common knitting terms

I really have to get myself on a better schedule of posting....  One of my many side jobs is giving individual hand knitting lessons to absolute beginners.  I created this list of common knitting terms (in plain English) that a beginner might need as they start knitting.  By no means is the list extensive, nor does it include more advanced terms like cabling, ssk, etc.  I think that's a separate list.

If you're a beginner at knitting just remember to relax, breathe and practice often.  Don't expect to be perfect within the first hour.  As my mom used to tell me ad nauseum, "Practice Makes Perfect!"  She was right about that.

Common Knitting Terms For Beginners:

Cast On – The method used to begin knitting.  There are a variety of ways to begin knitting.  Most patterns unless they specify otherwise, use the “long tail cast on method.”

Cast Off – The method used to end knitting.  This is also sometimes referred to as “bind off.”

Dye lot - The yarn label includes the “dye lot” number for each color of yarn.  Whenever you buy yarn to make a garment, make sure that EVERY skein or ball of yarn has the same “dye lot” number.  It is also critical that you buy enough balls/skeins of yarn to complete the project.  Even though many commercial yarn companies use computers to create dye colors it is next to impossible to create the exact same color each time.  If you have to buy another skein at a later time, you may end up with a streak of color that doesn’t match what you’ve already done.

Face Side (also sometimes referred to as the “Right Side” or “Front Side”)– The side of the knitting that appears when it’s worn.

Frogging – unraveling the knitting (also sometimes referred to as “ripping”)

Garter Stitch – Knit every row.  This creates a fabric, which has ridges and looks the same on both sides.

Gauge – The number of stitches and rows in a specific measured area.  For US patterns and yarns, this is usually a 4 inch by 4 inch square.  It will be listed as X number of stitches and X number of rows per 4 inches.  In order to measure the gauge it’s necessary to knit a small piece of fabric and count the number of stitches and rows over 4 inches.  For non-US patterns or yarns, the gauge usually refers to the number of stitches and rows per 10 centimeters.  To make it easier, you may want to have a clear plastic ruler that has inches on one side and centimeters on the other side.  The clear ruler will also make it easier to line up your stitches or rows as you count them. 

The number of stitches and rows per measured area refers to the “tension” of the knit fabric.  Some knitters naturally knit at a tight tension, which means they have more stitches and rows per inch than a patterns’ gauge requires.  If they knit a garment using this tight tension, the finished garment would be much smaller than the pattern.   Other knitters naturally have a looser tension, which means they have less stitches and rows per measured area than the pattern recommends.  If they knit a garment using a loose tension, they’d end up with a garment that is much larger than the pattern recommends.  If your gauge (the number of stitches and rows) is more than the gauge indicated in the pattern, switch to the next larger size of needle than the pattern indicates (from a size #10 to a size #11 needle for example).  If your gauge is less than the gauge indicated by the pattern, try one size needle smaller than is recommended by the pattern (from a size #11 to a size #10 for example).

Knit – The main stitch used in knitting.  To create a knit stitch, you insert the right hand needle tip from left to right (from the front of your work toward the back of your work) into the first stitch on the left needle, wrapping the yarn around the right needle and pulling it through the stitch (creates a loop on the right hand needle) and sliding the stitch off the left needle.

 Needle Size – This is usually indicated on the needle package as X US size  (US sizes can be from 000 to size 50) and X mm (X refers to the millimeter size of the needle and can be from size .5mm to over 25mm).  The smaller the needle size, the smaller the needle.  000 US needles are primarily used for knitting very fine lace.  The larger the needle size, the larger the needle.  Most knitting shops only carry up to size 19US or 15.5mm.  These are used for bulky yarns.  Knitting artists and designers may make their own extremely bulky “yarn” and use up to size 50 needles to create fabric.  

Purl – The second most used stitch in knitting.  To create a purl stitch, insert the tip of the right hand needle from right to left (from behind the stitch to the front of your work) wrap the yarn from the front, over the needle and pulling it through the stitch, creating a loop on the right hand needle, sliding the stitch off the left hand needle.

Stockinette Stitch – Knit all the stitches on the right side, purl all stitches on the wrong side.  This creates a smooth “jersey” fabric on the face side and a rougher bumpy looking fabric on the wrong side.

Swatch – a test piece of knitting that allows you to determine whether the needles you are using, create the correct tension of stitches and rows per inch or centimeter.   Some yarn stores will let you knit up a test swatch of a yarn so that you can see how the yarn looks and feels when it’s knit up.  Swatches are also a great way to test out stitch patterns that you’ve never tried.  Knitwear designers make many, many swatches as they develop color and stitch patterns.

Weaving in ends – When you’ve finished knitting a piece there are loose ends of yarn hanging off where you started and finished knitting and wherever you added new yarn along the way.  These have to be woven in using a large darning needle.  Ends can be woven in along seams or within the knit structure on the wrong side following the looped structure of the fabric.

Wrong or Reverse Side – The side of knitting that is on the inside when it’s worn.

 Yarn Weight – Yarn comes in different “weights” from very fine “lace weight” yarn to very thick “super bulky” yarn.  The label on the yarn will indicate the weight of the yarn in both ounces and grams.  The label will also indicate both the number of yards and number of meters in the ball or skein of yarn.  The pattern you choose will indicate the specific brand and weight of yarn they used as well as how many skeins/balls you’ll need to complete the project.  If you use a different brand of yarn than what is indicated by the pattern, you may need to do some math to make sure you will get the same gauge as the pattern and that you’ll have enough yards or meters of yarn to complete the project.