the next stitch and pull it off the left needle, then do it again, string the wool along the back and knit the next stitch.

Or am I missing something?

If you do just slip, slip, knit, then you are not decreasing at all, just creating a pattern.
And it is, like Kathy says, quite easy to do, just move the two slipped stitches from one needle to the other without knitting them
If you are decreasing and it is a matter of knitting two stitches together OR slip one, knit one, pull the slipped stitch over (s1 k1 psso) then there is a difference in the way the stitches lie.

Slip one, knit one, passed slip stitch over (SKP) gives the same result as a SSK decrease.

See this very helpful page here:

www.knittinghelp.com/videos/decreases

It shows you all of the decreases, how they look and has videos.

SSK actually means that you slip one stitch, then another one, then you put the left needle through the front of both while they're on the right needle and knit them both together at the back. If you miss this last stage, then yes, you're not decreasing at all. SSK is rather nice, but you can do SKPssO (slip, knit, pass slipped stitch over) if you prefer, same outcome.

SSK and SKPssO are both left leaning decreases. If you're asked to do them rather than K2tog (which leans right), there's a reason, and the knitting will look wonky if you don't.

SSK and SKPssO are discussed in beautiful and eloquent (although possibly too much) detail techknitting.blogspot.com/2007/09/left-decreases-evil-twin-part-2-of.html - God I love TechKnitting. She proposes another left-leaning decrease - (slip, yank, twist, knit) techknitting.blogspot.com/2007/09/new-method-for-left-leaning-decreases.html - which I had forgotten until your post reminded me, so thanks, I have resolved to try next time.

ssk is k2tog backwards. You just need to slip two stitches knitwise and then knit through the back loops. There are a lot of youtube videos showing it.

Fabulous, thank you - I 'get' SKP so will do this from now on.

Presumably there is an equivalent stitch for the purl rows?? The stitch from my pattern is p2tog tbl...