Have you ever found yourself confronted with a bunch of seemingly random letters in your pattern that left you scrambling to do a search? What do all those acronyms and abbreviations mean?!? Sometimes they look like a completely different language! Well, fret no more! Below you will find a list of all the terms used in Hanks And Needles patterns, broken down into different categories so you can easily find what you are looking for: basic knitting, brioche, and cables. As the pattern library grows, the lists will be updated so you have an accurate, handy reference with everything in one place.
Basic Knitting Terms/Abbreviations
BN - Back Needle
BOR - Beginning of Round
CC1(2) - Contrast Color 1 (2)
Dec - Decrease
EOR - End of Round
FN - Front Needle
Inc - Increase
K - knit
K1fb/K1f&b - Knit 1 front and back of the same stitch, 1 stitch increase.
K1fbf - Knit 1 front and back and front of the same stitch, 2 stitch increase.
K2tog - knit 2 stitches together
K2tog tbl - knit 2 stitches together through the back loop
k1yok1 - Knit 1 stitch leaving stitch on the Left Needle, yarn over (yarn forward under needle then over needle to back), then knit 1 into the same stitch; 2 stitches increased.
MDS - Make double stitch
MML - Move marker 1 stitch left
M1 - Make 1 stitch by inserting left needle under the horizontal strand between the last stitch worked and the first stitch on the left needle. Knit this strand through the front loop to twist it.
M1L - Make 1 stitch by inserting left needle under the horizontal strand from front to back, between the last stitch worked and the first stitch on the left needle. Knit this strand through the back loop to twist it.
M1R - Make 1 stitch by inserting left needle under the horizontal strand from back to front between the last stitch worked and the first stitch on the left needle. Knit this strand through the front loop to twist it.
M1p - Make 1 stitch by inserting left needle under the horizontal strand between the last stitch worked and the first stitch on the left needle. Purl this strand through the front loop to twist it.
MC - Main Color
P - purl
PM - Place Marker
PSSO - Pass slipped stitch over stitch last worked stitch.
P2tog - purl 2 stitches together
Rep - Repeat
RM - Remove Marker
Rnd - Round
RS - Right Side
Sl - slip 1 stitch (knitwise on the Right Side; purlwise on the Wrong Side)
Sl wyib - Slip 1 stitch with yarn in back
Sl wyif - Slip 1 stitch with yarn in front
Sl3 wyif - Slip 3 stitches one at a time with yarn in front
SM - Slip Marker
Ssk - Slip 2 stitches one at a time knitwise, then knit them together.
St(s) - Stitch(es)
Yo - Yarn over
W&T - slip the next stitch on the left needle to the right needle purl wise, bring the yarn in front between the needles. Slip the stitch back to left needle, bring yarn back between needles. Turn work.
WS - Wrong Side
Brioche Knitting Terms
brk - knit the stitch that was slipped in the previous row together with its yarn over
brkyobrk - brioche knit leaving st on Left Needle, yo (yarn forward under needle then over needle to back), then brioche knit into same stitch; 2 stitches increased.
brLsl dec - slip the first stitch knitwise, brioche knit the following two stitches together, pass the slipped stitch over; 2 stitch decrease (left leaning)
brp - purl the stitch that was slipped in the previous row together with its yarn over
brRsl dec - slip the first stitch knitwise, knit the next stitch, pass the slipped stitch over, place stitch on left hand needle and pass the following stitch over. Place st on right hand needle; 2 stitch decrease (right leaning)
sl1yo - following a k or brk st, bring the working yarn under the needle to the front of the work, slip the next stitch purlwise, then bring the yarn over the needle (and over the slipped stitch) to the back, in position to work the following stitch. (sl1yo) - Following a p or brp st, working yarn is already in front, slip the next stitch purlwise, then bring the yarn over the needle (and over the slipped stitch), then to the front under the needle, into position to work the following stitch.
Cable Terms/Abbreviations
1/1 LC - Slip 1 stitch onto cable needle, hold in front, knit 1 stitch, then knit 1 stitch from cable needle.
1/1 LPC - Slip 1 stitch onto cable needle, hold in front, purl 1 stitch, then knit 1 stitch from cable needle.
1/1 RC - Slip 1 stitch onto cable needle, hold in back, knit 1 stitch, then knit 1 stitch from cable needle.
1/1 RPC - Slip 1 stitch onto cable needle, hold in back, knit 1 stitch, then purl 1 stitch from cable needle.
1/2 LC - Slip 1 stitch onto cable needle, hold in front, knit 2 stitches, then knit 1 stitch from cable needle.
1/2 RC - Slip 2 stitches onto cable needle, hold in back, knit 1 stitch, then knit 2 stitches from cable needle.
2/1 LC - Slip 2 stitches onto cable needle, hold in front, knit 1 stitch, then knit 2 stitches from cable needle.
2/1 LPC - Slip 2 stitches onto cable needle, hold in front, purl 1 stitch, then knit 2 stitches from cable needle.
2/1 RC - Slip 1 stitch onto cable needle, hold in back, knit 2 stitches, then knit 1 stitch from cable needle.
2/1 RPC - Slip 1 stitch onto cable needle, hold in back, knit 2 stitch, then purl 1 stitch from cable needle.
2/2 LC - Slip 2 stitches onto cable needle, hold in front, knit 2 stitches, then knit 2 stitches from cable needle.
2/2 LPC - Slip 2 stitches onto cable needle, hold in front, purl 2 stitches, then knit 2 stitches from cable needle.
2/2 RC - Slip 2 stitches onto cable needle, hold in back, knit 2 stitches, then knit 2 stitches from cable needle.
2/2 RPC - Slip 2 stitches onto cable needle, hold in back, knit 2 stitches, then purl 2 stitches from cable needle.
3/1 LPC - Slip 3 stitches onto cable needle, hold in front, purl 1 stitch, then knit 3 stitches from cable needle.
3/1 RPC - Slip 1 stitch onto cable needle, hold in back, knit 3 stitches, then purl 1 stitch from cable needle.
3/2 RC - Slip 2 stitches onto cable needle, hold in back, knit 3 stitches, then knit 3 stitches from cable needle.
3/3 LC - Slip 3 stitches onto cable needle, hold in front, knit 3 stitches, then knit 3 stitches from cable needle.
3/3 RC - Slip 3 stitches onto cable needle, hold in back, knit 3 stitches, then knit 3 stitches from cable needle.