Beginner

How do you read a knitting pattern?

Reading a knitting pattern can seem quite simple at first. You can compare it a bit to reading a recipe: first the ingredients, followed by the instructions. Translated to knitting, that means yarn, needles, gauge - which we have looked at in previous posts - and then the instructions for it. BUT a knitting pattern is a bit more complex than that; it contains a lot of abbreviations and terms you don't encounter in a recipe, and in many cases, there is also a chart to interpret.

The thing with knitting patterns is that there is no "template" for how they should be designed and what they should contain. So even when it comes to abbreviations. There is no established "general translation." However, most patterns include a table of the relevant abbreviations used and what they mean. The same goes for the charts and their symbols, but there is also a table for the meaning in that particular pattern.

The key to interpreting your knitting pattern is to be able to decipher these abbreviations and chart symbols.

A table of abbreviations might look like this: 

If there is any abbreviation or explanation that is particularly complicated, you will usually find a detailed explanation or a link to a video clip. It is truly fantastic for us who knit today that YouTube and Google exist!

Diagram

Yes, following a chart in a knitting pattern is a bit backwards; you don't read the chart as you read regular text. The chart is a grid pattern that you read in the direction you knit. 

In the chart, each stitch corresponds to a square and each row thus corresponds to a round.

Depending on how many stitches the knitting contains (for example, a cardigan can have several hundred stitches per round), a specific section or "repeat", as it is called in knitting terms, may be marked and the stitches of this repeat are repeated the specified number of times.

You read the chart from bottom to top. The first row is read from right to left. 

If you knit back and forth, you read the odd rows from right to left and the even rows from left to right. The odd rows are the right side and the even rows are the wrong side. At first, it may feel a bit tricky, but it is still logical.

If you knit in the round, you read each round, that is, each row, from right to left.

Does it sound complicated? It's not that complicated! But I recommend printing out or copying your pattern on paper and having a pencil handy so you can mark where you are in the chart as you read.

The following symbols often appear in patterns with structure and lace, but also patterns with multicolor knitting have charts and in these charts the color of the square corresponds to the color the stitch should be knitted in if the chart is in color, otherwise the different pattern colors in the chart usually get their own symbols so you know which color the stitch should have.

Chart symbols can look something like this:

copyright

An important thing to mention regarding knitting patterns is the designer's copyright. The pattern usually states the terms of use as ©copyright, which means you are not allowed to share or resell the patterns without permission unless otherwise specified.

So it is not allowed to copy a pattern and give it to a friend or share a digital pattern file.

So when I suggest printing or copying the pattern to be able to take notes and highlight, it is only for personal use.

Different forms

Knitting patterns can come in many different forms, such as pattern books, knitting magazines and newspapers, individual printed patterns, digital patterns in pdf, etc.

With us at 60 Garner Nord you will find pattern books, individual patterns and magazines with several patterns in each. And of course everything else you need for your knitting.

So this thing about reading a knitting pattern might not be so much like reading a recipe after all...

But fear not, choose your pattern and get started. However, I recommend that you read through the entire pattern before you start knitting so that you know what to expect.

I would guess that what lies ahead of you is Delightful knitting!

Hugs / Pernilla