Yarn forward and yarn back?

Posted by Katherine aka SweaterBabe on June 13th, 2007 at 11:54am

Dear Sweaterbabe,

I thought I knew how to knit albeit simply! However, I am doing a baby jacket and have got to a row which says knit 1, yarn to front, slip a stich purlwise, yarn to back.

What does the yarn to front and back mean? I did what I thought was correct but my pattern looks nothing like the picture!!!

Also, does yarn to front and yarn to back mean the same as yarn forward and yarn backward? If not, what do these mean?

Thank goodness I have 7 months to knit this jacket!

Thank you so much if you can help.

Helena

Dear Helena,

Without seeing what the finished stitch pattern should look like, I do believe that the “yarn to front” and “yarn to back” are exactly as you first guessed.

“Yarn to front” means to bring the yarn (between the needle tips) to the front of your work, just like you do if you are ribbing (”ribbing” is like doing [K1, p1] over and over to get a ribbed fabric) and need to move the yarn to the front to purl the next stitch.

Simply put, take the yarn and bring it towards you by bringing it between the 2 needle tips and letting it sit in front of your work.

So, “yarn to back” means to bring the yarn to the back of your work, just like when you prepare to knit the next stitch while ribbing.