The Knitting Fiend

As you know, Knitty strives to publish “hot, fresh, edgy” patterns.

I, on the other hand, publish programs to let beginners who haven’t the slightest clue how to design start designing their own stuff. I’m telling you, you can do it!

If you don’t think so, let’s look at the summer issue of Knitty and compare it to my “program” based designs.

You may have remembered I knit Jim a raglan with this neckline. Now, click to see Knitty’s “Saranac” sweater; it’s just a plain ol’ raglan with a polo neck.

Are these necklines similar, or what? Heck, the whole sweater is similar. “Husband Sweater” To make their placket instead of mine, you just split down the middle instead of budgeting 5 stitches for the placket. The collar on Knitty’s Saranac is a big shorter than mine and worn standing up. But, remember, I wrote an article on how to design your own placket! So, if you don’t like theirs or mine, you can make yours different!

Needless to say, I like the Knitty Saranac.

Of course, should you wish to substitute stitch patterns, knit the sweater in a different size, or use a finer or thicker gauge yarn, might I suggest you use my pattern generator for my “Husband Sweater”? You can probably figure out a few minor changes on your own!

Of course, if you just want plain-ol’ crew neck, like Lucky at Knitty, you can also calculate that with my generator. The toggles are preset to that neckline here: “Ballgame Sweater”? I knit that for me, but you can toggle to knit it in a men’s size.

Even if you’ve never designed a sweater, you’re probably beginning to recognize that, other than the neck, these two sweaters are just classic long sleeve raglan sweaters. But, then, that’s the case for lots of men’s sweaters. If you want to design your own, you can just use my program to do the calculations. If I haven’t done that particular neckline variation, well, you can always just ask how to add it. It’s generally pretty easy.

I mean… Don’t you think you could figure out an awful lot of variations on your own? Want a turtleneck? Don’t divide for the neck, when you’re done for the body, pick up stitches and just knit a tube.

Of course, you can substitute any stitch pattern you like. Raglans look great in the Mistake Stitch Rib used in “Lucky”, but there is no reason you can’t use one of the many small stitch patterns I’ve added to my stitch pattern library!

I say: Be brave. Don’t imitate their sweaters. Pick your own stitch pattern, your own yarn, and design your own!