Knitting

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The Cost of a Knitting Pattern, Annotated

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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?

Comments

  1. 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. 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.

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Pencil Knitting Patterns

Getting ready for back to school makes me think about pencil crafts, so let’s take a look at some pencil themed knitting patterns! 

I recently made a pencil on a circular knitting machine, and it was a fun, quick, easy project that uses little bits of leftover yarn (and if you don’t have yellow you can make it a colored pencil using whatever color’s your favorite). And if you want to make a bigger version check out this pattern from Orange Olive Road on Etsy.

If you want to knit a pencil pillow by hand, check out Sketchy, available on Ravelry from Shana S. Cohen. This one uses worsted weight yarn and has two size options and the choice to make a pencil with an eraser or a colored pencil. 

Pencil scarves seem to be the most popular kind of pencil knitting pattern, and there are lot of cute ones. This one from Cosy Craft UK mostly uses garter stitch, with some welts to add texture and what looks like an I-cord edging. It calls for DK weight yarn. 

If you want to go all garter stitch try this version from Emsley Co Creations, which uses five colors of DK weight yarn and just a little shaping to make the point of the pencil.

There’s also this fun, mostly stockinette so it looks like it curls a bit, pencil pattern that looks like it’s worked in chunky yarn from Little Knits Studio. This one uses just a little garter stitch and easy shaping for the point. 

If you don’t want a pencil scarf, how about some pencil socks? The No. 2 Pencil Socks from The Yarn Enabler are available from Ravelry and use five colors of sock yarn. They feature wide ribs to mimic the texture of a pencil and have options to be worked from the top down or the toe up. 

Needs Sharpening by Alexander Walker is a free pattern on Ravelry that uses five colors of sock yarn to make a sort of shortie sock. The little bit of black at the tips of the toes inspired the name. These, too, can be worked in either direction and are available in three sizes.