Katie's Knitting Pattern Tips

Here are a few tips and tricks I have picked up while knitting that I thought I might pass.

- Start a binder of all your favorite patterns! It is way easier to print them and store them now then trying to find them on the internet again later.

- Organize all your patterns by diverders. Once you start collecting mutiple patterns it will make your life a lot easier.

- The best thing I ever did with all of my patterns is put them in page protectors. It keeps them from getting crushed ripped or having something spilled on them.

- Now when I am working on a pattern I use wet erase marketing to mark my patterns and cross off rows or sections I have completed. Then when I am done with my project I simply wipe the market off the page protector and put it back in my binder in case I ever use it again. This way your patterns don't get all marked up but you still have the convenience of writing on your patterns!

Make Your Own Stitch Patterns

One way to add different effects to an item is by double stitching. I love the effect of the double stitching but it can be somewhat time consuming. When I do the double stitching, I always do my own patterns. There are two ways that I usually make my patterns.

1) Image to pattern programs, namely KnitPro.

2) Printing my knit graph paper at Needlepointers.

3) Excel or Microsoft Office.

Knitpro comes in handy when you have a picture from which you want to create a pattern. This works best with simple pictures with only a few colors. Many times when I use this program I will print out the pattern and then by hand make adjustments. Still a very handy tool and a great free website for knitters to use!

I also like to print out my own graph paper because it gives you the freedom to adjust any aspect of your pattern and the ability to print out graph paper according to your gauge. This is one of the easier free websites I have found. You simply measure your gauge and then divide in order to get a ratio number. You click on the corresponding number and print out your custom graph paper.

When I am posting patterns on the blog I have found that the easiest way is to make them in either Microsoft Word or Excel. If you do this in Word you first need to insert a table. Then you check your gauge from your swatch and then adjust your column and row measurements accordingly. For example if your swatch measures out to 9 stitches by 12 rows per 2 sq in then you divide 2/9 and get .22in. You use this for your column width. Then you divide 2/12 and it comes out to .17 in. You use that for your row width. Then you go to format table and adjust the row and column measurements. After that is done you can adjust the size of the whole table but you ratio will still be correct.

Both of these websites and methods for making patterns are useful. Everyone has a personal preference of how they like doing things. I just wanted to pass along a few of my favorite websites!