The KnIT Crowd

Digital World

Best Feature: Turns your photos into charts!

We love the KnitPro gadget at www.microrevolt.org which allows you to translate digital images into a knitting chart. All you have to do is upload your photo and then KnitPro will generate a graph for you which you can print out. We’ve tried it out here with a photograph of a hot air balloon.

Square Eyes

Best Feature: Simple way to design motifs!

If you’d like to design a Fair Isle or intarsia motif to appear on your next project, you’d be forgiven for thinking that you could simply plot out your design on normal square graph paper. The problem with this is that knitted stitches are not square in shape but are in fact wider than they are tall so when you knit up a design from normal squared paper, the results might not be quite as you intended them.
Knit On The Net has provided the answer with knitter’s graph paper that you can customise to suit your project. Simply fill in your page orientation, size and tension and then print out the chart that is produced. Now comes the fun part – dig out the colouring pencils and away you go! Visit www.knitonthenet.com

Get Technical

Best Feature: Produce professional designs with ease

DesignaKnit 8 is a program aimed to help knitters who are serious about designing their own garments. It allows you to draft patterns and stitches and turn photographs into knitting charts as well as lots more. Machine knitters can also link their machines to their computer and use DesignaKnit 8 to create personalised garments.
You can adapt one of the garment templates stored in the program to suit your own body measurements. For example, if you’d like a cardigan with raglan sleeves and a round neck, you simply enter the tension of your chosen yarn and then follow the on-screen instructions to individualise the pattern.
The professional version of this software also allows you to design garments from scratch. Another feature of DesignaKnit 8 that is particularly useful for hand-knitters is the Stitch Designer which allows you to choose your yarn tension, shades and the number of stitches and rows you’d like to design a motif for. You can then easily create your own symmetrical or repeating designs. After placing details about where you’d like your increases and decreases to go, you can also see an illustration of what the finished fabric will look like. You can even place your motif over a garment that you have already designed – clever stuff!
Visit www.softbyte.co.uk for more information.

We Also Like…

Knitting Chart Maker: this handy free tool allows you to click and drag knitting symbols onto a chart which you can then save or print. Download it from www.jacquie.typepad.com/charts/knitchart.htm

Convertknit: great for when you’re knitting on-the-go, this handy app for your phone helps you convert needle sizes and yarn weights. This is helpful if you’re looking at a vintage or American pattern. Hold a needle up to the screen to check its size or use this program to convert units from imperial to metric and vice versa. Visit www.cordlessdog.com

Pictaculous: been inspired by a beautiful sunset or vibrant flowers? Snap a picture on your phone and email it to colours@mailchimp.com This clever app will distil the elements in your picture and send you back an email containing its four main colours. Then simply dig out those shade cards and find the perfect match! Visit www.pictaculous.com for more information.

Knitting may well be an ancient skill, but with so many modern ways to tweak patterns and even design your own, knitting has never been easier.

Vote in the British Knitting Awards for a chance to win a £500 mini-break! www.letsknit.co.uk/awards