How to Read a Knitting Pattern

Knitting patterns pack a lot of information into a small space. Once you know the standard structure, even a dense-looking pattern breaks down into a handful of predictable parts.

The standard structure

Most patterns follow the same skeleton, in roughly this order:

Materials — yarn weight and yardage, needle size, notions like stitch markers or a cable needle.
Gauge — how many stitches and rows per 4 inches (10cm) the designer got, usually in a specific stitch pattern. See the gauge swatch guide before skipping this.
Sizing — finished measurements for each size, often with the pattern written for the smallest size and larger sizes in parentheses, e.g. S (M, L, XL).
Abbreviations key — a legend defining every shorthand term used. Cross-reference the knitting abbreviations glossary if a pattern's key is incomplete.
Instructions — the row-by-row or round-by-round directions.
Finishing — blocking, seaming, and any assembly steps after the knitting itself is done.

Reading the instructions themselves

Asterisks (*) mark a repeated sequence: "*k2, p2; rep from * to end" means keep repeating "k2, p2" across the whole row.
Brackets and parentheses group a sequence with its own repeat count, e.g. "(k1, yo, k2tog) 3 times."
Commas separate steps within one stitch's worth of instruction; semicolons or periods usually separate one full instruction from the next.
RS / WS mark right-side and wrong-side rows — important for knowing which side is "public" and whether a stitch pattern needs mirrored instructions on the way back.
Size-specific numbers follow the same S (M, L, XL) order set up in the sizing section — always double check which number in the parentheses applies to your size before you start a row.

Before you cast on

Read the entire pattern once, start to finish, before picking up needles — it's much easier to spot a confusing instruction on a first read than mid-row.
Circle or highlight your size's numbers throughout the pattern so you're not re-parsing parentheses on every row.
Swatch and check your gauge first — a pattern followed perfectly at the wrong gauge still comes out the wrong size.