If you are new to knitting or crochet, especially if you join any facebook groups or share your crafts on Instagram you might be forgiven for thinking people are speaking a different language!

Knitters and crocheters often use a code that can be hard to crack. I’m not talking about the shorthand used in patterns either. As well as learning the shorthand for the stitches you will also come across a host of acronyms and abbreviations which it is handy to know and fun to use. Some of these are more commonly used than others of course.

Welcome to the yarn lovers club! Hopefully this will help you feel like an honorary member, and allow you to crack the code. You’ll be talking WIP’s and HOTH’s before you know it!

I’ve put these alphabetically to help you find what you are looking for easily and I’ll be adding to this all the time so if you know any acronyms or abbreviations I’ve omitted do let me know and I’ll add them in.

Knitting and Crochet Code:

BUFO - boring unfinished object. That thing you started but have really lost interest in.

CAL - crochet a-long. A crochet pattern that is released a little at a time, often weekly. The idea is that everyone works along at the same time when the design is first released.

CIP - crochet in progress.

DS - destash. Getting rid of, selling, giving away or using up your yarn stash.

FLY – from leftover yarn.

FO - finished object.

FFO - finally finished object.

FOTH - fresh off the hook.

Frog - to undo your work. You rip it out, which sounds kind of like rippit rippit, the noise a frog makes. It’s a stretch to be fair but one of the more common abbreviations!

Frog pond - where you keep all the projects that either need frogging or the yarn that has resulted.

Hookers - this one can be a bit controversial so tread carefully. Some crocheters will refer to themselves as hookers, other not so much!

HOTH - hot off the hook.

HOTN – hot off the needle.

KAL - Knit a-long. A knitting pattern that is released a little at a time, often weekly. The idea is that everyone works along at the same time when the design is first released.

KIP - Knit in progress.

Knitting pins - knitting needles and knitting pins are just different words for the same thing, pins sounds super old fashioned to me but I have heard some people refer to them as such.

KIV - knitting in vehicle.

KAT - knitting against time.

LYS - local yarn store/shop.

LYSO - local yarn store/shop owner.

NESTY - not even started yet.

OTN / OYN - on the needle / on your needle.

PHD - project half done.

PYC - professional yarn collector.

SABLE - stash acquisition beyond life expectancy.

SSS - second sock syndrome. When that second sock just won’t go the same as the first or you just can’t get it finished.

Stash - all the lovely yarn you have accumulated, including impulse purchases and left overs.

Stash busting - similar to DS, generally a project that uses some of your stash.

TINK – It’s knit backwards and it means to knit backwards! Actually a really useful technique to learn.

TOAD - trashed object abandoned in disgust.

UFO - unfinished object.

URO - unrecognized object. You find these in the bottom of a bag, years after you started it and can’t remember for the life of you what you were making!

WIP - work in progress.

YCZ - yarn containment zone, a fancy term for where you keep your stash.

WOTYAM - waste of time, yarn and money. Sadly, we’ve all been here, best just to frog it!

Yarn Bombing - decorating with yarn, usually knit or crochet and most often in outside spaces as a form of public art. It can be a form of activism / craftivism but doesn’t have to be.

Yarn Chicken - when you’re almost at the end of your row or round and may or may not get there before you run out of yarn. Often involves knitting or crocheting faster and faster in the hope that will help!

Yarn vomit/ yarn barf - when you try to pull the yarn from the centre of the ball and a whole load pulls out in a big old mess.

Yarn Crawl – a trip visiting lots of LYSs.

There you have it, a guide to all the Knitting and Crochet acronyms and abbreviations that I’ve ever come across. I’ll continue to add to this as I find more, do let me know in the comments below if you have any that I’ve not included.

Have fun with the knit and crochet code. Now if someone on Instagram asks you to share your WIP you’ll know what they are asking for. That’s one of those moments that could get really awkward otherwise!

Julie

I’ll be sharing this post at these link ups