I'm so glad you like my sweater mapping technique that you learned in my video sweater classes. I've always taught it in my video sweater classes, but it's been so popular I FINALLY decided to make it a stand alone in class for Vogue Knitting Live in NYC
I really like you novel approach to things. I just purchased a 12 pg pattern and am so confused where to even start. I do read through a new pattern and mark /underline in colored pencils things that pertain to my size but all the notes for the new types of construction in garments are very confusing. Another problem I see is that when reading on Ravelry about a pattern (before purchase)it may say written instructions and then charted. 50% of the time the stitch pattern/cable/or lace is charted not written out. I cannot deal with charts (have tried everything) I like the ie lace written out. I have even tried to find a conversion software app to convert charts to written instructions. The designers should say only charted and I would pass on it. I do believe also with what new designers are charging for patterns they need to list stitch count throughout the when there are many inc and dec so one knows if you are close to correct. Sorry my rant for the day.
Sooo true about buying patterns with only limited construction info listed . I've wasted money buying patterns to realize it's a stitch pattern I’m not willing to do or spend an hour looking for a tutorial and practicing it. That’s not joyful knitting . Finally someone brought this to light…thanks!
Boy, am I glad that I found your channel! Have you ever looked at a pattern drafted by a Japanese designer? They use essentially the same approach although the notations are somewhat different and include some additional details which you might want to consider adding to your maps. I agree that the most valuable part of this approach is that it forces you to read closely through the pattern up front. Then you can make sure you understand the directions before you incorporate them into your blueprint. Personally, I use a different approach that helps me avoid mistakes from misreading the small, single spaced text in patterns and the small charts. In any event, probably the most important thing is to choose an approach that works best for you and the way your mind works.
My stepmother 's mother was German and took the Burda knitting magazine in 1950/60s. I recall the knitting patterns were in diagrams. I thought it was a better idea and clearer than our English fully written patterns. I do some designing for myself in crochet but I am fairly new to knitting. I'm going to try designing in knitting using this method. Thanks.🌹
I love knitting garments in pieces bottom up and the stitching them together. It's so much easier having smaller pieces on the needle than the whole garment towards the end.
I am a committed to knit companion. I do go through and highlight my numbers and find this works for me. I have also used the tin can knits app and it is awesome.
Thank you for sharing, this is great. I usually just dive straight into a new project but as you said this way you go through all the pattern, so no surprises. It will also work very well for converting hand knit patterns to machine knitting ones. Great knitting tips too.
Oh bless you , i have knitted a top down sweater over and over and over and over and ovwr again , and when you told me not to knit the ribbing then knit the yoke , i said to myself ..... this woman knows . Thankyou , im going to try and attempt the flax sweater .
Wow, I am so glad the algorithm led me to your channel - this was such a helpful video and I love your positive vibe!! Subscribed immediately and look forward to binge watching your other videos. Thanks and greetings from Denmark 🇩🇰🌺
45:11 i went this direction by turning my favourite sewing pattern into a knitting pattern. I made a copy of thesewing pattern and turned my gauge into stitches and rows. You gave me great ideas how to put much more information into that drawing. Glad I found you!
I've done this exact thing with cardigans I designed myself, but I've never thought to map out a pattern I've purchased. I'll have to give this a try! I find these blueprints much easier to follow. Edited to add that I love your sweater. It's gorgeous and flattering. And I use KnitCompanion. I love it! I can cut and paste graph sections onto one page too. :)
That's a great idea. Because I had to do some adaptions for my last project, I set up a scale of 20 pages. It was a good thing to go through the pattern, but awfull to look at. My next tee starting soon, I will try this method. I'm very exited. ❤ Thanks for explaining it to me.
I have been doing almost this exact thing. My "pattern notes" look like some kind of madman diary, lol. It really helps. But Im going to make the pattern you made up, haha! Intuitively, I think you nailed it! This and the tutorial about threading yarn for stitch counting, can reduce half the knitting time! Thanks again for the great tips!
I drew out my next pattern while watching. It was helpful and reminded me of a couple of adaptations I wanted to make and so I marked them on my pattern too.
I usually have a small dog and a large cat on my lap when knitting. (Before I started using magic loop my hubby would trim my long straight needles to avoid flicking ears of said pets) I always grab a fair size sticky to use for my reference notes. How dare I disturb the sleeping pets. Lol. ‘Let sleeping dogs (and cats) lie’ they say. 😊
such a great idea. a test knit I'm doing that is a sweater knit flat with a modular construction included a really helpful schematic to show how the garment is constructed, similar to the tin can knits pattern you showed but it never occurred to me to jot down my stitch counts on it, and i'd basically have the whole pattern on one page. thanks for this tutorial!
Excited to see you are a lefty, but realize you don’t knit as one -sad for me. I’ve always been a lefty knitter and crocheter. Have tried to be a righty many times but it’s just wrong for my brain and hands. Relearned or picked up knitting again during Covid time when forced to retire. Glad, to hear of the Tin Can Knits app. I learned to knit socks from their free pattern and have made the Rye sweater. I’ll download the app and try it out. As for your one page schematic - great idea. I had been making notes and drawings on the back of printed out patterns and on scraps of paper! Your approach is way better! Enjoy your posts and always learn something. Thanks.
Diagrams are always good! Mind you, I use Knit Companion to cobble together my “perfect” instruction pages with all the built in counters and colored charts one could desire. 😉 Yes, I was a programmer/ web developer before I began knitting, so it all looks like scripting to me. 😊
Thank you Nicole. Having reached that certain age, I have made life hard for myself (for a while now), misinterpreting pattern instructions when they are too wordy, and discovering the error later in the project, and trying to correct without tinking back heaps of knitting. I check the pattern schematic and guage swatch before starting, but seem to go off track a number of pages into the pattern. This quick visual reference, technique breaking down the pattern, may be the answer to my wandering memory. Ticking off the instructions of the blueprint as they are completed. I will be utilising this exercise for my next garment project
Got the Tin Can knits app! I use Knit Companion, too, which allows one to create a “perfect” page of instructions in the app. Now I wish it had a virtual blueprint, too, Easy enough to make on my own, I suppose. I haz Photoshop, after all.😜
It’s Gramercy Park by Patty Lyons, but the neckline is my own creation. I wrote a detailed blog post about it on my website. I’ve put a link in the video description box 😊
I wish I could "see" the project this way but I am far too literal a knitter. I do think it will help me though. I hand write out every pattern before I start it. Yup, long hand written instructions in the size I am doing in my trusty knitting notebook. I find that writing out the pattern solidifies it in my head before I start the project. I am going to try adding a blueprint drawing to my next pattern and see if it will make sense to me. Thanks for the great tips!
Thx Nicole. I think I will give this a try. I think it will force me to read through the whole pattern first. Update: I tried. I REALLLLY tried but I found I was just rewriting the whole pattern. I agree it did force me to read the whole pattern but it did not work for me this time. Maybe I just need more practice. 😊
It's great that you gave it a go! Some patterns are a bit too complex for the whole thing to be a blueprint. Maybe practice on something quite simple first and see how that goes. Even if it's not something you plan to knit, it could help with the concept 😊
This was great Nicole! It has really helped me to "see the pattern".❤ Also thank for the tip to add the collar later. Would you advise the same for a turtleneck?
I've never knit a turtleneck myself (not fond of stuff up close to my neck), but my educated guess is that there's enough structure in that type of neckline to support the rest of the garment below, so you could probably safely start with the neck finishing in that case and move into the body immediately after. 😊
I’m sure 🤞creating schematics gets easier with practice. I’m experiencing so much frustration knitting a size inclusive lace cardigan on KnitCompanion, flipping back and forth as the designer has parts that are used for all sizes. It is SO frustrating 😱 and I often lose my place (as well as the will to live) as I skip back and forth, back and forth. I use the free version. I doubt the paid version would make a difference. Your idea looks great but by the time I would have done all that work, again I’d have lost the will to live 🤪. I just want to knit! Sigh. Perhaps I should stick to blankets. 🤩. It’s a great tutorial though. I have sleeves to knit yet and a button band. Perhaps I’ll give your idea a look at for the sleeves. All the increases while keeping two lace patterns intact - what was I thinking 😱
Oh goodness! I'm sorry you're getting so frustrated...that's no fun at all. I totally understand, though. Trying it out on a simpler piece like a sleeve is a really good idea. Once you've got the concept down, it will be easier. Patty Lyons also said that she's doing a class with Vogue Knitting (I suspect an online class), so you might consider doing that to get more detail and explanation. 😊
@@Knicoleknits I actually took notes today on the sleeve pattern before I started knitting. I know I caught instructions/nuances that I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t watched your video. Thank you. And I’ll definitely go search for the Parry Lyons video. 🥰
I just looked at this. Great idea!! I am 1/2 finished with the Anker's Summer Shirt and yes, I did knit the rib neck band first. But, maybe this is one of the exceptions as the yoke pattern is also 1X1 rib??? Looks OK so far. I am doing the cut & paste on my 52 Weeks of Socks book so I don't have to write in the book.
I like your suggestion to do the neckline ribbing after. I'm a bit confused why you would cast on with the smaller needle. Wondering if this would make the neck edge tight? Is there a specific cast on technique you would suggest?
Thank you! Good point. If you're not knitting the ribbing first, you can skip right to the larger needle. I should have noted that in the video. Considering you're going to be picking up stitches below the entire cast on, it doesn't need to be anything special. I generally use a long tail cast on for this type of top down 😊
It’s Gramercy Park by Patty Lyons, but the neckline is my own creation. I wrote a detailed blog post about it on my website. I’ve put a link in the video description box 😊
I'm so glad you like my sweater mapping technique that you learned in my video sweater classes. I've always taught it in my video sweater classes, but it's been so popular I FINALLY decided to make it a stand alone in class for Vogue Knitting Live in NYC
Yay! I’m so glad you’re doing that. EVERYBODY needs to take that class 🥰
@@Knicoleknits It makes me so happy that you love it so much ❤
First time I hear of this technique...will certainly give a try. Thank you so much for your generosity and humour. ❤
I really like you novel approach to things. I just purchased a 12 pg pattern and am so confused where to even start. I do read through a new pattern and mark /underline in colored pencils things that pertain to my size but all the notes for the new types of construction in garments are very confusing. Another problem I see is that when reading on Ravelry about a pattern (before purchase)it may say written instructions and then charted. 50% of the time the stitch pattern/cable/or lace is charted not written out. I cannot deal with charts (have tried everything) I like the ie lace written out. I have even tried to find a conversion software app to convert charts to written instructions. The designers should say only charted and I would pass on it. I do believe also with what new designers are charging for patterns they need to list stitch count throughout the when there are many inc and dec so one knows if you are close to correct. Sorry my rant for the day.
Those are all good points about patterns. I agree that designers should provide more information up front. 😊
Sooo true about buying patterns with only limited construction info listed . I've wasted money buying patterns to realize it's a stitch pattern I’m not willing to do or spend an hour looking for a tutorial and practicing it. That’s not joyful knitting . Finally someone brought this to light…thanks!
I’ve just written out the darn chart before. My memory is crap and I have to keep looking up the symbols over and over!
Like Japanese patterns. They’re absolutely ingenious
Love this! I’m dyslexic, so a visual ( like charts) are so much easier for me to use than written lines!
I’ll be doing this!
Boy, am I glad that I found your channel!
Have you ever looked at a pattern drafted by a Japanese designer? They use essentially the same approach although the notations are somewhat different and include some additional details which you might want to consider adding to your maps.
I agree that the most valuable part of this approach is that it forces you to read closely through the pattern up front. Then you can make sure you understand the directions before you incorporate them into your blueprint.
Personally, I use a different approach that helps me avoid mistakes from misreading the small, single spaced text in patterns and the small charts. In any event, probably the most important thing is to choose an approach that works best for you and the way your mind works.
Thank you so much for this thoughtful comment. You are absolutely right that whatever notation method works for you is the “right” method. 🥰
This approach to a one page pattern blueprint sounds like an awesome idea. I will certainly try it!
Hope you enjoy it!
My stepmother 's mother was German and took the Burda knitting magazine in 1950/60s. I recall the knitting patterns were in diagrams. I thought it was a better idea and clearer than our English fully written patterns. I do some designing for myself in crochet but I am fairly new to knitting. I'm going to try designing in knitting using this method. Thanks.🌹
I love knitting garments in pieces bottom up and the stitching them together. It's so much easier having smaller pieces on the needle than the whole garment towards the end.
I’ve been using knit companion for several years. I love it. Does take time to learn the more advanced features
I am a committed to knit companion. I do go through and highlight my numbers and find this works for me. I have also used the tin can knits app and it is awesome.
Remember last year when you blew my mind by highlighting my pattern where I had my size!! This is epic! I love it.
Ha ha! I'm surprised I haven't shown you this before. 😋
Thank you for sharing, this is great. I usually just dive straight into a new project but as you said this way you go through all the pattern, so no surprises. It will also work very well for converting hand knit patterns to machine knitting ones. Great knitting tips too.
Thanks for watching! 😁
Oh bless you , i have knitted a top down sweater over and over and over and over and ovwr again , and when you told me not to knit the ribbing then knit the yoke , i said to myself ..... this woman knows . Thankyou , im going to try and attempt the flax sweater .
I guarantee you will see a big difference 😊
Excellent tip for truly understanding a pattern and creating a blueprint. I will be trying this!
Fantastic!
Wow, I am so glad the algorithm led me to your channel - this was such a helpful video and I love your positive vibe!! Subscribed immediately and look forward to binge watching your other videos. Thanks and greetings from Denmark 🇩🇰🌺
Thank you so much!! 😊
Wonderful! Im excited to try this! Thank you🎉
Hope you like it!
45:11 i went this direction by turning my favourite sewing pattern into a knitting pattern. I made a copy of thesewing pattern and turned my gauge into stitches and rows. You gave me great ideas how to put much more information into that drawing. Glad I found you!
Yes! I’ve always thought this would be a fun experiment. How did it turn out?
I started bottom up two days ago. The first couple of cm went beautifully. Now it is just the rest to knit. I'm quite optimistic 😂.
I've done this exact thing with cardigans I designed myself, but I've never thought to map out a pattern I've purchased. I'll have to give this a try! I find these blueprints much easier to follow. Edited to add that I love your sweater. It's gorgeous and flattering. And I use KnitCompanion. I love it! I can cut and paste graph sections onto one page too. :)
That's a great idea. Because I had to do some adaptions for my last project, I set up a scale of 20 pages. It was a good thing to go through the pattern, but awfull to look at. My next tee starting soon, I will try this method. I'm very exited. ❤ Thanks for explaining it to me.
I have been doing almost this exact thing. My "pattern notes" look like some kind of madman diary, lol. It really helps. But Im going to make the pattern you made up, haha! Intuitively, I think you nailed it! This and the tutorial about threading yarn for stitch counting, can reduce half the knitting time! Thanks again for the great tips!
You’re most welcome 🤗
Thank you so much for all these great tips!
Will definitely give it a shot!
Keep up your great work
You're so welcome! 😊
I drew out my next pattern while watching. It was helpful and reminded me of a couple of adaptations I wanted to make and so I marked them on my pattern too.
Excellent!!
I have just found you. This is the second video I have watched. I did subscribe so I won't miss anything. So very interesting. Thank you.
Thanks so much for subscribing! ☺️
I love this!! So much great information. Thanks Nicole.
🥰🥰🥰
💓💗💖 really great!
Thank you! Cheers!
I usually have a small dog and a large cat on my lap when knitting. (Before I started using magic loop my hubby would trim my long straight needles to avoid flicking ears of said pets) I always grab a fair size sticky to use for my reference notes. How dare I disturb the sleeping pets. Lol. ‘Let sleeping dogs (and cats) lie’ they say. 😊
Ha ha! Love this 🥰
Looks like we’re all “on the one page” then!!!
Great explanation 👍👍
Yes! Thank you!
such a great idea. a test knit I'm doing that is a sweater knit flat with a modular construction included a really helpful schematic to show how the garment is constructed, similar to the tin can knits pattern you showed but it never occurred to me to jot down my stitch counts on it, and i'd basically have the whole pattern on one page. thanks for this tutorial!
You’re most welcome! I’m all in for anything that makes knitting easier 😁
Thia is brilliant!
Excited to see you are a lefty, but realize you don’t knit as one -sad for me. I’ve always been a lefty knitter and crocheter. Have tried to be a righty many times but it’s just wrong for my brain and hands. Relearned or picked up knitting again during Covid time when forced to retire. Glad, to hear of the Tin Can Knits app. I learned to knit socks from their free pattern and have made the Rye sweater. I’ll download the app and try it out. As for your one page schematic - great idea. I had been making notes and drawings on the back of printed out patterns and on scraps of paper! Your approach is way better! Enjoy your posts and always learn something. Thanks.
Thanks so much for watching! You’re going to love the Tin Can Knits app 😊
Diagrams are always good! Mind you, I use Knit Companion to cobble together my “perfect” instruction pages with all the built in counters and colored charts one could desire. 😉 Yes, I was a programmer/ web developer before I began knitting, so it all looks like scripting to me. 😊
Ha ha! My IT support and I have always spoken of knitting as coding 😁
Thank you Nicole. Having reached that certain age, I have made life hard for myself (for a while now), misinterpreting pattern instructions when they are too wordy, and discovering the error later in the project, and trying to correct without tinking back heaps of knitting.
I check the pattern schematic and guage swatch before starting, but seem to go off track a number of pages into the pattern. This quick visual reference, technique breaking down the pattern, may be the answer to my wandering memory. Ticking off the instructions of the blueprint as they are completed. I will be utilising this exercise for my next garment project
I’m so happy this might be the answer for you! 😊
Got the Tin Can knits app! I use Knit Companion, too, which allows one to create a “perfect” page of instructions in the app. Now I wish it had a virtual blueprint, too, Easy enough to make on my own, I suppose. I haz Photoshop, after all.😜
I recently found you. I subscribed. You provide a lot of good info. Thank you
Thanks for subscribing! 😊
Brilliant! Thanks Nicole!
You're so welcome!
This is fantastic, thank you!
The sweater you are wearing is glorious! What pattern is it?
It’s Gramercy Park by Patty Lyons, but the neckline is my own creation. I wrote a detailed blog post about it on my website. I’ve put a link in the video description box 😊
I wish I could "see" the project this way but I am far too literal a knitter. I do think it will help me though. I hand write out every pattern before I start it. Yup, long hand written instructions in the size I am doing in my trusty knitting notebook. I find that writing out the pattern solidifies it in my head before I start the project. I am going to try adding a blueprint drawing to my next pattern and see if it will make sense to me. Thanks for the great tips!
It’s worth it to give it a try. Not everyone’s brain works the same way, of course, but you might surprise yourself 😋
I’m a crocheter. I’m going to try this with crochet patterns.
Yay!
Thx Nicole. I think I will give this a try. I think it will force me to read through the whole pattern first.
Update: I tried. I REALLLLY tried but I found I was just rewriting the whole pattern. I agree it did force me to read the whole pattern but it did not work for me this time. Maybe I just need more practice. 😊
It's great that you gave it a go! Some patterns are a bit too complex for the whole thing to be a blueprint. Maybe practice on something quite simple first and see how that goes. Even if it's not something you plan to knit, it could help with the concept 😊
This was great Nicole! It has really helped me to "see the pattern".❤ Also thank for the tip to add the collar later. Would you advise the same for a turtleneck?
I've never knit a turtleneck myself (not fond of stuff up close to my neck), but my educated guess is that there's enough structure in that type of neckline to support the rest of the garment below, so you could probably safely start with the neck finishing in that case and move into the body immediately after. 😊
@@Knicoleknits thanks Nicole!😊
I’m sure 🤞creating schematics gets easier with practice. I’m experiencing so much frustration knitting a size inclusive lace cardigan on KnitCompanion, flipping back and forth as the designer has parts that are used for all sizes. It is SO frustrating 😱 and I often lose my place (as well as the will to live) as I skip back and forth, back and forth. I use the free version. I doubt the paid version would make a difference. Your idea looks great but by the time I would have done all that work, again I’d have lost the will to live 🤪. I just want to knit! Sigh. Perhaps I should stick to blankets. 🤩. It’s a great tutorial though. I have sleeves to knit yet and a button band. Perhaps I’ll give your idea a look at for the sleeves. All the increases while keeping two lace patterns intact - what was I thinking 😱
Oh goodness! I'm sorry you're getting so frustrated...that's no fun at all. I totally understand, though. Trying it out on a simpler piece like a sleeve is a really good idea. Once you've got the concept down, it will be easier. Patty Lyons also said that she's doing a class with Vogue Knitting (I suspect an online class), so you might consider doing that to get more detail and explanation. 😊
@@Knicoleknits I actually took notes today on the sleeve pattern before I started knitting. I know I caught instructions/nuances that I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t watched your video. Thank you. And I’ll definitely go search for the Parry Lyons video. 🥰
I still knit sweater flat n seam together
Excellent! 😁
I just looked at this. Great idea!! I am 1/2 finished with the Anker's Summer Shirt and yes, I did knit the rib neck band first. But, maybe this is one of the exceptions as the yoke pattern is also 1X1 rib??? Looks OK so far. I am doing the cut & paste on my 52 Weeks of Socks book so I don't have to write in the book.
Yes, I think that pattern might be one of the exceptions. You can often get away with it in lighter weight knits 😊
@@Knicoleknits I'm using Cascade Ultra Pima 100% cotton. It's knitting up a little stiffer than the Sandnes Line, but it's very nice.
I like your suggestion to do the neckline ribbing after. I'm a bit confused why you would cast on with the smaller needle. Wondering if this would make the neck edge tight? Is there a specific cast on technique you would suggest?
Thank you! Good point. If you're not knitting the ribbing first, you can skip right to the larger needle. I should have noted that in the video. Considering you're going to be picking up stitches below the entire cast on, it doesn't need to be anything special. I generally use a long tail cast on for this type of top down 😊
@@Knicoleknitsthank you so much! Love your videos!
I am really interested in your sweater's adaptations. Could you go over them?
It’s Gramercy Park by Patty Lyons, but the neckline is my own creation. I wrote a detailed blog post about it on my website. I’ve put a link in the video description box 😊
Thanks so much for the information.
Would love to see the video about the app.
Yay! Thanks for letting me know 😊
Gosh right.. i've never started with ribbing at the neck I don't think like this one does. Hmmm.
I always tell nnew knitters to read the pattern and make nots!
Excellent!