help! british knitting terms!

abby.elizabeth · 10-07-2007, 07:48 AM

I'm using a pattern from a british knitting magazine, and there are a couple of terms that I'm not understanding. One is "yf" - yarn forward. I believe that this means a regular yarn over, right? The other is "yb" - yarn back. If "yf" is a regular yarn over, what does "yb" mean? Thanks for any help!

knitgal · 10-07-2007, 01:20 PM

What is the pattern? Sometimes "yf" is yo but it may just mean bring the yarn forward while you do something else and "yarn back" while you do something to the other side.
For example with the ballband dishcloth, you want the slipped stitch to show. You never increase the stitches, you simply bring the yarn to the front of the work and then to the back

suzeeq · 10-07-2007, 02:46 PM

If the pattern has slipped sts, yf and yb refer to bringing the yarn forward or to the back. If there's a knit st after the yf, it's a YO; if it's a slip st after, bring the yarn to the front.

GiddyKnitter · 10-07-2007, 03:48 PM

Hi
It's as it says ...bring your yarn forward or take your yarn to the back xx

hob · 10-08-2007, 05:01 AM

hi i might not be right if u could post a bit of the pattern it would help more what mag is it?
yf should just mean bring your yarn forward.... like in a purl st and yarn back put it back again. im am a brit and thats what it means to me.

redwitch · 10-08-2007, 06:42 AM

You know how in single ribbing you have to bring the wool forward after the k before p, and back after p before a k? That's the movement they want you to make. Between two knit stitches a wool forward will create a yo, but just think of it as exactly what the instruction says.

abby.elizabeth · 10-08-2007, 01:21 PM

i thought that was what it meant too. however, using it that way the instructions don't make sense. the magazine is simply knitting and the instructions read:

*k2tog, yf, k1, yf, skpo, k5, rep from*

so far so good. but the next line reads:

*k2tog, (k1,yf) twice, k1, skpo, k3, rep from*

sounds to me like a yarn over, wouldn't you say? but in the "abbreviations" section of the pattern, "yf" means yarn forward, and "yon" means yarn over needle. are you just as confused as i am now?

the pattern is for a bonnet, and it shows an eyelet pattern. i should also point out that nowhere in the pattern does it have the abbreviation yon. maybe i'm just reading too much into this. but this is the main pattern for a layette set and it's gorgeous.

anyway, thanks for all your help!

suzeeq · 10-08-2007, 02:46 PM

Both yf and yon mean YO; yf is used between 2 knit sts and yon is used between 2 purl sts. So just YO.

redwitch · 10-08-2007, 02:51 PM

No it's fine, it makes sense. Since you are not purling in this row, all those yfs are actually going to create yos, but if you were purling, that might not be the case.
So a yf is not necessarily the same as a yo, but in this case all the yfs are going to create yos. And if you find it easier, feel free to take yf to mean yo (in the context of the two lines you have given us at least).

It's possible that yon is the way they described a stitch that you would just call 'a yo after a purl, before a knit'.

abby.elizabeth · 10-08-2007, 03:08 PM

that makes so much more sense! so in that context, a "yb" (yarn back) would be a yarn over between two purl stitches, right?

why can't they just say that!

thanks for all your help everyone!