Skip to content

Ann and Kay’s Skill Set: Beginning Knitting is a tidy little book—a perfect set of nine lessons to get a new knitter started with confidence.

And there’s the Skill Set Box of Joy, a complete kit designed to provide all the materials that are referenced in Skill Set.

But even with all of that, learning to knit is full of words that may not mean what you think they mean. For example: right.

We use the word “right” at least three different ways in knitting. We talk about right sides, Right Sides, and right-hand sides. Then there’s the wrong side, which sounds bad.

Let me get you sorted out!

Right Sleeve, Right Arm

When making a garment, we talk about the Right Side, when describing which side of the body something is for.

The right sleeve goes on your right arm. When it’s a cardigan, the right front sits on the side of your body that is beside your right arm. And a right front neckline is on the shoulder that is connected to your right arm.

Put another way, when talking about the geography of a garment, Right and Left are from the wearer’s perspective. Where it can get a little fuzzy is when you’re making a sweater, and you lie it flat on the table in front of you—the right side is on your left. Just remember, the Right Front connects to your right arm.

Right-Hand Side

We sometimes talk about right-hand side or right-hand needle. It might also be abbreviated at RHS or RHN (and of course LHS for left-hand side or LHN for left-hand needle).

These are about how you’re holding and looking at something. This can crop up when giving instructions to make a stitch—it might tell you to wrap the yarn around the right-hand needle or use the tip of the left-hand needle to pick up a strand between the stitches.

In these cases, it’s always about your perspective. When it says right-hand side, it means the thing that’s closest to or in your actual right hand. And without exception, if it says right needle it means the one in your right hand; left needle is in your left hand.

RS and WS

RS stands for “right side,” WS for “wrong side.” These are about the fabric you’re making. This applies to crochet and sewing and weaving, too. The right side of the fabric is the good side, the public side, the side you want to have showing when you’re wearing the thing. (Assuming you didn’t get dressed in a hurry, in the dark.)

The wrong side of the fabric is … well, it’s the other one. It’s the inside of your garment.

When you’re working back and forth in rows, one row will be the right side of your fabric, one row will be the wrong side.

When a pattern stitch is written out, you will see some kind of indication of which is the right side and which is the wrong. For example, with stockinette stitch, it goes like this:

Row 1 (RS): Knit.

Row 2 (WS): Purl.

When a pattern gives that “RS” indicator, it’s telling you which side of the fabric is intended to be worn facing out. For stockinette stitch, the knit side is the good side.

Make sure, when you’re following instructions, that you are aware of which is which. I like to clip a removable stitch marker in the right side of the fabric, close to the start of the right-side rows.

A lot of the time, the instructions for a pattern start with the RS, but that’s not always true. Sometimes instructions might start with a WS row. Less common, but perfectly OK!

To answer a frequently asked question: The cast-on edge doesn’t count as a row, and cast-on edges don’t have a RS or a WS. Some of them look the same on both sides, some of them look different, but it’s not a case of one side being absolutely the RS and one being the WS.

This is why a designer will often tell you to use a particular cast-on method, so that you can make sure you make the edges look like the designer intended, as shown in the sample. For example, I use the long tail cast-on and sometimes I start my stitch pattern with a WS row after that cast-on, and sometimes I start with a RS. It depends on how I want it to look.

This RS/WS information is also provided to help you keep track as you’re working. Increases and decreases usually happen on RS rows; knowing which is which helps you make sure you’re doing the right thing at the right time.

Even if Reversible

This is why you’ll see instructions list a RS and a WS even when the item you’re knitting is fully reversible, like a pattern for a garter-stitch shawl or scarf, which you can wear equally well with both sides out. It will still have a RS and a WS designation to make it easier to follow the instructions.

Working in the Round

When you’re working back and forth in rows, the fabric still has a RS and a WS. But because you’re working a joined fabric, seamlessly, in the round, there are only RS instructions—you’re only ever working the RS! It’s very clever and eliminates the need for purling, which I know many knitters enjoy.

All right?

What’s that sweater, you ask? It’s the dreamy Valdres pullover by Arne and Carlos, from Field Guide No. 23: Glow.

About The Author

Kate Atherley is a teacher, designer, author and technical editor. She’s also the publisher of Digits & Threads, a magazine all about Canadian fibre and textile arts.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

16 Comments

  • Public and private is the way I think of RS and WS except there’s no good abbreviation. PU and PR?

    Outside/Inside = OS/IS. I like the consistency of “side”. RS/LS = fronts, as worn.

  • These explanations are perfect, and oh so helpful even for someone who has been knitting for a while. Thank you!

  • Someone has to ask; the last photo…what is the yarn? Love the colors.

  • I’ve been knitting for over 40 years, and I’m not sure I’ve ever run into “right hand” and “left hand” instructions! Good to know!

  • Thank you. This was useful practical information that is overlooked a lot in teaching or instructions. In fact, knitting patterns often leave a lot to the knitter to figure out.
    Thank you

  • Although I thought I knew all of this, it was still helpful. The way you word the explanations help so much! Thank you.

  • love the look of the sweater, Valdres, but looking at projects made on ravelry the comments show lots of good questions about the pattern. Perhaps not a good beginners pattern, unless the pattern has been edited/amended?

  • very beneficial article…thanks.

  • Another great clear explanation!

    When writing descriptions of a garment (in a museum content for the database) we use ‘proper right/left’ referring to where, say, the right arm/body/leg would go. (Imagining the piece on a body). It helps!

    I often wish knitting language and terminology was codified across the board. Le sigh.

  • Just let me catch my breath as I’m reminded how beautiful this sweater is. What a gorgeous design #knittinggoals

  • I had a copy of the book and gave it to the teen twin girls next door. Now I wish I had it because three of my grands (6,7 and 10) asked me to teach them to knit! (They have been watching me knit their whole lives and have been the beneficiaries of many an item.)
    Oh! yeah! Of course I can buy another one or three! At less than $20, it will be a great boost for them to have in between visits!

  • Love your explanations Kate. Will be sharing to all
    My knitting friends.

  • Before I ever took my first knitting class, I was in dental school, learning a consistent way to talk about right and left sides, because it was always from the perspective of the patient’s right or left side! When I did begin my love of knitting, looking at the right and left were already second nature to me. Finally so excited to realize that there was something actually ready to access in my brain that I didn’t have to think so hard about as I learned to knit.

    • As a gynecologist my brain works the same way 🙂

  • Thank you, such a clear explanation!

  • You forgot right-handed (English) and left-handed (Continental).

Come Shop With Us

My Cart0
There are no products in the cart!
Continue shopping