Knitty Needs Our Support

I have been a longtime fan of the online knitting magazine Knitty. Maybe not from the very beginning in 2002, but probably pretty soon thereafter. I was just getting back into knitting after a hiatus in college, and I loved that there was a place to find inspiring, cool designs without having to go buy a book that might have one pattern you wanted to knit in it.

Amy Singer, editor and founder of Knitty, says that when Knitty began “it freaked people out” to be able to find high-quality patterns online. “It was completely free and it didn’t stink,” she said.

A lot has changed in the 13 years since Knitty began, but its mission is the same: to bring knitters amazing patterns, to inspire and publish new knitting designers and to share projects from the names we already know and love. Lots of knitters who are now household names (to us, anyway) have been published there, and lots of now classic knitting patterns were published there, too (I’ve still got to knit a Clapotis).

What has changed is the online advertising environment, the number of people willing to buy ads, what they will spend on them and the number of readers who click them. Singer reports the magazine has been making less money every issue recently, and they’re now making less than they did in 2008.

This is sad news, and we definitely don’t want Knitty to go away. And while Singer says “we’re going to remain free as long as we are able to publish,” that time could be limited without more financial support.

So the magazine has started a campaign on Patreon, which is “like an ongoing Kickstarter,” she says. It enables people to pledge a certain amount per issue (as little as $2) to help support its production.

Contributors get rewards at different levels, ranging from access to a news feed to getting a look at the latest issues 24 hours early, to swag and a private Facebook group.

The money will go toward ongoing costs like server costs and giving staff and designers a raise. Depending on how much is raised, funds could also go toward redesigning the site, making it more mobile friendly and updating old issues to work better with new technology.

I can’t imagine a knitting world without Knitty; if you feel the same way I hope you’ll contribute. And share your Knitty stories here!

Next Pattern:

Not too long ago I was seeing a crochet pattern for a glasses holder shaped like a bear all over the Internet. It was super cute, and also useful as a place to put your glasses on your bedside table instead of just throwing them somewhere random.

This project stewed in my brain for a little while and I decided I needed to make a knit version, but I didn’t want to make a bear. If you know anything about me you might know that I’m a cat person, so of course my version had to be a cat.

The base is just a basic little basic worked from the center out to the desired size, then up the sides as long as you want them. Knit some ears and add embellishments to make it whatever kind of animal you want.

The way I figured out to work the base from the center out was to use a crochet cast on, which gives you an easier way to pick up stitches from the back of the cast on than if you worked a more traditional cast on for a knitting project. It’s kind of fun to do things in a different way from time to time.

This little project is adorable if I do say so myself, and even as a plain little basket not made into an animal it’s a cute way to keep your glasses or other little things in one place. I’m tempted to make one for my desk to hold pens or even little little scissors and sewing needles that are always on my desk but somehow always seem to get lost on my desk.

If you need a little holder for your glasses on your table, check out the pattern at Our Daily Craft.

[Photo: Our Daily Craft]

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