20 MOST COMMON KNITTING TERMS FOR BEGINNER KNITTERS

20 year old American man learns to knit while living in Germany…

This is not your average knitting story. I was serving as a missionary for two years in Germany and one thing that helped us to engage with the local church members and learn the language was to go to their activities.

Every few months we would be transferred to a new city where we would live and serve the German people. I remember arriving in a new city called Paderborn. My colleague and I were both brand new to this area and we knew nobody. We went to church the first week and at one point they were announcing the weeks activities from the pulpit, one of which was a knitting group.

Now, as 20-year old’s we thought this would be a great way to meet some of the members. But more importantly, we knew it was the older ladies in the church who loved to cook for the missionaries! Knitting AND delicious German cuisine? Please and thank you!

We arrived at the knitting group that first week without any materials and only half expecting to learn anything about knitting. Now, back home, I had never really been introduced to knitting before. I pictured it as something old grandmothers did while lounging in their rocking chair with the cat asleep on their lap. I was surprised to see women of all ages at this group! The other thing that caught me off guard was how serious they were. This was not just a casual get together where they just sat around and swapped cat stories. They meant business. They weren’t knitting ugly scarfs; they were knitting beautifully intricate articles of clothing that rivaled anything you would find in high end clothing store.

An old German woman came up and handed me a pair of needles. She grabbed some yarn and pulled a strand out from the center. She grabbed her own needles and began to teach me how to cast on. She would move her hands or needles and wait for me to copy her. That night I learned how to cast on (anschlagen), knit (rechts), purl (links), bind off (abketten) and sew (naehen).

By the end of the evening, I had knit my first slipper (Hausschuh) and they send me off with the materials to make the second. I was hooked! Later that week I was printing off knitting instructions and patterns. Germany seems to have a yarn store on every corner so finding additional help was not difficult, although understanding the language did complicate things a bit.

Knitting in German

I learned all the terminology in German. I lived in Germany for two years and learned most everything I know about knitting from different German women who were always so excited to have a young man asking them questions about yarn, needles, stitches, and patterns. Little did I know this would be the beginning of a lifelong passion for me.

Then, I moved back to the US. I had to learn all the terminology over again, in English this time. This was more difficult than you might think. Not everything is a direct translation (of course, why would it be that simple). The truth is, knowing the terminology of knitting is sometimes half the battle. I remember in my early days of knitting; I would shy away from patterns or projects simply because I didn’t know what the pattern was calling for. While many patterns will explain what the abbreviations mean, that doesn’t always tell you what the term means. K1 tbl means knit 1 stitch through the back loop. That sounds descriptive but unless you know what the back loop is it doesn’t do you much good.

This list will help you understand to most common terminology found in knitting AND explain to you what it means and when it is most likely to come up.

Let’s Begin!

CAST ON: (click here for video)Casting on is simply the process of creating the very first stitches for your project. These stitches will create the edge of the project and will be what all other stitches are connected to. Casting on usually begins with a slip knot that is slid onto the needle. This is stitch one. From there you add on additional stiches based on what the pattern calls for. The more stitches you add on the larger your piece will be. That being said, once you begin a project with a certain number of stitches you will learn there are methods to increase or decrease the number of stitches across your work. These methods are used often and you will learn them as you progress.
KNIT:(click here for video) Yes, we are knitting but the knit stitch is only one way to get the job done. So much of what you will do in knitting is a variation of the knit stitch. The knit stitch is the considered to be the most basic building block of knitting. It is performed by inserting the left right needle into the front of the first stitch on the left needle. The needle is inserted from “front to back” as you will see. I prefer to explain it as going from left to right. The needle goes into the front of the stitch from the left and out the back of the stitch moving to the right. The yarn is wrapped around the tip of the needle you inserted through the stitch and the needle (with the yarn wrapped around) is pulled back out the way it went it.
PURL: (click here for video)The purl stitch is essentially a reverse of the knit stitch. Along with the knit stich, the purl stitch is one of the main building blocks of knitting. You will likely perform the purl stitch as often as the knit sitch.
BIND OFF:(click here for video) Binding off simply refers to ending a project or a portion of a project. When you get to the end of your work, you will bind off the live stitches so they can’t unravel. There are MANY ways to bind off at the end of a project and most projects will tell you which one to use. You can find our tutorial on the basic knitted bind off here.
WORKING YARN: This is the yarn that you are actively working with and using to create new stitches and lengthen your project. This is the end of yarn that attaches back to the ball of yarn.
TAIL END/TAG END: This term refers to the piece of yarn that remains hanging after cast oning your desired number of stitches. Usually, after casting your stitches onto the needle you will have a piece of yarn usually 6 inches or longer that is necessary to keep in place, so the stitches do not unravel. This piece of yarn will remain in place, hanging out until you sew it back into the work, usually after your knitted project is completed.
STOCKINETTE STITCH:(click here for video) Also known as the socking stitch. This is a pattern created by alternating rows of knits and purls if knitting a flat project (for example, a scarf or blanket). If you are knitting in the round, (a hat, socks, sweater) the stockinette pattern is created by simply performing only the knit stitch.
GARTER STITCH:(click here for video) This is a pattern created by performing only the knit stitch if working a flat project (for example, a scarf or blanket). If you are knitting in the round, (a hat, socks, sweater) the garter stitch is created by alternating rows of knits and purls.
SKEIN: A length of yarn before it is wound into a ball. Often when you purchase high end, high priced yarn it will still be in a skein and
Over 1750 Yarns to Chose From

you will have to wind it into a ball to use it easier.
KNITWISE/PURLWISE: This refers to how you insert the needle into the next stitch. Knitwise means inserting the needle as if you are going to knit that stitch while purlwise means inserting the needle as if you are going to purl that stitch. You will see this in patterns usually when you are being told to slip stitches.
YARN OVER: A method for increasing the number of stitches on your needle. Yarn overs are also used in lace knitting to create decorative holes in your work. In this case the call for a yarn over will usually be paired with knitting or purling other stitches together.
INCREASE/DECREASE: The process of adding or taking away stitches from the work. Sometimes this is called for in order to make something bigger or smaller, such as making sleeves narrower toward the cuff or shaping the top of a hat or the shoulders of a sweater.
YARN IN FRONT/YARN IN BACK: This refers to where you are holding the working yarn (see above). This is first introduced when you learn the knit stitch (where the yarn is held in back of the needles) and the purl stitch (where the yarn is held in front of the needles). You will also see this when it comes to knitting cables and other more complicated techniques.
KNIT WHAT YOU SEE: As you learn the difference between knitting and purling you will also learn what these stitches look like on your needle. Sometimes, out of simplicity, a pattern will tell you to “knit what you see” instead of repeating the instructions in detail. This means if you see that the stitch you are about to work was a purl last time, you will proceed with a purl and if it is a knit stitch you will proceed as a knit stitch.
BLOCKING: Once you are finished with your project and all the tail ends of yarn are sewn back in and any finishing touches are complete, blocking is usually the last step. Blocking is the process of shaping the work once the knitting is finished usually by getting it damp and pinning it out on a foam board to let it dry in the pinned position.
NEEDLES:
- STRAIGHT NEEDLES – Also referred to as single point needles. These are the most common needles used for knitting “flat” projects such as scarfs. Today, many people will just substitute circular needles for straight needles.
- DOUBLE POINTED NEEDLES – Also a less common tool these days, double pointed needles are used to knit smaller projects “in the round” like hats or socks. Techniques have been developed in recent years to knit these projects on circular needles so you may choose to never learn double pointed needles.
- CIRCULAR NEEDLES – This is by far your most versatile choice today. Circular needles can be used for anything and everything. These are two needles connected in the middle by a pliable cable. You can also purchase a circular needle kit that has all the needle sizes and cable lengths included. This will cost you less money in the long run than you would spend if you start collecting straight and double pointed needles.
PLACE MARKER: Markers are used in knitting to remind you about certain stages of a knitting project, row or round. They are usually small plastic circles that you slide onto your needles between stitches to mark the beginning of a pattern, remind you where to increase or decrease and so on.
CABLES: Cables are a common knitting pattern created by twisting stitches around each other. Knitting cables usually requires an extra needle called a cable needle. The twisting is done by slipping a couple stitches onto a cable needle and leaving them on that needle while you knit the next couple stitches as normal. Then you knit the stitches from the cable needle, creating the twist in the stitches.
GUAGE: Also known as tension, refers to the amount of stitches and rows that make up a square inch. Gauge is very important to pay attention to if you want your project to come out the right size. Many things can affect the gauge including needle size, yarn thickness, yarn material and even your style of knitting and how tight or loose you knit personally.
RIGHT SIDE/WRONG SIDE: The “right side” of the work is the side that faces out or toward the public. This would be the outside of a hat, sweater, mittens. On a flat project like a blanket it is the side that is intended to show the pattern. The “wrong side” refers to the inside of the work, the back of the work or the part that doesn’t face the public.

NOW YOU KNOW

This is by no means a comprehensive list of all the knitting terminology you will eventually learn. It is however what I would consider the most common you should know in the beginning. The great thing is there is not shortage of help out there online for this kind of stuff. The knitting community is great about helping new members to the club.