Knitting Abbreviations

88 Knitting Abbreviations – do you know them all?

Why are there so many abbreviations in the knitting world?

Well, it’s necessary to shorten all long words and expressions in patterns. Otherwise, our patterns would be long like novels!

It’s a group thing …

And, I guess it’s a bit of a marker for the knitting community as well. Every group has it’s own lingo, it’s a bonding thing. If you know the language you’re in. Newbies have to learn to get the full access.

Luckily the knitting community is a very kind and including one, despite the many shortenings. And we’re eager to share and help our beginners to learn!

Actually, it’s not only abbreviations that’s special for knitting language, there are a lot of funny/strange/unusual words as well. More about that another time.

I put together a list to make things easier

This post is my contribution to the sake of helping newbies and not so new knitters with all the abbreviations. That includes me.

I got tired of searching the web for explanations and decided to gather them in one place. A place I can get back to whenever I need to, and so can you!

Are you ready to dive in? Here they come!

88 Knitting Abbreviations

If you like to print the list of abbreviations please scroll down!

alt	alternate
approx	approximately
beg	beginning
bet	between
bo	bind off
byo	backward yarn over
cable	put as many stitches as your pattern say on a cable needle and place it in front or back depending on the pattern. Work the next set of stitches and then work stitches off the cable needle.
CC	contrasting color
ch	chain
cm	centimeter
cn	cable needle
CO	cast on
con	continue
cross	put as many stitches as your pattern say on a cable needle and place it in front or back depending on the pattern. Work the next set of stitches and then work stitches off the cable needle.
dec	decrease
dpn	double pointed needles
foll	follow
g	gram
g st	garter stitch
in	inches
inc	increase
incl	including
k	knit
k1B	knit 1 stitch in row below
kfb	knit front and back loop
ksp	knit 1 stitch, slip st from right to left needle, pass second stitch on left needle over first stitch and off left needle; return stitch to right needle, single right-leaning decrease
k2tog	knit two stitches together, single right-leaning decrease
kwise	knitwise
LH	left hand
lp	loop
m	marker or meter
M1 or M1K	make one stitch knitwise, single right-leaning increase
M1R	make one right, single right-leaning knit increase
M1L	make one left, single left-leaning knit increase
M1p	make one purlwise, single purl increase
M1rp	make one right purlwise, single right-leaning purl increase
M1lp	make one left purlwise, single left-leaning purl increase
MC	main color
mm	millimeter
oz	ounce
p	purl
pat / patt	pattern
pfb	purl 1 into front and back of a stitch, single purl increase
pm	place marker
p2tog	purl 2 stitches together, single decrease
prev	previous
psso	pass slipped stitch over
p2sso	pass 2 slipped stitches over
pwise	purlwise
rem	remaning
rep	repeat
rev St st	reverse stockinette stitch
RH	right hand
rnd	round
RS	right side
SKP	slip one knitwise, knit one, pass slip stitch over knit stitch, single left-leaning decrease
SK2P	slip one knitwise, knit 2 together, pass slip stitch over knit 2 together, double left-leaning decrease
sl	slip
sl1k	slip one knitwise
sl1p	slip one purlwise
sl st / ss	slip stitch
sm	slip marker
ssk	slip, slip, knit (slip 2 stitches knitwise, knit these 2 stitches together through back loops), single left-leaning decrease
ssp	slip, slip, purl (slip 2 stitches knitwise, return these 2 stitches to left needle and purl them together through back loops), single left-leaning decrease
sssk	slip 3 stitches knitwise, knit these 3 stitches together through back loops, double left-leaning decrease
sssp	slip 3 stitches knitwise, return these 3 stitches to left needle and purl these 3 stitches together through back loops, double left-leaning decrease
S2KP2	slip 2 stitches as if to knit 2 together, knit 1, pass 2 slipped stitches over knit stitch, centered double decrease
SSPP2	slip 2 stitches knitwise, return these 2 stitches to left needle and then slip them as if to p2tog through back loops, purl 1, pass 2 slipped stitches over purl stitch, centered double decrease
st	stitch
St st	stockinette stitch
tbl	through back loop
tfl	through front loop
tog	together
WS	wrong side
w&t	wrap and turn
wyib	with yarn in back
wyif	with yarn in front
yb	yarn back
yd	yard
yfwd / yf	yarn forward
yo	yarn over
yon	yarn over needle
yrn	yarn round needle
*	repeat the instructions following the * as directed
**	repeat instructions between * and *as many times as directed or repeat at specified locations
{ }	work instructions within brackets as many times as directed
[ ]	work instructions within brackets as many times as directed
()	work instructions within parentheses as many times as directed or work a group of stitches all in the same stitch or space

Do you want to print this cheat sheet?

Other posts you may like!
⭐️ Here is a post all about knitting needle sizes, it’s impossible to know them all. The included conversion chart is crazy useful, be sure to check it out!
⭐️ Don’t miss this post about knitting project planning, it’s packed with helpful tips and some free knitting journal pages!
⭐️ This post is all about the Yarn Weights, have a good read and get the free chart that comes along with it.
⭐️ The Freebie page. This one kind of describes itself, here you can find every freebie that I have ever shared.

Please click here to follow Don’t Be Such a Square on Pinterest!