Who we are

Hey, there. I’m JC Briar, and Stitch-Maps.com is my baby.

You might know me from my book, Charts Made Simple. That book explains how to read traditional grid-based charts, which I still think are awesome. It’s just that stitch maps are even more awesome, for some tasks – say, understanding how the parts of a lace pattern fit together.

For years, I drew stitch maps by hand. Anytime I needed to figure out what was going on with a stitch pattern, or how it could be tweaked, I got out a pencil and a blank sheet of paper and I started scribbling. The process was tedious. The results were often messy.

Here’s where the story gets interesting. As a teacher, I wanted to give other knitters the ability to draw and make use of stitch maps, but without the tedium and messiness. And as a former software developer, with years of experience working in computer graphics, I wondered if it was possible to write software to draw clean, clear stitch maps. Bit by bit, I chipped away at the problem.

The answer is the website you see today.

Thanks!

Stitch-Maps.com would not exist today without the Visionary Authors, who offered early support and encouragement. Ditto Gwen and Arlis Bortner, who provided a sounding board and a much-needed boost of enthusiasm when the project needed it the most. Thank you!

Credits

Stitch-Maps.com is built on a slew of open-source technologies, including Python, Django, Bootstrap, Glyphicons, and Mark James’ Silk Icons. Kudos to the developers behind these technologies!

A fresh take on charts