How to Read a Knitting Pattern

The sections, and what each is for

Sizes and parentheses

A multi-size pattern is written for the smallest size first, with the others in parentheses afterwards - for example: Cast on 84 (92, 100, 108, 116) sts.

1. Work out your size from the finished measurements, not from a dress size.
2. Highlight your numbers throughout the whole pattern before you start. Every single one.
3. A dash means nothing is worked for that size at that instruction.
4. Numbers stay in the same order everywhere in the pattern - the third number is always the third size.
5. Ease matters. A pattern's finished chest measurement includes the ease the designer intended; compare it against a garment you already own and like.

Repeats: brackets, asterisks and parentheses

Parentheses do double duty - they hold sizes and they hold repeats - which is a genuine source of confusion. Context decides: a parenthesis full of numbers separated by commas is sizes; one containing instructions is a repeat.

The stitch count in parentheses at the end of a row

Many rows end with a figure like (84 sts). That is not part of the instruction - it is the number of stitches you should have when the row is finished.

Count against it every time it appears. It is the pattern's built-in error check and it is the difference between finding a mistake one row later and finding it twenty rows later. How to fix common knitting mistakes covers what to do when the count is wrong.

Gauge is the section that decides the project

1. It is given over 4in, not over one inch, because small measurements magnify error.
2. It says in what stitch. Gauge in stocking stitch and gauge in the pattern stitch are different numbers.
3. It says blocked or unblocked. If it does not say, assume blocked.
4. Match stitches first, rows second. Row gauge can usually be worked around by knitting to a measurement.
5. Change needle size to match, not your knitting. Trying to knit tighter or looser deliberately never holds.

If the pattern's gauge and yours will not meet, the garment will not be the size on the schematic. Knitting gauge and swatching is the method.

The schematic

A dimensioned line drawing of the finished pieces. It is usually at the end and it is the most useful single page in the pattern.

• It gives real numbers for body length, sleeve length, upper arm and chest.
• It shows the construction at a glance - set-in sleeve, raglan, drop shoulder.
• It lets you compare against a garment you own by laying the garment flat and measuring it.
• It tells you what to change. Lengthening a body is easy when you know the target length.

Compare it against standard garment measurements if you are between sizes.

Charts

• Read right to left on right-side rows, left to right on wrong-side rows, working bottom to top.
• In the round, every row reads right to left.
• The key is not universal. Read this pattern's key rather than assuming.
• Bold outlines mark the repeat. Work the stitches before it once, the outlined section as many times as fits, then the stitches after it.
• A gray or blank square usually means 'no stitch' - a spacer that keeps the chart rectangular when one size needs fewer stitches than another.

The crochet equivalent is in crochet symbol charts explained, and abbreviations are in knitting abbreviations explained.

Before you cast on

1. Read it through, all of it, including finishing.
2. Highlight your size everywhere it appears.
3. Check the total yardage against what you have bought.
4. Swatch, wash the swatch, and measure it.
5. Note any technique you do not know yet and learn it before you need it, not in the middle of a row.
6. Check the errata. Published patterns get corrections; the designer's page usually lists them.