bulky-weight yarn. A thick yarn, which we use a lot because it’s warm and it knits up quickly. You might also see it called chunky yarn.
carbon transfer paper. Paper that’s been treated on one side with a black (or white or different color) coating. It’s also sold as dressmaker’s carbon or graphite transfer paper. You use it to transfer a design to your fabric for embroidering.
circular knitting needles. Knitting needles connected by a line of flexible plastic (or wire), so instead of switching hands to knit back and forth and make a rectangle, you can just keep knitting around and around to make a tube.
DK-Weight Yarn. A lightweight yarn that’s thinner than worsted weight and much thinner than bulky weight. DK stands for “double knitting,” which refers to the weight of the yarn, not a technique you might use it in.
Double-Pointed Needles. Knitting needles with points at both ends that come in sets of four or five. You use them to knit circular projects (such as hats, socks, or I-cords) in the round.
embroidery floss. A 6-strand thread used for sewing and embroidery. It comes in tons of colors and can be shiny and metallic or cottony and plain. You can use all 6 strands at once, or you can pull a piece apart into two 3-strand lengths or three 2-strand lengths.
fabric. Any textile (also called cloth) that you make from weaving, knitting, crocheting, or felting individual strands of fiber.
felt. As a noun, felt refers to matted fibers turned into a smooth fabric that doesn’t fray at the edges when you cut it. As a verb, felt means washing and drying fabric so that the fibers shrink and mat together into a kind of material that doesn’t fray when you cut it.
Fleece. As a material, this is a thick, soft synthetic fabric — also known as polar fleece — that doesn’t fray when you cut it. When talking about animals, fleece is a sheep’s woolly covering!
fray. To come apart at a cut edge. Fraying can be prevented by hemming the fabric or using either felt or polar fleece, which don’t fray.
hem. To fold under the edge of a piece of fabric or a garment and sew it down so that it doesn’t fray or look raggedy. As a noun, hem means the sewn edge of fabric.
needle threader. A small device for helping to put thread through the eye of a needle. It’s usually a thin, pointed loop of wire attached to a little metal disc.
pattern. In sewing, a paper version of the fabric pieces you’ll need to stitch together to make your garments. Typically, you trace around the paper pattern onto the fabric.
ribbing. The ridged, stretchy cuff or bottom edge of a sweater or T-shirt.
right side. The side you hope shows when your project is done: it’s the side of the fabric where you can see the printed pattern or where your embroidery is clear (versus the side that has all the knots) or the side of your knitting that looks best to you. When you’re knitting on circular needles, the right side usually refers to the side that looks like vertical columns of Vs.
row. In knitting or crochet, a complete line of stitches. At the end of a knit row, you switch the needles hand to hand. At the end of a crochet row, you make a turning chain.
seam. The line of stitches where two pieces — or two edges of the same piece — of fabric are joined together.
tail. The cut end of yarn or thread in knitting, crochet, sewing, or weaving, either at the start of your project, at the end of it, or when you switch colors.
taut. Pulled tight. In sewing or embroidery, this refers to the fabric; in knitting or crochet, this refers to the yarn.
Turning Chain. In crochet, this is the extra stitch you make between finishing one row and starting the next. It makes room in your piece for it to grow evenly.
unravel. The process of the fibers coming apart, usually when you don’t want them to. This can refer to yarn or to something you’ve knit or crocheted with yarn.
Wool. The fleece of an animal — especially a sheep — or the yarn spun from it.
working yarn. The yarn coming freshly off the ball that you’re using as you knit or crochet.
worsted-weight yarn. Yarn of average thickness; what you probably picture when you picture yarn. It’s good for most knitting projects but knits up a little less quickly than bulky yarn.
yarn. A long, continuous length of spun fibers — either natural or synthetic — used for knitting, crocheting, and weaving.
Yarnover. In crochet, the action of wrapping the working yarn over the hook from the back to the front.