RS — Right side (Abbreviation)
RS stands for "right side" — whichever face of the fabric is meant to show once the piece is finished, worn, or seamed, as opposed to WS. A pattern instruction like "RS: k to end" tells you both what to do and which side you should be facing while you do it.
Right side isn't always the smoother one
For plain stockinette, the right side is the smooth, V-stitch face — but this isn't a universal rule across every stitch pattern. Garter, seed stitch, and many reversible textures have no meaningfully different "wrong" side at all, and some patterns deliberately treat the bumpier, purl-dominant face as the intended right side for a specific textural look. Always check a pattern's own stated right side rather than assuming smooth automatically means "right."
Tracking RS on a piece worked entirely in the round
For flat knitting, RS and WS naturally alternate row by row, which keeps them easy to track by simply counting rows. For a piece worked in the round, every round is worked from the same facing side, so there's no natural alternation to rely on — a small marker or safety pin clipped to the fabric's intended right side, checked periodically, is a common practical safeguard against losing track over a long project.
Where it shows up
At the start of a row's instructions ("RS: ..." or "WS: ..."), and in general pattern notes referring to which face will be visible once the piece is finished, seamed, or worn.
Related abbreviations
- WS — wrong side, RS's direct counterpart
FAQ
Does RS always mean the side facing you as you're currently knitting? Not necessarily — RS refers to the fabric's intended public face regardless of which way you're currently facing it; on a wrong-side row, the fabric's right side is actually facing away from you as you work.
Can a project be designed with no meaningful right or wrong side at all? Yes — some stitch patterns and finished pieces (many scarves and cowls in a reversible stitch) are genuinely intended to look equally good from both sides, in which case RS/WS labeling in the pattern is used only for construction tracking, not because one side actually looks worse.