Knit fabric has two sides, the right side (RS) and wrong side (WS). Sometimes also known as the public side and the private side.
The wrong side is the side of the fabric not seen when the garment is worn. While the right side is the “public” side of the fabric.
We keep track of the wrong side mostly for working rows in stitch pattern and for shaping. This is mostly done when working your knitting flat. In the round, we only work from one side (the right side), so we keep track of pattern vs rest rounds.
Example Instructions using RS and WS:
- Work St st, ending with a WS row.
- Work right and wrong side rows until piece measures 7″ from beginning.
- Work final wrong side row.
See also: right side (RS)