This chapter is part of our Reading Knitting Patterns Video Class. Click here to learn more.
Why Do Knitting Patterns Exist?
Almost every knitting project you might ever wish to knit, unless you are inventing it out of your own head, comes with written and sometimes visual instructions for exactly how to do it.
Unfortunately, about half the knitters out there don’t know how to read these instructions.
Now, just like putting together a bookcase from IKEA, you don’t have to know how to read the instructions — you may still succeed, through trial and error, or by “Zen” – the magical force my sister uses to drive somewhere without directions. But if you don’t know really how to read a knitting pattern, and many of you don’t, you are missing out on an entire world.
Knitting has its own language, and learning that language opens the door to communicating with knitters around the world and across time.
Just like it’s possible to go to Europe on vacation without learning a new language, and have a good time, you can knit your whole life without knowing how to read a pattern. But once you learn, you’ll have abilities and confidence that are far beyond what you could imagine before.
Being able to read a knitting pattern helps you make better decisions.
When you can speak the language of knitting, you will be able to understand what a designer is telling you, and also to think critically about it. You’ll be able to visualize what he or she is saying before you buy the yarn and start knitting.
Reading through a recipe before you go grocery shopping can save you a lot of time. For example, "The results sound good, but I see here that I’m going to have to spend all day making this leg of lamb. For who I am right now, making tortellini makes more sense tonight.” I know you probably don’t think like that, but you have to admit that these are unconscious decisions we make all the time.
Just like being able to read a recipe, being able to read a knitting pattern can help you make better decisions about the “ingredients” you buy and the time you decide to invest. Once you understand what someone is telling you, you have a much clearer picture of the road ahead, and you will be better prepared to travel it.
Don’t you hate it when you get to a part in your recipe that you overlooked, that says something like, “Let rest for four hours.” Dangit, I’m hungry now!
This is a preventable problem, but one that many knitters walk right into over and over. Halfway through the project, they get stuck, come into the knit shop and ask for help understanding what the pattern says.
Unfortunately, sometimes it says, “Knit for 900 rows on really tiny needles before you get to the next interesting part.” Really.
