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The Cost of a Knitting Pattern, Annotated

May 11, 2018 by Sarah White

what's a knitting pattern worthI love this post from Thread & Ladle breaking down the potential time and monetary costs of producing a quality knitting pattern.

People sometimes complain when I share patterns that cost money, and I do try to stick with mostly free patterns most of the time, but I like to support designers who charge for their work because it’s worth it to pay for a well-done pattern, and it’s important to support people who are trying to produce the very best designs and patterns that they can.

The post breaks it all down, but the quick version is that, between knitting, writing the pattern, grading the pattern (that’s coming up with the stitch counts and instructions for different sizes), taking pictures, designing the pattern itself and getting the pattern into the system wherever you want to sell it can easily take 100 hours or more.

And that doesn’t factor in the cost of materials, any photo editing and layout programs used, technical editing, test knitters and more things that actually cost money beyond thinking about paying a designer for her time and expertise.

If you think about all that goes into it, and that a designer would have to sell many hundreds of patterns to make up the cost and pay themselves some kind of wage for their labor, paying $5 or $7 for a sweater pattern doesn’t sound so bad, does it?

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Do you pay for knitting patterns or only use ones you can get for free? Do you think paid patterns are better quality? What is a knitting pattern worth to you?

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Comments

  1. Pam Parsons says

    May 12, 2022 at 1:03 pm

    I am almost always able to take an idea or photo of a knitted item, and then make my own pattern. It isn’t that hard.

  2. Jan A says

    May 12, 2022 at 6:24 pm

    I am more than willing to support knitting designers. I am most appreciative of their creativity, and the time spent bringing their patterns to us. For a modest, initial fee, the pattern can be used repeatedly. It’s a win-win for me.

Have you read?

Add a Little Lace to Your Knitting Patterns

If you’re new to lace knitting or just aren’t sure how to incorporate the technique into garments, check out these tops and sweaters that use lace as a decorative element.

The easiest lace out there is eyelets, and you can practice them plenty with this eyelet covered sweater from Knitcro Addict. It uses light/DK weight yarn and is worked in four pieces knit flat. It’s intended to be a little cropped and a little oversized, and includes sizes XS to XXL in the pattern.

If you’re in parts of the world where it’s getting colder as you read this, the Nora sweater from Bummbul might be a good choice. This is actually a great one for learning lace because it’s worked in super bulky yarn, which makes it easier to see what you’re doing and makes the lace super graphic. This one just comes in one size, with a 42 inch (106) cm bust, but that could fit a variety of people depending on how much ease you like.

Minimi Knit Design has a cute allover lace cardigan worked in one piece from the bottom up. It’s worked in lace weight mohair held double, which maybe isn’t the best for those new to lace (because it can be hard to rip out) but it sure is pretty. Sizes range to fit from 30 to 66 inches/76 to 168 cm bust measurements.

If you’d rather not have lace all over your sweater, you can knit the Lumi sweater from Originally Lovely, which has a chevron lace pattern on the yoke and is otherwise worked in reverse stockinette stitch. (It’s worked inside out so you don’t have to purl every stitch.) The pattern has 9 sizes from XS to 5XL and uses worsted weight yarn.

Or try the super romantic sookie blouse from Trust the mojo (available on Ravelry). This sweet top is started working flat from the bottom up and has a V-neck and I-cord edgings. The sleeves are worked separately in the round, and the pieces are all joined together to work in one piece to finish off the top. It comes in eight sizes and is available in English and French.

You can also pair lacy sleeves with an otherwise plain top, like on the Starflower Wrap from Annelise Driscoll Gingrow. This intermediate pattern makes a wrap sweater with generous lacy sleeves and a double wrap belt. The pattern has nine sizes, from XS to 5XL, and is available for free from Hobbi.

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