/ indicates a movement left of a stitch to the one next to it.
\ same to the right
^ indicates the stich on each side is piled up on the one in the middle (actually in the chart it shows a
line through the ^ for the middle stitch)
o indicates a hole  (in hand knitting the yarn over)
the / with the little leg under it indicates a stitch moving left on to the stitch at the left.
\ with the leg means the opposite of the one above

For hand manipulations move the side stitches to the middle stitch then move each of the / and \.
then move the / 's and \'s with the legs next
It is important to follow the direction of the /'s and \'s.  If they are done in a different direction, and
entirely different design develops.