 | To keep from losing your cable needle between twist rows, try sticking the needle into your watchband. |
| Knit a little stuffed ball, like a small pincushion, and hang it on a cord around your neck. Now you have a tool to hold tapestry needles and cable needles when they are not in use. |
| Because stockinette stitches are short and wide, designs charted on a square grid will be distorted when they are knit. Instead of using square graph paper, use knitter's graph paper, which has a rectangular grid. If you can't find knitter's graph paper, use a computer spreadsheet program to create and print a rectangular grid. |
| Drop-shoulder sweaters require a shorter sleeve length than usual. To figure the sleeve length needed for a drop-shoulder sweater, measure the intended wearer from the center back neck to the wrist. Divide the finished chest measurement of the sweater by four, and subtract this number from the first number. The difference is the sleeve length. For example: Measurement from center back neck to wrist: 29 inches.
Finished chest measurement: 46 inches
46 divided by 4 = 11.5
29 inches - 11.5 = 17.5-inch sleeve length. |
| Learn to "read" your knitting. Understanding how stitches relate to one another, and being able to see what you are supposed to do next, makes knitting easier. You will not have to rely on row-by-row instructions, and you will be able to recognize when the pattern contains a mistake, or when you have made a mistake. |
| If you are modifying a pattern, write down your changes. You may decide later to duplicate the same garment; if you do not write it down, you will not remember what you did. |
| Even if you have worked a swatch and have gotten the gauge to match the one called for in the pattern, check your work from time to time. The gauge on the garment may change as you work and become more comfortable with the knitting. |
| When you are approaching the end of your ball of yarn and start to wonder how many rows you can still get from it, fold the remaining yarn in half and tie a loose overhand knot at the halfway point. Knit a row. If you reach the knot before you finish the row, you will not have enough yarn to complete a second row. If, however, you finish the row before reaching the knot, you can complete another row with the remaining yarn. |
| Phrase | Explanation |
| Above the markers | Measure from where markers were placed. |
| At the same time | You are going to be doing two things at once. For example, neckline and shoulder shaping often occur at the same time |
| Attach/join new yarn | Begin working with a separate ball of yarn. This may be the same color or a different color. |
| Back, left front, right front, left shoulder, etc. | These are the names of the sweater pieces as they are worn. The left shoulder is the part that will be on the wearer's left shoulder. If you have trouble remembering which piece you are working on, hold it up to your body and see which way it fits. Hint: Sweater piece names are often capitalized. |
| Ball band/yarn band | The identifying label on each ball or skein of yarn. It contains information on fiber content, weight, yardage, care instructions and suggested needle sizes. |
| Begin graph/chart | Start working from graph/chart at Row 1/stitch 1. |
| Bind off in rib OR bind off in patt | Work each stitch as you would if continuing the pattern, then bind that stitch off before continuing. |
| Block pieces | Consult your ball band and other sources to determine the best method for your fiber and pattern. Pin pieces at about 2-inch intervals (or use blocking wire) onto a padded surface, and allow to dry completely. DO NOT press with an iron, or put an iron directly onto the surface. Blocking is a very important step in making your garments look professional, and it can solve a multitude of problems. This is by no means a complete description of blocking. |
| BO xx sts at beg of next xx RS rows (or armhole edge, shoulder), etc. | You can bind off only at the beginning of a row. Binding off at the beginning of RS rows means you are binding off every other row on that side. If the instructions say "bind off every other RS row," you are binding off every fourth row. |
| Body of sweater is worked in one piece to underarm | Means just what it says. You cast on enough stitches for the front and back of the sweater together and work it as one piece until you divide for the armhole openings. |
| Change to larger needles | On the next row to be worked, start using the larger needles called for in the pattern (or as determined by your gauge swatch). On the row after, use both larger needles. |
| Continue in this manner | Keep on doing whatever you have been doing: increasing, decreasing, working in stitch pattern, whatever the immediately preceding instructions have said. |
| Ease | The difference between the wearer's body measurements and the finished sweater measurements. Ease is necessary for a good fit, but it varies according to the style of sweater. |
| End off/fasten off | After the last bound-off stitch is worked, pull working yarn through last stitch to secure it. |
| End with WS row (or RS row) | The last row of knitting that you work is a WS row (or RS row). |
| Finished measurements | The finished measurements after blocking and seaming. |
| Grafting/weaving/Kitchener stitch | Creating a row of stitches "in thin air" where there were none. A very useful technique for finishing and repair, well worth learning. |
| Join OR join, being careful not to twist | After casting on, without turning the work, continue to work pattern as instructed. You will be working in rounds, either on a circular needle or on double-pointed needles. When working the first stitch of the first round after cast-on (the "join"), you must be extra careful that the knitting is not twisted on the needle. |
| K1, p1 rib OR 1x1 rib | *Knit one stitch, purl one stitch; rep from * across row. |
| k2, p2 rib OR 2x2 rib | *Knit two stitches, purl two stitches; rep from * across row. |
| Keeping to pattern, keeping in est patt | While doing whatever shaping is about to be described, keep doing the stitch pattern as you have been doing, making adjustments for a change in stitch count so that the pattern stitch remains uninterrupted. |
| Knitwise/purlwise OR as to knit/as to purl | Insert the right-hand needle into the next stitch as if you are going to knit/purl that stitch. |
| Or size needed to obtain gauge | Change needle sizes until you get the gauge called for in the pattern. If your first attempt results in too many stitches per inch, increase your needle size. If you get too few stitches per inch, decrease your needle size. |
| P3 *k2, p5, rep from *, ending p3 | You will be working across the row as follows: P3, k2, p5, k2, p5 and so on, as many times as you have stitches, but the last repeat of the k2, p5 sequence will end in a p3 instead of a p5. |
| Pull up a loop | Wrap yarn around needle and pull it through fabric. This term is usually preceded by "insert needle into stitch/fabric/etc and ..." |
| Reverse shaping OR reversing shaping | You are probably working a cardigan front and have worked one side. On the other side, you need to work the neckline and armhole shaping on the opposite side from the piece you just worked. In other words, you started your left front armhole shaping at the beginning of a RS row, so you will begin your right front armhole shaping at the beginning of a WS row. |
| Right Side, Wrong Side | These are the names for the "public" and "private" sides of a knitted piece. The right side of stockinette stitch is the knit side. The right side of reverse stockinette stitch is the purl side. |
| RS facing/WS facing | The side that you are about to work is the right side (or wrong side) of the fabric. |
| Selvage st OR selvedge st | A stitch at the beginning/end of a row that will be used for seaming or other finishing. It is not part of the pattern stitch. Not all patterns contain selvage stitches, and many that do contain them do not identify them as such. |
| Sizes: S (M, L, XL) [S (M, L, XL)] | Several sets of measurements are given -- the pattern instructions will explain. The first set may be for children and the second set for adults, or the first for women and the second for men. Determine which size you want to make and circle or otherwise mark it throughout the pattern. |
| Swatch | A small piece of knitting used to determine gauge, fabric hand, washing results, finishing techniques. A swatch is crucial in almost every knitting project. They can tell you much more than just what your gauge is going to be. |
| Sweater is worked in one piece | You will be starting with the neck and from the neck downworking down towards the waist and wrists. |
| Tapestry needle | A large, blunt-tip yarn needle. |
| With smaller (larger) needles | Often smaller size needles are used for ribbing or other parts of a garment, but usually the gauge information states that larger needles are used to obtain gauge. If you have had to change your needle size, you will need to adjust the smaller needle size so that it is in the same proportion to the larger size needle you are using as was originally called for in the pattern. |
| With yarn in back OR move to back, etc. | The "back" in this case means the side away from the knitter as the piece is currently held. It does NOT mean the back of the sweater. In other words, if you are knitting across a row, your yarn is already in the back. |
| With yarn in front OR move to front, etc. | The "front" in this case means the side away from the knitter as the piece is currently held. It does NOT mean the front of the sweater. In other words, if you are knitting across a row, and you are instructed to move the yarn "to the front," bring the yarn towards you between the needles. |
| Work sts as they present themselves OR knit the knits and purl the purls | You need to watch your knitting on this row. You will be knitting each stitch that looks like a knit stitch (i.e., is smooth), and purling each stitch that looks like a purl stitch (i.e., is bumpy). For example, after the first row in ribbing, you knit the knits and purl and purls. |
| Work until piece measures xx inches from beg | Measure piece from cast-on edge to where knitting meets the needle. Do not try to measure the row of stitches that are on the needle. |
| Working back and forth on circular needles | Using circular needles, work back and forth as if you were using two straight needles. This is often done on large pieces where there would be too many stitches for a single straight needle to hold. |
| Working both sides at once/at same time | You may have divided for the neck or other opening, and will be working with two separate balls yarn. Do the instructions on both sides at the same time to assure symmetry. |
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