Knitting has a language all its own. Often more advanced knitters don't even realize how ridiculous their patterns look to non-knitters. We could probably say we're reading an astrophysicist's notes and the non-knitter would believe us. I am going to include the "translation" for the basic knitting jargon. If you're interested in learning more knitting language, I recommend Knitspeak by Andrea Berman Price and Patti Pierce Stone.
CO: Cast on
K: knit
P: purl
RS: right side
WS: wrong side
*: repeat from here
R: row
An example of a pattern would be:
2x2 rib
CO multiples of 4
R1: *k2, p2
CO in pattern
Translated it is: Cast on multiples of 4 (4, 8, 12, 16, etc). Row one: knit two, bring yarn to front, purl two, bring yarn back, repeat to the end of the row. Repeat until desired length and cast off in the pattern (knit 2, cast off, purl one, cast off, purl one, cast off, knit 1, etc).
Another way of saying the 2x2 rib:
CO multiples of 2
R1: *k2, p2
R2: knit the knits, purl the purls.
This is the same pattern, but you need to be able to read your knitting. The purl stitch has a bump on the right side and the knit stitch has the bump on the wrong side.
Happy knitting!
