Expert: Marla - 4/3/2010

Question
I AM TRYING TO MAKE A DOILY BUT DONT UNDERSTAND AN INSTRUCTION ABOUT DECREASING. THE PATTERN SAYS " 2DC DECREASE OVER NEXT 2 SPACES {(YO, INSERT HOOK IN NEXT SPACE, BRING UP A  LOOP, YO DRAW THROUGH 2 LOOPS ON HOOK) TWICE, YO, DRAW THROUGH LAST 3 LOOPS ON HOOK TO COMPLETE STITCH}. I UNDERSTAND MOST OF THIS BUT AS I AM DOING THIS OVER A SPACE I DONT KNOW WHERE TO "BRING UP A LOOP" FROM OR WHAT THAT EXACTLY MEANS. AND DO I DO THIS TWICE IE ONE IN EACH SPACE.

Answer
Hi Chris!
Thanks for asking. What this means is that you start to dc in the first space, so you yarn over, insert the hook in the first space. Then yarn over and pull up a loop like you were continuing to dc. Then you yarn over and pull through two loops on the hook. You should now have 2 loops on the hook. Then you yarn over again (like you were going to dc again) and insert the hook into the next space. Yarn over, and pull up a loop. You should now have 4 loops on the hook. Then yarn over and pull through two loops. You should now have three loops on the hook. Then yarn over again and pull through the three loops on the hook. When a pattern refers to a space, it is often referring to ch stitches on the previous row. Even a ch 1 is sometimes referred to as a space.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you need anything else. Good luck!

Marla