k4tog & s4k

There comes a time in knitting when you have to decrease stitches. Sometimes decreases are purely decorative and other times decreases are used to shape the fabric. Usually only one stitch is decreased, but occasionally we need to decrease multiple stitches. The knit 4 together (k4tog) and slip 4 and knit through the back of the loops (s4k) are two handy ways to decrease three stitches in your knitting.

The two most common ways to decrease two or more stitches are to knit a group of stitches together or to slip a series of stitches individually, knitwise, then knit them together through the back loops.