What the...? Demystifying knitting lingo

I thought I was pretty cool in seventh grade.  I transformed from "Mandy" into "Mandi", got my first real boyfriend (or two), and made the executive decision to take...(drumroll)...FRENCH.  Up until seventh grade, you see, my classmates and I were forced to take Spanish.  Blah.  Uno, dos, tres.  I mean, like, didn't the teachers know that we, like, totally learned all of that stuff, like, on Sesame Street, about a TRILLION years ago??  What-EVER! 

But French...ooh la la!  So exotic, so sophisticated.  Someone decided that as seventh graders we were mature enough to handle the language of love, and voila!  I was officially a French Student.  Adios espanol!

Now, a decade (or two) later, I'm cursing that Francophilic adolescent.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed learning French, and continued to study it through my freshman year of college (thank you Prof. Williamson!).  But now that I'm a big girl with a big-girl job, I NEED TO SPEAK SPANISH!!!  Hindsight is 20/20, as they say.  I am exposed to more Spanish than English on any given day in my profession. Who would have known.  Rosetta Stone is my only hope at this point.  If I had only stuck with Spanish back when I was still Mandy, I would probably be pretty good by now.

Despite my failed attempts at being bilingual in the traditional sort-of way, I am proud to say that I am fluent in the language of knitting. 

The language of knitting is more like a shorthand.  The key is learning how to decipher the abbreviations and symbols that represent knitting stitches and techniques.  The shorthand helps to keep patterns concise and easy to follow.  Writing out "slip one knit-wise, knit one, and pass slipped stich over" takes up a lot more room than "SKP", and is messier for your brain to process when you are quickly glancing at a written pattern and telling your fingers how to follow.  Here's a run-down of some basic abbreviations:

CO = cast on
k = knit
p = purl
dec = decrease
inc = increase
k2tog = knit two together
yo = yarn over
wyif = with yarn in front
St st = stockinette stitch
BO = bind off

There are lots more, which you will learn along the way.

Most knitting patterns will have a key which explains what their abbreviations mean.  The Craft Yarn Council of America has certain standards for knitting abbreviations, and if you click here, you will find them all.  Any good knitting instruction book will have an index of abbreviations, and if all else fails, type "xx knitting abbreviation" into google, and you are almost guaranteed to decipher even the most obscure notation.  Knitting patterns that originate in other countries may have different abbreviations, but they are usually pretty easy to interpret with the right guidance (i.e. internet, expert knitter, LYS employee).

Allons-y!

Coming up...casting on.