There are plenty of abbreviations around in knitting and some of them aren’t to do with the stitches in your pattern. Theses and some puns have become a kind of knitters’ slang which is a handy shorthand when you know it but can be mystifying for new knitters.
Here is our guide to some of the common terms
DPNs – double pointed needles
FO – finished object. An unfinished object (project) is a UFO
Frog – to pull out several rows of knitting. The term comes from “rip it, rip it” which sounds like a the croak of a frog.
KAL/CAL – a knit or crochetalong. A (usually online) event where a group of people work on the same project at the same time. These are sometimes new patterns, released part-by-part, but can be a group just choosing a pattern to do together.
LYS – local yarn shop
PHD – project half done.
Stash – your collection of yarn
SABLE – stash acquisition beyond life expectancy, ie a lot of yarn
Tink – “knit” backwards, ie working back stitch by stitch to fix a problem.
WIP – work in progress
Yarn barf – when your centre pull ball of yarn collapses in a tangly mess, with a lump spilling out.
Do you have a favourite piece of knitters’ slang?
