Knitting Jargon and Knitting Help

Jargon is that shorthand language that allows people who are like-minded or work in the same fields to communicate clearly yet succinctly with one another both verbally or in written form. Every specialty field uses it's own lingo and of course knitting is no different. Pattern designers use abbreviations in the instructions to cut down on the size of knitting pattern books, and even when a pattern is digitally distributed abbreviations continue to be used because they've become so ubiquitous.

Like any other jargon, if you know the abbreviations you're fine, if you don't you are left in the dark wondering what is being said. Add to that the fact, as I've mentioned on several occasions, the English-speaking knitting world uses different terms and thus different abbreviations to represent the same thing. It can be very confusing, but doesn't have to be.

These are called knitting eye tests

Each one of these eye charts uses abbreviations that most intermediate knitters could explain because they are familiar. However, if you aren't so lucky as to already know what they mean, here's a link to a very comprehensive knitting abbreviation glossary put together by Knitting Help.com. In fact, this is a great website to bookmark if you knit because not only does it tell you what an abbreviation means, it also offers free videos on how to accomplish most of those stitches as well. Plus there's patterns, a forum and other good stuff. I've personally referred to this website often and highly recommend it to you.

And my final thought today about knitters.

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Anatomy of a Sock

I've been knitting socks for a relatively short time. One of the disconcerting things for me as I started following patterns for socks is the pattern designer assumes the knitter (in this case that would be me) knows all the parts of a sock. So I thought I'd devote a post to improve my own knowledge about the anatomy of a sock and maybe some of you will learn something about the humble yet necessary sock as well. Here's the names of the parts of the foot as I know them. #49 ankle, #50 heel, #51, instep, #52 ball, #53 big toe, #54 toe, #55 little toe, #56 toenail. There are some parts more important for this discussion; first the heel of a foot is generally used to refer to the entire C-shape from the ankle to the instep. Speaking of the instep, it refers to that curve near the bottom of the foot. And what seems to be missing in the design above is the sole which generally refers to the bottom of the foot in total or plantar aspect in more technical terms...

Yarn Barf

It's back to quirkiness and time to step away again from the cuteness for a while. But as you see I'm someone who slips from one to the other without much effort so anticipate this back and forth to be my new normal. A dramatization of me in the midst of my startitist frenzy Yarn barf . I'm willing to bet you hadn't thought of putting those two words together, had you? It just so happens yarn barf can be a reoccurring pain for those of us who use yarns that come in a skein instead of a hank. (No pun intended regarding the current Noro virus, well maybe a little pun.) Skeins of yarn wound by the manufacturer These are hanks which need to be wound into balls If you look closely at the picture on the right you'll see the start on the millet yellow skein at the centre right of the photo. Its start can easily be seen coming from the centre of the skein onto the violet skein to the left. Easy to find, right! ...

Knitting-Related Guinness World Records

I had to share some of the Guinness World Records connected with knitting. It is amazing to me the type of skill, stamina and unique characteristics these record holders have in common. How about trying to knit with these SPNs?? Ingrid Wagner and her large needles and knitted swatch The largest knitting needles measured 3.5 m (11 ft 5.8 in) long and had a diameter of 8 cm (3.15 in). Ingrid Wagner, a rug and art creation artist, from the UK used the needles to knit a tension square of ten stitches by ten rows at the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, on March, 10 2008. (And I complained about getting certain SPNs stuck in my clothes.) See how this swatch was done with merely 5 people managing the needles. And what about the yarn? It is truly ex-bulky. It looks like they're knitting in a warehouse, but with a wingspan of almost 24 feet or 7 m, you'd need all that space. Or h...

Flagel Knitting Files

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