Abbreviations For Knitting

Knitting Abbreviations:

• approx- approximately 
• beg- begin(ning)
• BO- bind off
• CC- contrasting color
• ch- chain
• cm- centimeter(s)
• cn- cable needle
• CO- cast on
• cont- continue(ing)(s) 
• ddc- double decrease-2 stitches decreased
• dec- decreas(e)(ing) 
• dpn(s)- double-pointed needle(s)
• EOR- every other right-side row
• g- gram(s)
• garter st- garter stitch
• inch(s)- increase(d)(ing)(s)
• k- knit
• k1f&b- knit into front and back of same stitch-1 stitch increased 
• k2tog- knit 2 stitches together-1 stitch decreased 
• kw- knitwise 
• LH- left-hand
• lp(s)- loop(s)
• m- meter(s)
• M1- make 1 (knit stitch)
• M1 p-st- make 1 purl stitch
• MC- main color
• mm- millimeter(s)
• oz- ounce(s)
• p- purl 
• p2tog- purl 2 stitches together
• patt or pat(s)- pattern(s)
• pm- place marker
• psso- pass slip stitch(es) over
• PU- pick up and knit
• pw- purlwise
• rem- remain(ing)
• rep(s)- repeat(s)
• rnd(s)- round(s)
• RS- right side
• sc- single crochet
• S2KP- slip 2 stitches together, knit1, pass 2 slip stitches over knit 1
• SKP- slip 1, knit 1, pass slip stitch over
• SK2P- slip 1, knit 2 together, pass slip stitch over the knit 2 together
• sl- slip
• sl st- slip stitch
• sl 1-K2tog-psso- slip 1 stitch as if to knit, knit 2 stitches together, pass the slipped stitch over the 2 stitches knit together-2 stitches decreased
• sm- slip marker
• ssk-slip, slip, knit-1 stitch decreased 
• sssk-slip, slip, slip, knit
• st(s)- stitch(es)
• St st- stockinette stitch
• tbl- through the back loop(s)
• tog- together
• WS- wrong side(s)
• wyib- with yarn in back
• wyif- with yarn in front
• yd- yard(s)
• yo- yarn over
• * - repeat directions following * as many times as indicated
• [ ] - repeat directions inside brackets as many times as indicated

Binding Off

1. To bind off, first knit two stitch knits on to the right needle. 

2. Poke your left needle into the stitch on the far right. 

3. Leap that stitch over the stitch on the left, off the needle.

4. Now you have one stitch on your right needle. 

5. Stitch another stitch so you have two stitches on the right needle again and repeat steps 1,2 and 3 until the end.

6. Now that you only have one stitch left on your right needle, you will cut the tail leaving about 6-8 inches. 


7. Pull your needle out through that last stitch pulling out that stitch which now looks like a loop.


8. Take your tail and run it through that loop and pull it snug.


9. Now you have binded off your stitches and your ready to weave in your ends!

Knitting For Begginers-Change Yarn, Adding Color

Purl Stitch

The Knit Stitch

Casting On

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Knitting Materials

The cool thing about knitting is all you really need is a pair of knitting needles and some yarn to get started. But as with anything we do there are special things that you might want to have along the way. Once you feel like knitting is a craft you want to master you might start collecting all these cool knitting gadgets.

There are so many kinds of knitting needles you can get. Needles come in wood, plastic, medal, long, short. They come in different materials and each material has different properties. If you are knitting using a wooden needle  you will notice your knitting is a lot slower than if you are using a medal needle. If you are using a medal needle your yarn will slide right off the needle so you will be knitting much faster. That's why beginners usually opt for wooden or plastic needles because they have more control over the yarn.

I wanted to go over double pointed needles. A double pointed needles is a needle with two pointed ends. These needles are used to knit in the round. You could use these in sets of 3, 4, and sometimes even 5. They are usually used to knit a sock, sleeve, or a hat. Just like a regular knitting needle these also come in different lengths.

Another cool type of knitting needles are circular needles. My favorite brand is Addi. These needles come with cables that you attach to the end of two needles. There are also circular needles that have the cables attached to the needles permanently and they are called fixed circular needles. The cool part is if you are knitting a sweater or a hat, circular needles allow you to knit endlessly in the round. Circular needles are usually used for knitting larger items than you use your double ended needles for.

Knitting needles come in all different sizes so it's pretty easy to get overwhelmed. You might ask yourself which needle to use over another needle and how to even tell the size of the needle. A knitting needle size is usually printed directly on the needle in US size and in mm. You will notice on an older vintage needle the size is in US only. The larger the number in US sizes, the larger the needle. US size isn't the actual size in mm. A good way to know the US size in mm is to own a gauge. A gauge will have on one side the US size of a needle and on the other in mm. If you are knitting using a pattern, most likely the type of yarn and needle size is included. When knitting free style you will know what size needle to use through the yarn you buy. Yarn is usually wrapped up with paper that has a label of the size needle recommended. 

Another thing that is a must have in your knitting bag are darting needles. Darting needles are used to weave in your ends. Some have bent tips and for me it helps when I weave in my ends to get into the backs of my stitches.