Brackets, braces, and parens, oh my!

Posted 3 Jul 2013 by JC

If you’ve read the knitspeak guide, you know that brackets [ ] let you repeat a series of instructions a set number of times – for example:

• Row 1 (RS): Knit.
• Row 2: Purl.
• Row 3: K3, *[k2tog] 3 times, [yo, k1] 5 times, yo, [k2tog] 3 times, repeat from *, k3.
• Row 4: Knit.

Being able to say [yo, k1] 5 times is more convenient than having to say yo, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, isn’t it?

Here’s another convenience: now you can use parens ( ) and braces { } in the same way:

• ...
• Row 3: K3, *[k2tog] 3 times, (yo, k1) 5 times, yo, {k2tog} 3 times, repeat from *, k3.
• ...

Of course, the pairs have to match up. You can’t say things like (yo, k1} 5 times. That just looks silly, doesn’t it?