Speak Crochet Slang

“I had a WIP that I was considering frogging before it turned into a UFO, but I picked it up again and now it is HOTH.”

Are you looking at that and thinking “Huh?? What is she talking about?” You see, there is more than just stitch terms and definitions when it comes to crochet. There is a whole set of terms that people use to describe their work, what they are doing and what the end result looks like. In this tips and tricks post which is part of my TLC Blanket, I am listing as many of those strange terms as I could find.

There are a lot of terms that I know because I use them myself, but then there are always less common terms that you sometimes see floating around. Here is a list of things that I could find online and their explanations.

1. Ami – short for Amigurumi, the Japanese art of making crochet animals and toys
2. Bistichtual – this is someone who both knits and crochets
3. C2C – Corner-to-Corner Crochet, a crochet technique in which you work pixels in a diagonal line
4. CAL – Crochet Along, a project in which a new part of the pattern is released every week or fortnight. A crochet along is a great way to work on the same project with people from all over the world.
5. CIP – Crochet in public. Something everyone should have the confidence to do.
6. CnC – Critter and Crochet photo, this a photo of your pet with your crochet work, usually your cat or dog that is preventing you from getting to your crochet because they are all over it.
7. CROJO – Crochet mojo, the drive and/or desire to crochet
8. De-stashing (also know as Un-stashing) – when you give away or sell some of your yarn stash, usually to make room for more yarn that you really want.
9. FO – Finished object
10. FOTH – Fresh off the Hook
11. Freeform (also called freestyle or freehand) – crochet worked without a pattern, just taking it one stitch at a time and seeing where it goes.
12. Frog or Frogging – ripping out your work. The word comes from the sound that a frog makes, ‘ribbit’ which sounds like ‘rip it’.
13. FS – For Sale, when posing an item such as yarn or crochet project in a social group which is available for sale.
14. Fuzzbuzz – Color change in a Scheepjes Whirl. The join between two stands is a little fuzzy, just crochet or knit over it like it’s not even there.
15. Hooker – A proud crocheter; very true for me, for you too?
16. HOTH – Hot off the hook
17. HSPY – Have not started project yet
18. ISO – In search of, usually yarn or a pattern
19. JAYG – Join as you go, this is a method for joining squares or motives in which you join each square/motif directly to your blanket/shawl in stead of joining all completed squares at the end of the project
20. JOTH – Just off the hook
21. LYS – Local or little yarn store, a very dangerous place!
22. MAM – Mile a Minute afghan, a project that works up really fast.
23. MGBTC – Must get back to crocheting
24. NCR – Not Crochet Related, often used in crochet social groups when posting something that is not related to crochet.
25. OCD – Obsessive crocheting disorder
26. PABLE – Patterns accumulated beyond life expectancy
27. PHD – projects half done, seems we all have a PHD after all!
28. PIGS – projects in grocery bags, this is not a good sign actually….
29. PING – Project is not growing. That part of a project where no matter how much time you spend on it, it does not appear to get any bigger/longer.
30. PIW – Project in waiting. Project not started yet (Got all the stuff you need to start it.)
31. PTP – Permission to Post, especially applicable to social groups that have strict rules about what may and may not be posted.
32. SABLE – stash accumulated beyond life expectancy
33. SPUR – Several projects under review, often used together with WIP. A SPUR often pops up between UFO and TOAD.
34. STASH – all your yarn, also that hidden yarn that your partner isn’t allowed to know about
35. Stashbuster – a project that uses up a lot of random and/or leftover yarn, the aim of a stashbuster project is to reduce your yarn stash so that you can motivate buying more yarn.
36. TALC – Take along crochet
37. TIA – Thank you in advance, often used in social groups when asking a question.
38. TAI – Think about it
39. TOAD – Trashed object abandoned in disgust, never going back to it again.
40. UFO – Unfinished object, this might become a TOAD at a certain point if you don’t watch out.
41. UO – Unidentified object. An unfinished object you find and can’t work out what it was. (Goes with PIGS – you hid a project in a grocery bag as it wasn’t going well).
42. USO – Unstarted object, a project you have all the yarn for but have not started yet for which ever reason.
43. WIP – Work in progress
44. WIM – Work in mind, your crochet to-do list
45. WIVSP – Work in very slow progress, can lead to a UFO
46. YAP – Yet another project
47. Yarn Barf (also known as Yarn Vomit) – The yarn mess that comes out of the center of a ball of yarn if you don’t get the starting tail right.
48. Yarn Bomb – An object that has been covered by crochet or knitted fabric. Often public property such as lamp posts, benches and trees.
49. Yarn Cake – the winded yarn you end up with when winding a skein of yarn using a yarn winder.
50. Yarn Chicken – when you have only a small amount of yarn left, and you are not sure if you are going to make it to the end of the round, but you try anyway. Nothings beats the feeling of winning a very tense game of yarn chicken!
51. Yarnie – Someone totally in love with yarn, and things made with yarn.
52. YART – Yarn acquisition road trip. Always set yourself a budget before going on one of these.

Were there terms in there that are new to you? Bet you will never look at a frog in the same way again!

By no means do I claim this list to be complete. If you know terms that should be on this list, please leave a comment and I will add it. I would love to get an overview of as many strange crochet terms as possible. Thank you for helping me with this <3

With love,
Esther

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