Happy new year, dear readers!
If design isn’t your thing, or you’re looking for business or technical help, have a look at what these lovely knitters are doing. As a group, they’re some of my favourite resources for knitwear designers.
My favourite resources for knitwear designers
- The Tech Editor Hub and Tech Tip Talks | Sarah Walworth is the link between these two excellent resources. You can learn about technical editing, pattern grading and drawing schematics at the Tech Editor Hub, and Tech Tip Talks is a monthly YouTube vlog. The latter is co-hosted with Kristina McGrath, and I have barely missed an episode since launch. You can also find them on Patreon.
- Tian Connaughton | Tian has a wealth of courses and a business community for fibre artists. She is full of inspiration and excellent advice. Visit her website to see all that she has to offer – coaching, mentoring, private groups, podcast – the list goes on! As knitting professionals go, Tian is in the super-heavyweight category.
- The Pattern Design Circle | Jessica Brist (Snickerdoodle Knits) is the brains behind this community. Join for access to mentoring, business support, and a wealth of resources curated to help designers on their journey. Jessica also has a YouTube channel featuring interviews from yarnfolk around the world.
- The Fiber Business Collective | Anastasia Williams and Jen Parroccini run this community. Anastasia is also a marketing specialist and at the helm of M1R Marketing. She’s also responsible for a thoughtful and insightful newsletter, which I look forward to every Sunday.
- Kate Atherley | In the world of tech editors, Kate is in the super-heavyweight division. She’s authored a number of books, regularly hosts workshops in person and online, and is a maths genius to boot. I have learnt so much from working with Kate on my patterns over the years, and can personally attest to her dedication, friendliness, and attention to detail. As far as I know, none of my patterns have fazed her! Find Kate online here.
- BONUS 6: Hannah Middleton | Hannah is online as Works of Our Hands, and is a tech editor. I found her thanks to her YouTube tutorials on schematics, which she creates using Inkscape.
I’d also like to shout out Frauke Urban, Jenna Sargent, and Alex Capshaw-Taylor aka WorldKnits for her brilliant knitting calculators.
Resources for knitwear designers | My offers to you
You might also like to know that I have taster courses and more on the subject of knitwear design. You can watch the preview videos for Knitwear Design Initiation here. And if you’re looking for something shorter, details of the 1-hour taster courses are below.
Visual Communication: Pencil control and the greyscale | Knitwear Design Initiation taster course
Knitwear Design Initiation | Visual Communication taster course
A 1-hour introductory drawing course or refresher for those who haven’t used their art materials for a long time.
It’s accessible to anyone who wants to make a start on or improve their drawing skills, but the techniques covered prepare you for the nuance of illustrating soft textures of knits.
This class on pencil control and the greyscale was designed especially for drawing out your latent sensitivity and artistry. The marks you make on the paper will range from the wispiest grey to the earthiest charcoal. This vocabulary will also improve your observational skills because you’ll have the means to draw what you see.
The Visual Communication taster is the first step away from the frustration of not being able to draw from life, or the disappointment of your drawings not looking the way you want them to. In just over an hour, you’ll never look at pencil and paper the same way again!
Knitwear Design Initiation | Design Development taster course
An introduction to idea generation techniques for knitwear design, taken from the Design Development module of the Knitwear Design Initiation course. This focuses on garment silhouette and tessellations (designing repeating patterns).
The two techniques in this taster course will shed light on how you can create several ideas out of one, or none at all if your starting point is a stitch library. You’ll feel brighter, more inspired and confident about developing your existing design ideas.
They are adapted from exercises I learnt as a fashion student, and use two frameworks as starting points: the showstopper and the ensemble.
These idea generation techniques will help you to mine for gold in the depths of your imagination and avoid feeling like you’ve run out of ideas. Once you realise how much creative energy you have, you’ll feel brighter and more confident about being a successful knitwear designer.
Design Development: Two techniques for idea generation | Knitwear Design Initiation taster course
Pattern Drafting: Applied maths and the geometry of sleeves | Knitwear Design Initiation taster course
Knitwear Design Initiation | Pattern Drafting taster course
This knitwear design short course is especially recommended if you want to design sweaters, cardigans, and other types of pullover.
This taster course on pattern drafting for knitwear covers two important principles: applied maths and sleeve lift. Understanding human anatomy and how the arm moves gives you the perfect foundation for designing all styles of sleeve.
Knowing how to use mathematical formulas to calculate the stitches and rows you need for a pattern is key. Why mathematical formulas? You’ll need to use the MSG equation triangle to calculate the dimensions needed for EVERY knitting pattern you’ll design, whether for yourself or others. Take a sneak peek at MSG here if you’re more of a reader.
A mix of theory and practical makes the knitting pattern drafting taster course stand out. Be prepared to cut and stick pieces of paper together to create mini patterns or toiles!
Knitwear Design Initiation | Pattern grading taster course
You don’t need to be a maths whiz to be good at grading. The only mathematical principle you need to grasp is algorithms.
Algorithms are what you plug into Excel (if you’re using a spreadsheet), or use as a basis for visuals, if you prefer to draw.
The visual relationships that make your design successful are the secret to understanding how best to grade your pattern. Seeing your beautiful work as a composition – not as something to ‘scale up or down’ to fit different bodies – and appreciating the depths of its moving parts will help you to work out where to begin with grading knitting patterns.
All the information you need to grade your knitting pattern is contained within the pattern itself, because algorithms = patterns. You just need to extract this information using the right processes, and this 1-hour course will give you a start.
Grading, algorithms and visual maths | Knitwear Design Initiation taster course
Your turn…
What or who are your go-tos for design support, and why? Share your favourite resources for knitwear designers in the comments below!