How do I read a knitting pattern?

What the abbreviations mean, how brackets and asterisks work, and why the tension line at the top decides whether anything else in the pattern is true.

Difficulty: beginner
Time: 20 min
Read: 4 min

Short answer

Read the tension line first and knit a swatch to match it, because every measurement in the pattern assumes your stitches are that size. Then work through the abbreviations: k is knit, p is purl, st is stitch, and the repeats are marked either with asterisks or square brackets followed by how many times to work them.

A knitting pattern is a compressed set of instructions written in a notation that assumes you already know it. Nothing in it is difficult once you know what the marks mean, and the parts people get stuck on are almost always repeats, sizes and tension.

Step by step

Start at the tension or gauge line, not the instructions.Something like '22 sts and 30 rows to 10cm over stocking stitch on 4mm needles'. Every measurement in the pattern is calculated from that. If your swatch has 24 stitches to 10cm, the finished garment comes out smaller than the size on the label, and no amount of careful knitting will fix it.
Knit a tension square before anything else.At least 15cm square, in the stated stitch and yarn, washed and dried as you will wash the garment. Measure in the middle, not at the edges. Too many stitches to 10cm means go up a needle size; too few means go down.
Find the size you are making and mark it throughout.Patterns usually give sizes as the smallest first with the rest in brackets: 'Cast on 90 (98: 106: 114) sts'. Go through the whole pattern with a highlighter and mark your number every time, before you start.
Learn the core abbreviations.k knit, p purl, st stitch, sts stitches, RS right side, WS wrong side, beg beginning, rep repeat, cont continue, foll following, alt alternate, tog together, inc increase, dec decrease, yo or yfwd yarn over, and st st stocking stitch.
Learn the shaping abbreviations, which are directional.k2tog knits two together and leans right; ssk or skpo slips and passes over and leans left. Patterns pair them at the two edges of a piece precisely so the shaping mirrors, so they are not interchangeable.
Decode asterisks and brackets.'*k2, p2; rep from * to end' means work k2, p2 over and over until the row is finished. '[k1, p1] 4 times' means work that pair four times. Round brackets at the end of a row, like '(24 sts)', are a stitch count so you can check yourself.
Check the stitch count at the end of every shaping row.The counts printed in brackets are checkpoints. Finding you are one stitch out at the end of a row costs a minute; finding out twenty rows later costs an evening.
Read the whole pattern through before casting on.You are looking for anything you cannot do yet, anything that needs a technique you would have to learn mid-row, and any 'at the same time' instruction, which is where two sets of shaping run together and is the commonest place to come unstuck.
Note what the pattern assumes about finishing.Most patterns say 'sew up' and no more. Seaming and blocking are usually left to you and both make more difference to the finished garment than the knitting does.

Tips

Photocopy or photograph the pattern and mark it up. Do not try to hold your size in your head.
A row counter, or a note on your phone at the end of each session, saves more time than any other habit.
'Work straight' or 'cont without shaping' means keep going in pattern with no increases or decreases.

Common mistakes

Skipping the tension swatch — Everything in the pattern is derived from the stated tension. A small difference in stitch size compounds over hundreds of stitches and produces a garment a full size out.
Treating k2tog and ssk as the same thing — They lean in opposite directions. Patterns use them in pairs so that shaping at the two edges mirrors; swapping them gives a visibly lopsided piece.

If it doesn't work

Stitch count does not match the number in brackets

Cause: A missed or extra increase or decrease — Fix: Go back to the last row where the count was right. Guessing where the error was and fudging it distorts the shaping.

Garment is coming out too big or too small

Cause: Tension does not match the pattern — Fix: Stop, swatch properly, change needle size and restart. Continuing rarely ends well.

Lost track of which size you are knitting

Cause: Numbers in brackets not marked up — Fix: Mark your size throughout the printed pattern before continuing.

The instruction says 'at the same time' and you have lost the thread

Cause: Two sets of shaping running together — Fix: Write the next twenty rows out longhand, one row per line, with both sets of shaping noted.

Questions people ask

Do I really have to knit a tension square?

For anything that has to fit, yes. For a scarf or a blanket, it only affects how much yarn you use. The swatch also tells you whether you like the fabric at that needle size, which is worth knowing before you knit a whole sleeve.

What if my row tension matches but my stitch tension does not?

Match stitch tension first, because width matters more than length in a garment — length is usually knitted to a measurement rather than a row count.