Knit and Crochet Lingo and Acronyms

Ambistitcherous Having the ability to knit in two different styles, e.g., Continental and Combined


BeauFO A beautiful Finished Object
BFL Blue-Faced Leicester, a breed of sheep
BID Big Issues Debate (group on Ravelry)
Bicraftual Someone who both crochets and knits
Big Six See Main 6
Bistitchual The ability to knit in two styles e.g., English and Continental
Bob Ravelry mascot, adorable Boston Terrier boy, critter of Casey and Jess
BMFA Blue Moon Fiber Arts (yarn company)
BTW By The Way

BSJ Baby Surprise Jacket (pattern) Wiki
CAL Crochet ALong
Chatterbox Any Raveler who has posted at least once in some Ravelry forum gets a chatterbox page and gets to be called a “chatterbox”. You can get to this from your profile, over on the right where it says “x posts”. It is a good way to see where you have posted recently, or find a post that you have lost.
CIP Crocheting In Public
Clap Clapotis (pattern)
CLF Crochet Liberation Front (group on Ravelry)
Colorway The name or number assigned by a manufacturer to the color (or multi-colored combination) of a yarn
CPaA or CPaAGG Completely Pointless and Arbitrary
CPH Central Park Hoodie (pattern)
CPY Crystal Palace Yarns (yarn company)
CTH Cherry Tree Hill (yarn company)
Darn Overs (DOs) - The ones you forget and have to tink back to. AKA @&%^#&%@!!
DB Debbie Bliss (designer and yarn company)
DD Dear Daughter
DH Dear Husband
DPN Double-Pointed Needles
DS Destash (sell unwanted yarn); also: Dear Son (referring to one’s actual son)
DW Dear Wife
Dyelot the number that identifies a particular batch of a colorway

EOR End Of Row or Every Other Row
ETA Edited to add


FO Finished Object
frog To rip back (for the sound “rip it, rip it”) by removing the needles from the project and pulling on the loose end of the yarn; also applies to crochet. Generally used when mistake is found below the row you are currently working, or when completely undoing an entire project or piece. (see Tink)
frog pond a storage place for knitted and crocheted things waiting to be frogged
FSOT For Sale or Trade
FTLOR For the Love of Ravelry (Ravelry main forum)
Gifted The act of giving yarn/items to another for free.
GOFO A GOrgeous Finished Object
GOL Giggle Out Loud
HBD Horizontal Bust Darts, also known as short-row bust darts.
HK Hazel Knits (yarn company).
HSY Haven’t Started Yet (pronounced “hussy”)
IMHO In My Humble Opinion
IMO In My Opinion
ISO In Search Of
ITR In The Round
KAL Knit ALong
Kinnear To surreptitiously try to take a photo of someone, without looking though the camera’s viewfinder, coined by the Yarn Harlot
KIP Knit(ting) In Public
KL Knitting Loom
KP Knit Picks (yarn company)
LK Loom Knitting
LPW Lamb’s Pride Worsted (yarn)
LSG Lazy, Stupid and Godless (group on Ravelry)
LYS Local Yarn Shop
LYSO Local Yarn Shop Owner
Main 6 the six forums that every Raveler is a member of - For the Love of Ravelry, Needlework on the Net, Yarn, Patterns, Techniques, and Remnants
Magic link A forum feature that lets you automatically create a link to a Ravelry page (yarn, book, pattern, project, group, or person)
MCY Mystical Creations Yarns (former indie dyer, now also Mysterious Circumstances, Yo!, group on Ravelry)
MK Machine Knit(ting)
muggle non-knitter
NAYY No Affiliation, Yadda Yadda
NotN or NOTN Needlework on the Net (one of the main 6 forums)
NoTN Not on The Needles
NWT New With Tags
OP Original Post(er)
OPY Other People’s Yarn
OTH On The Hooks
OTN On The Needles
PIF Paying It Forward (or Pay It Forward)
PIGS Projects In Grocery Sacks
Plarn “Plastic” yarn, often made from plastic grocery bags, but there are also some commercial types; all good for knitting/crocheting in the shower.
PM Private Message (Ravelry email)
Pooling When one color in a variegated yarn bunches together in an area. See this post by Mlok for an example.
PR Peer Review, a moderation tool used the Main 6
PSY Project Seeking Yarn (pronounced “sigh” as in “psychosis”)
PTB See TPTB below.
Puddling According to the Yarn Harlot, similar to pooling, but more like a blotch.
Queue your list of patterns or yarns that you would like to make/use someday
QUIRBLE QUeue In Ravelry Beyond Life Expectancy (courtesy of KreatureKat
RAB or RAOB Random Act Of Bobness
RAK or RAOK Random Act Of Kindness
Raveler a member of Ravelry
Raveloop that weird space time continuum flux that seems to happen at odd intervals for an indeterminate amount of time (i.e. the way time flies when looking at Ravelry)
RL Real Life (as opposed to Ravelry Life)
SABLE Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy
SAL Spin ALong (Whee! I’m dizzy!)
SEX Stash Enhancement eXperience (or eXpedition) = buying yarn
SIP sock(s) in progress
Skank funny way of saying skein of yarn (skein+hank=skank)
Slurp to pull in an image from another image server such as Photobucket See also: HowToSlurp
SSS Second Sock Syndrome; or, Socks, Socks, Socks by XRX Books
STR Socks that Rock (yarn)
SWTC South West Trading Company (yarn company)
Tarn AKA T-shirt yarn
Teal Deer from tl;dr - stands for “too long; didn’t read” and signifies a very long or overly wordy post
Threadjack To take over or divert the thread from its current topic or intended purpose
Tink To undo knitted stitches by reversing the knitting motion, effectively un-knitting the stitch. Used when fixing an error on the same row you are knitting. (“tink” is “knit” spelled backwards) (see also Frogging)
TPTB The Powers That Be, i.e., Casey, Jess, Mary-Heather, and Bob
TOAD Trashed Object Abandoned in Disgust
TWIR This Week in Ravelry - Ravelry’s (somewhat) weekly newsletter, archived here.
UFO UnFinished Object (usually a WIP that has been abandoned or neglected)
Vibralope The little envelope icon used as a message indicator on Ravelry; so named because it vibrates when a new PM comes in.
VLT Very Longest Thread, a thread in the CPaAG (see above).
WIM Work In Mind
WIP Work In Progress
WoTA Wool of the Andes (yarn)
WPI Wraps Per Inch (number of times yarn will wrap loosely around ruler or similar tool in one inch; more wraps indicates thinner yarn)
yarn barf (yarf?) 1)a big lump of yarn that accidentally gets pulled out of a new centre-pull ball, when you’re trying to find the end 2)The stuff produced by a novice spinner that bears a loose resemblance to yarn but has no consistency of size or twist whatsoever.
Yarnie independent dyer or spinner with a small business
YAS Yarn Acquisition Syndrome
YKWIM You Know What I Mean