Three Reasons You've Got To Know How To Read A Knitting Pattern

1 - It's a matter of leverage.

You are amazing. I know this, because you are reading my blog to help you become a Knitting Superstar! So why let the fact that you don’t know how to read a pattern hold you back? Many people don’t think it’s very important, that they’ve gotten along fine without knowing how to do it all these years. But I am here to tell you that knowing how to read a pattern is a HUGE advantage in the knitting world. It is a small investment of time and energy that will yield a disproportionate amount of results - in other words, it is an area of leverage. A lever moves a heavy weight with little effort because it is constructed to do so. Using levers makes you stronger and smarter than someone who is just trying to pick up the heavy weight. This blog is all about being a Knitting Superstar, and in order to do that EASILY, you have to identify areas in which a small amount of effort will make a big difference. This is one of them.

2 - 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 pattern and start knitting. Reading through a recipe before you go grocery shopping can save you a lot of time, i.e., “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 consciously, but 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 at least 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, the 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.

3 - You won't have to take everything at face value.
One of the things I want you to gain from this blog is a sense of empowerment, and the confidence that comes from a deep understanding of what you are doing. When you understand how to read a knitting pattern, you will start to see that not all knitting patterns tell you to do things the best way, and sometimes they’re just wrong. Sometimes, for whatever reason, designers make you do things that are unnecessarily difficult (like knitting a hat flat and then sewing it up). This is because a) the designer is afraid to challenge you, b) the designer didn’t know any better, or c) the designer just made a mistake. That’s okay - the wonderful thing about knitting is that anyone can be a designer and anyone can publish a pattern, which means we have access to thousands more wonderful patterns than if everything had to be published in a book (no guarantee against mistakes, either).

But now, knowing how to read a pattern, you’ll be able to spot things that don’t make sense to you and to think critically about what you want to do about it. Just like anyone who has some experience can spot an obvious typo in a recipe (“4 C flour to thicken this gravy? I think they meant 4 T”), you’ll be able to spot mistakes that earlier would have left you undoing your work over and over again, wondering where you went wrong. You’ll also be able to (gasp) change how a pattern is constructed, if you think you have a better way. Think it’s not possible? Wait and see. It will happen without you realizing it. Once you understand how to read a pattern, you’ll be flipping through patterns, deciding what to knit next, and you’ll say, “Wouldn’t this be easier if I just ____?” And the world of knitting will be a better place.