The swatch at the top of this page was knitted on the Kniterate using the design app. The app is still under development as I write, so everything I mention here is subject to change. Word is the design app will take a major leap forward shortly. I’m just glad I have the opportunity to use it.

My self-imposed mission was to see how quickly and easily I could come up with a viable swatch. I had already knitted elements from the Kniterate sampler — garter ridges, a basket weave, and pointelle — but I had never used the proprietary design app.

As a former swatch designer, I’m as thrilled with a good swatch as some are with an entire sweater. Not only is a swatch the first step to a sweater or other garment, but I consider a good swatch a completed object unto itself.

In the early and mid 90s and again for a short period in the 20-teens, swatch designing was my passion and my work. Conceive a design. Develop the stitch pattern in a few different yarns. And you’re done. Colorwork and stitch development remain my favorite parts of knitwear design.

It’s not only seeing the creations in a beautiful yarn, although that part is extremely satisfying. I enjoy the act of programming stitches. Whether I’m doing mechanical programming (yes, punch cards), Stoll M1 Plus (so long ago…), or Softbyte’s Designaknit (great for specs and virtual swatches, as well as real ones), I enjoy selecting yarns and stitch size, and coming up with efficient ways to tell a machine to do my bidding. On my own time, I also like creating something that’s totally knittable yet very impractical and costly, even if it will never go into production.

Working in an Early Version of the Design App

As I experimented with the app over the summer, double jersey jacquard was the most straight forward to design. Honestly, I rarely work in double jersey. My jacquards without floats usually have a (horizontal) striper backing or it’s birdseye. The swatch at the top of this page was the first swatch I designed and produced on the Kniterate using the app. The simple groups of overlapping rectangles took very little design time. The knitting start and bind-off were clicks of a mouse. It was quick, easy, and mildly addictive.

Above is the reverse side of my first swatch. On a course with two colors, color one knits on the pattern side and knits on the reverse when the second color knits on the face. On each course with three colors, where one color knits, the other two colors alternate needles (knit/miss) forming vertical stripes on the opposite bed. The yarn is wool wc 2/18.

I will be exploring textures in the future, but I’m currently experiencing rapture with the ease of jacquard. Posting more jacquard soon.

O!

As a Kniterate ambassador I’d be happy to give you a virtual tour of the machine. If you’re a Kniterate owner, you may be interested in my prerecorded Designing with Kniterate classes.