Posts in Design Process
How I Manage My Time as a Part-Time Knitting Pattern Designer

Trying to fit knitting pattern design into a busy life can sometimes feel almost impossible, but with a bit of intentionality and a whole lot of compromise, I’ve found a way to make it work for me, and that’s what I’m sharing with you today. By the end of this blog post, you will have gotten clear on what you want to achieve in the coming months, and you’ll have a plan to achieve it by breaking your goals down into weekly and daily tasks.

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Why Your Yarn Choice Can Make or Break Your Knitting Pattern Design

The yarn you choose for your new knitting pattern can either play the hero or the villain when it comes to the outcome of your project. In this blog post, I’m going to explain why you need to put a lot of thought and consideration into the yarn you design your new knitting pattern in, as well as give you some tips on how to find the perfect match for your pattern.

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How to Turn an Improvised Design into a Knitting Pattern

Readers of this blog will know that I always recommend that designers write their first knitting pattern draft before they start knitting their sample, but what if you have already improvised your design? Well, that’s what I will teach you in this blog post. Whether you took notes whilst knitting (which is ideal!) or didn’t track anything, there is always a way of writing your pattern based on your improvised sample. Let’s jump in!

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What Comes First: Swatching or Sketching?

If you’re a new designer in the early stages of creating a new knitting pattern, you’ve probably wondered whether you should swatch or sketch first? In this blog post, I break down the design development stage of the knitting pattern process, sharing what has worked for my students and me, plus I will teach you how to know exactly what strategy will work best for you.

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How to Write a Pattern Draft Before Knitting the Sample

There are so many benefits to writing your pattern draft before knitting the sample, but how do you know what to write without actually knitting it first? In this blog post, I’m going to break the whole process down for you, explaining why you might want to write your knitting pattern first, as well as tell you how to actually do it.

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3 Systems That Make Knitting Pattern Design Easier

Whether you’re a newbie at design or a seasoned professional, you all need systems around your design process. Systems help you to become more efficient so that you can spend more time designing and releasing knitting patterns, rather than trying to figure out what you should be doing next. In this blog post, I will share 3 systems I use to help make knitting pattern design feel easier and less overwhelming.

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