Knitting abbreviations

Knitting abbreviations

Knitting has its own language or shorthand for describing the different instructions. These abbreviations become more familiar and easy to follow as you knit more and more patterns. Here are a few.

K = Knit
P = Purl
st(s) = Stitch (es)
g st = garter stitch
st st = stocking stitch
K1, P1 = knit 1, purl 1
rev st st = reverse stocking stitch
tog = together

Explaining the importance of Knitting Tension.

Explaining the importance of Knitting Tension.

Tension is the most important aspect of knitting. To get the right tension when knitting ensures a garment that is finished to the size required, and in the long term, less ripping and frustration. Understanding tension is the answer to successful knitting and obtaining the correct width. Knitting is a relaxing, rewarding and enjoyable hobby not a stressful, frustrating task where one hopes with a wing and a prayer the garment fits!
Remember you are in charge of the finished product and getting the size right is very simple. Also note that no two people will knit the same, both will have different tensions. This is the reason why it is never a good idea to have someone else finish knitting something you have started. Most patterns give a tension square with the number of stitches and quantity of rows equaling a measurement.
For example: 22sts x 14rows = 10cm (4ins).
This is the designers tension and the pattern is based on this.To get the exact finished size garment, the tension square the designer is working in must be achieved. One or two stitches more or less than the tension square can mean a big size difference. If you obtain the right stitch tension and the rows are more or less, then ignore the difference and continue on.
If the tension square measures less than the required width, try a larger size needle.
If the tension square measures bigger than the required width try a smaller needle.
Substituting different yarns instead of using the suggested yarn and getting the correct results is possible only if the proper tension square is used. In most cases if the same ply of yarn is used the tension square will be the same.

Making a knitted scarf look different.

Here are two simple ways of making a plain scarf look different.
Turn back the bottom to make pockets. Crochet a decorative seam or just top sew the edge.
Make a cosy hood by folding the scarf in half and joining the two edges at the centre.

The ball of yarn / wool.

Start the ball of wool by pulling the end from the center. Not only does this stop the ball of wool bouncing around the floor, it also keeps the wool clean. You can also put it in a bag at this stage.

Joining in a new ball of yarn.

Measure the amount of yarn that is left. To complete a a row of knitting, without a join in the centre, you will need four times the width of your knitting. If the yarn does run out in the middle of a row, more than often it really is worth taking the stitches back to the start of the row

How to read a chart.

A chart may look like a difficult crossword puzzle, but its a very simple way of reading a fair isle or multi stitch pattern. Each square on the chart represents one stitch. Each horizontal row equals one row of knitting.
Always begin a pattern reading the chart from right to left, bottom to top.
So the right side of your knitting is row 1 of the chart and every following odd row 3, 5.7 etc.
The wrong side of your knitting is row 2 of the chart and every following even row 2, 4, 6 etc. and read left to right.

Purchasing yarn

Purchasing yarn
When purchasing yarn it is always best to buy all the yarn you will need to finish that particular garment and check that the dye lots are all the same. Dye lots change, and even though the dye number is the same the shade of the colour can vary hugely. This can show up badly on a completed garment. If you have to knit a sweater in different dye lots, a good way to avoid seeing the shade difference is to knit the back in one shade lot and the front and sleeves in the other.