Knitting & Crocheting Glossary: B

back cross: To knit or crochet stitches at an angle on the back (or wrong) side of a fabric, producing a pattern in which the stitches overlap.

back post; BP: A type of crochet stitch in which you insert your hook around the post of a stitch that's one or more rows below the current row, creating raised patterns that appear to recede on the side of the fabric facing you.

backstitch: A stitch used to assemble knitted pieces by using a tapestry needle, going in and out of the stitches in knitted fabrics.

ball: Yarn wound around a cardboard center or an open hole.

band: A knitted border on a piece of knitted fabric that keeps the center edge from stretching; adds a neat trim to an otherwise rough-looking edge; and creates a place for fastenings such as buttons. Most often appears on cardigan sweaters.

bar: 1. A type of knitting increase that leaves a horizontal bar under the increased stitch. 2. In filet crochet, a long space that crosses over the two blocks or spaces, or the one lacet, below it.

basketweave: A knitting stitch pattern that creates a fabric that looks like a woven basket.

beg: Knitting pattern abbreviation for beginning.

bet: Crochet pattern abbreviation for between.

bind off; cast off: To make a finished edge by securing the knitted stitches in the last row worked, which prevents unraveling.

blanket stitch: A crochet stitch used to assemble crocheted pieces, adding some stability to the backside of a seam made with long stitches, such as triple crochet.

block: 1. (verb) To wet down or steam a piece of knitting or crochet in order to coax it into its final shape. The moisture and/or heat smoothes out uneven stitches and straightens out wavy, rolling edges. 2. (noun) The actual crocheted substance of a filet crochet design.

blocker: Wooden sock- or mitten-shaped template with biscuit-type holes cut out to aid air circulation when blocking a knitted or crocheted piece.

blocking board: A flat surface made from a material that you can stick a pin into, often marked with a 1-inch grid to aid in blocking a knitted or crocheted piece.

blocking wires: Long, slightly flexible stainless steel wires in various lengths that you thread through the edges of your knitted pieces so that you can pin a knitted or crocheted piece into place for blocking without the edges becoming scalloped at the pin sites.

blp: Crochet pattern abbreviation for back loop only.

bobbin: A piece of shaped plastic used to keep colored yarns separate while knitting or crocheting with multiple colors and strands of yarn. You wrap one color of yarn per bobbin. Commonly used in Fair Isle and intarsia knitting.

boucle: A highly bumpy, textured yarn composed of loops.

box: A knitting stitch that has the same look and feel as seed stitch, but on a larger scale.

brocade: A thick, heavy fabric into which raised patterns have been woven.