LoopyKnits

I’ve compiled a glossary of some knit-friendly “netspeak” from various online knitting groups.

• BUFO - Boring UnFinished Object. Also see UFO.
• DPs, or DPNs - double points, also known as double-pointed needles
• FO - Finished Object. The goal of every knitter! This indicates a fully completed knitting project.
• Frog - To rip out the stitches in your knitted fabric, either part of the way or all the way back to the beginning. (Say it out loud for the full effect: “Rip it! Rip it!” Now you know why we talk about “frogging,” “visiting the frog pond,” etc.) For a related term, also see tink.
• KIP - Knit in Public.
• KAL - Knit-Along. This is an event when people are working on the same pattern at the same time; can be in person or, more commonly, online.
• LYS - Local Yarn Store
• LYSO - Local Yarn Store Owner
• OTN - On the needles (refers to a knitting project currently underway)
• SnB - Any of the “Stitch ‘N Bitch” books by Debbie Stoller; also may be part of the name of a local knitting group.
• Stash - Your personal cache of yarn.
• Stitches - Well, of course there are the stitches of whatever you are knitting. But “Stitches” is also a major U.S. knitting conference organized by Knitter’s Magazine.
• Tink - To carefully unknit your fabric, stitch by stitch. Tink = “knit” spelled backwards. For a related term, also see frog.
• TKGA - The Knitting Guild of America
• UFO - UnFinished Object. Just one of the items in your “I’ll get to that someday” knitting pile. For a related term, also see BUFO.
• WIP - Work in progress.

Add to the glossary!
Please feel free to e-mail me – carolyn [at] loopyknits [dot] com — to suggest another knitting-related acronym, word, or phrase to add to the glossary.

Pattern Abbreviations
Also, here’s a glossary of common stitch instructions/abbreviations used in knitting patterns (Note: This is an off-site link; it opens in a new window).