Knitting Terminology and Abbreviations

This post will be helpful to both beginner as well as experienced knitters needing to refresh their memory.

 

Knitting terminology and abbreviations

 

 

Terminology and Abbreviations

  • Working yarn – the yarn that is coming from your ball of yarn.
  • Yarn tail – the section of yarn that is hanging from the starting point of your work.
  • Front of work – The side of your work that is facing you when you are holding your needles.
  • Back of work – The side of your work that is facing away from you when you are holding your needles.
  • Right side of work = RS – This is the side of your work that will be public facing when you are finished.
  • Wrong side of work = WS – This is the side of your work that is not intended to be seen on the finished project.  The inside of a sweater would be an example of this.  If your fabric is reversible, you will not have a “wrong side”.
  • Yarn in Front = YF – Your working yarn is on the side of your work that is facing you.
  • Yarn in Back = YB – Your working yarn is on the side of your work that is facing away from you.
  • Right = Rt
  • Left = Lt
  • Right Hand = RH
  • Left Hand = LH
  • Needle or Needles = NDL or NDLS
  • Right needle – Assuming that you are knitting right handed, the Right Needle is the one being held in your right hand and you are creating your new stitches with it.
  • Left Needle – Assuming that you are knitting right handed, it is the needle that you are holding in your left hand and is the one holding your stitches when you start a new row.
  • Working needle – This is the right needle since the new stitches are being created with this needle (assuming that you are knitting right handed).
  • Stitch or Stitches = st or sts
  • Cast on = CO – the process of creating initial stitches such as at the beginning of your project.  For this project you can use any cast on technique you are familiar with.
  • Bind Off = BO = the process of finishing a stitch at the end of your project so that the stitch does not come undone.  In this project you will not only be binding off at the end of your project, but also at various points in the middle of the project.
  • Knit = K – This is usually followed by a number which indicates how many stitches to knit.
  • Knit 2 Together = K2TOG – This means to treat 2 stitches as 1 and knit them.
  • Yarn Over = YO – Wrap your working yarn around your working needle to create a new stitch.
  • Slip or Slip Stitch = sl or sl st – Insert your working needle into the stitch as if to Purl it, but do not make a new stitch.  Just use your working needle to slip the stitch off of the original needle as it remains on the working needle.  This is also known as Slip Stitch Purl Wise (SPW).
  • Slip Purl-wise = SPW – Insert your needle into the stitch as if to purl it and slip it off of the original needle and keep it on your working needle.
  • Slip knit-wise = SKW – Insert your needle into the stitch as if to knit it and slip it off of the original needle and keep it on your working needle.  This will create a twist in the stitch.
  • Place marker = PM – Place a stitch marker on your working needle.
  • Slip Marker = SM – Move your stitch marker from one needle to the other.
  • Remove marker = RM – Remove the stitch marker from your needle and set it aside.
  • Turn Work = TW – Switch the needles in your hand.  Your Right needle becomes your Left needle, and your Left needle becomes your Right needle.  You are used to doing this at the end of a row, but with a Turn Work instruction, you are in the middle of the row and you have stitches on both needles.
  • Double Stitch = DS – Once created, a Double Stitch will have 4 arms instead of 2 legs.  I think it looks like 2 arms on the front of your needle are interlocked with the 2 arms on the back of the needle.
  • Wrap & Turn = W&T – This is the entire sequence that you will be learning.
  • German Short Row – This is the entire sequence you will be learning.

 

Dictionary of Knitting and Crochet Abbreviations: Lion Brand Yarn

http://www.lionbrand.com/cgi-bin/faq-search.cgi?dictionaryOfAbbreviations=1

 

 

Submitted by Annette C

 

 

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