Knitting Abbreviations and Terms Glossary

K – Knit
The most basic stitch. You’ll make it by pulling the yarn through from back to front.

P – Purl
A stitch created by knitting with the yarn in front of the needle, creating little horizontal bumps.

RS – Right Side
The front of your knitting - the bit people will see when it’s worn.

WS – Wrong Side
The back of your knitting - what’s hidden when worn.

St / Sts – Stitch / Stitches
The loops on your needle. Everything in knitting is made from stitches!

K2tog – Knit 2 Together
A simple decrease: knit two stitches as if they were one to reduce your stitch count.

P2tog – Purl 2 Together
Like K2tog, but done on a purl row.

K3tog – Knit 3 Together
A stronger decrease: knit three stitches together as one.

M1 – Make One
An increase. You make a new stitch by lifting the strand between two stitches and knitting into the back of it.

MB – Make Bobble
Used for texture or decoration. You knit into the same stitch several times and then shape it into a little bump.

YFWD – Yarn Forward
Wrap the yarn around the needle to create a hole or eyelet. Often used in lacy designs.

YO – Yarn Over
Same as YFWD - it means wrapping the yarn over the needle to make a new stitch (used in some patterns instead of YFWD).

Rep – Repeat
Do the same steps again.

Alt – Alternate
Usually means every other row, e.g. “every alt row” means every second row.

Dec – Decrease
Reduce the number of stitches (e.g. K2tog, P2tog, K3tog).

Inc – Increase
Add more stitches to your row (e.g. M1).

Sl – Slip
Move a stitch from one needle to the other without knitting it.