Knitting-ese

Not to be confused with knitting "ease". What I mean to say is that knitting has its own language. It is foreign. I call it knitting-ese. A pattern might be written as follows (this is in fact selected excerpts from a pattern I might someday be confident enough to attempt): using dpn's CO 5 (8, 12) sts (color A) join, being careful not to twist 2: *kfb, k1, rep from * until end of row, 15 sts. 15: k2tog, k22, pm, k2tog, k to end of row, 43 sts 16-27: Work in St. st BO, gather sts. and knot to form a crown Etc. and so on. What the...? When I first looked at instructions like these, I created new wrinkles on my forehead. Why patterns cannot be written in English I have no idea. But after many, many cyber-trips to different knitting dictionaries and tutorials, I think I am starting to understand it. Well, it's a lot like French, really. I can read it better than I can speak it. And don't even ask me about everything else that can complicate a knitting pattern. There are double-pointed needles, straight needles, circular needles, and interchangeable needles. There are yarns of every material, width, and color. Then there are whole discussions devoted to things like cast-on methods and blocking. But sometimes it can be fun to jump in the deep end and see if you can stay afloat. So with each scarf I make, I try to increase (inc in knitting-ese) the difficulty of the pattern to strengthen my skills. So I'm a little scared to try and make something that does not have straight sides yet. Maybe I am still wearing my floaties. But it's a fun hobby to be bobbing around in. --KC P.S. I have one completed scarf and another one in the works. Pictures (and incomprehensible patterns, haha) coming soon.