#mock cable

The right-leaning version is fairly simple. You do a k2tog, but leave the worked stitches on the left-hand needle. Then you put the right-hand needle behind the upper stitch of the decrease, dip it into the lower stitch, and knit into just that one. Then drop both worked stitches.

This accomplishes two things. It shifts the column, the way a regular decrease does, but without reducing the stitch count. And it gives you a stitch that's hidden behind the 'decrease' which you can plausibly either knit or purl on the next row/round. It does these with a bit less stretching and distortion of the stitches than a regular 1/1 cable crossing.

The left-leaning version is slightly more fiddly. It starts by slipping 2 stitches knitwise, the way you would for a regular ssk. Then you slip them together, purlwise, back to the left-hand needle. Having flipped their orientation, you do the sneaking-the-needle-behind-the-upper-stitch maneuver, and knit a stitch into the back loop of the pair.

Without dropping either of the flipped stitches, now knit through both of them via the back loop, completing the ssk.

Below are examples of both versions, after one more row has been knitted above them.

I re-knitted my mustard yellow mittens from last fall. They were too big and boring, so I frogged them and made these from the same yarn. Now they fit better, and the mock cable makes them a little more interesting.