Blocking
The practice of soaking your knitting in warm water and laying it flat to dry after you finish knitting it. Blocking makes edges straight, stitches even, and fabric lay flat.
Felting
A technique in which you knit something out of pure wool and then wash it in hot, soapy water. The garment shrinks and gets thicker as the stitches fuse together. If you have ever shrunk a wool sweater in the washing machine, you’ve done felting.
Gauge Swatch
A small sample of knitting made especially in order to check your gauge.
Getting Gauge
Achieving the gauge called for in your pattern. To do so, make a swatch and check your gauge. If it does not match the gauge specified in your pattern, adjust your needle size up or down and knit a new swatch. Repeat this process until your gauge matches the target gauge.
Magic Loop
A clever way to knit in the round using one long circular needle. Magic Loop refers to the technique itself, not any specific piece of equipment.
Read Your Work
Count your stitches and rows and differentiate between knit and purl stitches. Read your work to know what you’ve just done, where you are in the pattern, and what you need to do next.
Short-Tail Cast-On
A cast-on that only uses one strand of yarn (the working yarn) to create stitches. The tail is not used in a short-tail cast-on and can therefore be cut short.
Swatch
A small sample of knitting. Knitters make swatches in order to practice new techniques or test out stitch patterns. Swatches are also crucial for checking gauge.
Weave In
Secure and hide your yarn ends by weaving them through the stitches on the back of your work.
