Do you speak...

As a little girl I loved visiting my grandparents. They showered love upon me. They had the gift to make each of their grandchildren feel like they were their favorites. Grandpa was a big bear of a man who had a strong sense of fun. He never forgot what it was like to be a kid. Grandma was gentle, dainty, and talented. You could eat off her floors. Her meals were mouthwatering. She brought beauty into the world through her crafts and gardening. Occassionally they shared secrets not fit for little ears. When they did so they spoke in code. Their form of code was called Icelandic. It tinkled my ears. How I longed to share the secret of their language. Unfortunately, I was never able to. Grandma tried to teach me but my Canadian tongue could never wrap it's self around those strange sounds. We ended these sessions in laughter.
Language is a way to divide people. If you can speak our language you are one of us. If not no matter how we love you there are things we can not share.
I remember as a new knitter how my eyes would hurt as I tried to decode patterns such as "k2tog, YO, K5, Sl1, P6" It was frustrating. I felt like I would never become one of the tribe of knitters who spoke this strange language. When I became a knitwear designer I was determined that I would write patterns which united and did not divide. So I have kept abbreviations to a minimum. Today I reviewed all of my patterns (over 20) and I found a grand total of ten abbreviations. They are:
sts stitches
Stst Stockinette stitch
p purl
k knit
stsl slip stitch
psso pass slipped stitch over
yo yarn over
MC main colour
CC1 first contrasting colour
CC2 second contrasting colour

Tomorrow: something's growing?