Abbreviations and Symbols

From Angie, Seattle (9/19/2007 2:59 pm)

Hi, You have the most comprehensive list of knitting symbols I’ve been able to find. However, I’m stuck on a pattern and can’t find a key for the symbol anywhere. I’m writing to you on the off chance that maybe you’ve seen this symbol before. The symbol is a circle with a slanted line thru it — one slants to the left, the other to the right. Any ideas?? Thanks, Angie

Response from 1knittingfool:
I found the forward slash in a circle symbol in an Italian lace knitting magazine. The instruction in Italian is 1 dir. crociato. The abbreviation dir. means diritto and that translates to knit stitch. Crociato means cross. In total, it is the instruction to twist a stitch, that is, to knit in the back loop. This causes the loop of the knit stitch to be crossed.

The backward slash in a circle is in Italian 1 rov. crociato. The abbreviation rov. means rovescio or in English purl stitch. Therefore, it is also to twist a stitch, in this case by purling in the back loop to yield a purl loop that is crossed.