The Production of a Knitting Pattern — Part 1

In this series I’m going to describe my design process of a cardigan. This series is not intended to be a tutorial and only serves to satisfy the curiosity of those that wonder what kind of works go behind the production of a knitting pattern.

Most of my designs come from my sketch book, on which I record all the random ideas that come to mind. My sketches are just some rough pencil drawings. I’m mostly interested in recording the proportion of design elements. After a design that has been sat in my sketch book for weeks, if I still feel excited about it, I begin to look at stitch dictionaries to find the perfect stitch pattern or come up with my own stitch pattern. I also begin to look for suitable yarns for the design. Color is an integral part of my designs. Usually I have my mind set on a particular color and I only use yarn that comes in a sufficiently close colorway. Then I begin swatching, more on this in the next part of this series.

My next step is to derive sample measurements. The measurements are usually derived from a garment that I already own, then I add or subtract ease or alter the shape based on my pattern drafting experience. Once, I have made a fabric prototype for a kimono styled cardigan. But making a prototype is not something that I usually do. It can take from 2 hours to 5 hours to get the measurements, depending on the complexity of the design.

Continue on next part The Production of a Knitting Pattern – Part 2