How to read knitting patterns and follow written instructions [for beginners]

A step-by-step tutorial on how to read knitting patterns for beginners and making sense of written instructions for beginners. Read the full tutorial here on my blog: https://nimble-needles.com/tutorials/how-to-read-knitting-patterns/ My ultimate knitting glossary: https://nimble-needles.com/tutorials/knitting-terms-and-techniques-glossary/ How to read charts: https://nimble-needles.com/tutorials/read-knitting-charts-for-beginners/ Reading knitting patterns is an essential skill for every beginner once you want to progress past your first scarf in garter stitch. It might seem daunting but it's actually much easier than you think. The biggest problem is probably the many abbreviations. But a good knitting glossary will help you like nothing else to make sense of any pattern - even if there is no legend. And then reading a knitting pattern boils down to understanding the few rows. Every row has its own line and it consists of commands for the different stitches separated by commas. Sometimes numbers tell you to repeat a certain stitch multiple times, like k7 means knit 7 stitches in a row. The second thing you might need to know is that asterisks frame a repeat. So *k2,p2* means repeating to knit two stitches, and then purl two stitches until the end of a row. And then of course, there is sizing information. To read that part of a knitting pattern, you have to know that these are typically separated by slashes. So it's like S/M/L/Xl and it says "ast on 10/15/20/25 stitches".