More symbols = more fun

Posted 12 Jul 2013 by JC

Good news! You now have more symbols at your disposal. First, a couple symbols for slipped stitches:

• Sl1 wyib on RS, sl1 wyif on WS
• Sl1 wyif on RS, sl1 wyib on WS

You can place these symbols within your stitch maps by entering knitspeak like sl1 wyif or sl2 wyib. If you don’t specify wyif or wyib, we’ll assume that the yarn should be held to the wrong side of the work.

Want to see these symbols in action? Check out Edging, Eye of Partridge, Tweed stitch, or Linen stitch.

Next, symbols for twisted decreases:

• K2tog tbl on RS, p2tog tbl on WS
• K3tog tbl on RS, p3tog tbl on WS
• P2tog tbl on RS, k2tog tbl on WS
• P3tog tbl on RS, k3tog tbl on WS

These new symbols join the existing k1 tbl and p1 tbl symbols. You can place any of them in your stitch maps with knitspeak like k1 tbl, p2 tbl, k2tog tbl, or [p2tog tbl] 5 times.

Enjoy!

Brackets, braces, and parens, oh my!

Posted 3 Jul 2013 by JC

If you’ve read the knitspeak guide, you know that brackets [ ] let you repeat a series of instructions a set number of times – for example:

• Row 1 (RS): Knit.
• Row 2: Purl.
• Row 3: K3, *[k2tog] 3 times, [yo, k1] 5 times, yo, [k2tog] 3 times, repeat from *, k3.
• Row 4: Knit.

Being able to say [yo, k1] 5 times is more convenient than having to say yo, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, isn’t it?

Here’s another convenience: now you can use parens ( ) and braces { } in the same way:

• ...
• Row 3: K3, *[k2tog] 3 times, (yo, k1) 5 times, yo, {k2tog} 3 times, repeat from *, k3.
• ...

Of course, the pairs have to match up. You can’t say things like (yo, k1} 5 times. That just looks silly, doesn’t it?

A couple more abbreviations

Posted 26 Jun 2013 by JC

Stitch-Maps.com now recognizes skp as an alias for ssk . It also recognizes sssp as the wrong-side counterpart to sl1-k2tog-psso .

Enjoy!

More Q&A

Posted 26 Jun 2013 by JC

This past week has brought some fabulous stitch patterns to Stitch-Maps.com! Some of my favorites are Chinese Lace:

Embossed Leaf Lace:

And Scallop:

This past week has also brought up more questions, in our Ravelry forum and elsewhere. Here are some answers:

What’s with all the stitch patterns with names ending in “(copy)”?

They’re the result of the “Duplicate” feature meeting with itchy trigger fingers.

On each stitch pattern’s detail page, anyone who has registered a free account will see a “Duplicate” link. Clicking this link creates a copy of the stitch pattern, and lets you edit the copy. The idea is to make it easy to create variations of a stitch pattern.

Unfortunately, it seems that this ease-of-duplication has spawned quite a few needless copies. I’m currently contemplating ways of keeping these silly copies to a minimum. In the meantime, if you’ve accidentally created an identical copy of a stitch pattern, would you mind deleting it please? (You can do so via the “Delete” link on the pattern’s detail page.) Thanks much!

Why isn’t my doily round?

Pine Cone Doily is an excellent example. Why isn’t its stitch map round?

Because that’s not how the site works, unfortunately. Stitch-Maps.com doesn’t aim to display actual fabric. Rather, it aims to display grid-free charts, graphical representations of stitch pattern instructions. Just as with traditional grid-based charts, for instructions worked in the round our stitch maps show the beginning of rounds at the right edge of the chart, and the end of rounds at the left edge of the chart. It doesn’t connect the beginning of rounds to the end of rounds.

Why won’t the site let me choose the number of horizontal repeats to display?

Stitch-Maps.com will disable the “Horizontal repeats” control on a stitch pattern’s detail page if the stitch pattern’s instructions fail to have a “widen/narrow here” section on each row. That “widen/narrow here” section can take the form of *do this, do that, repeat from *, or knit, or purl. For more info on this topic, see the “Repeats” section of the knitspeak guide.

Why do I keep getting error messages when I try to enter a stitch pattern?

Good question! You can probably find the answer in the knitspeak guide, the new “On knitspeak” section of the FAQ, or the new “Tips and tricks” page.

Q&A

Posted 19 Jun 2013 by JC

Wow! I’m floored by the attention Stitch-Maps.com has received in the past day and a half. Thank you!

I’m also thrilled that the site seems to be holding its own fairly well, with just a few glitches here and there. Whew! What a relief.

It’s only going to get better, of course. But it’s going to take time. Stitch-Maps.com is a one-person operation and, well, I only get the same 24 hours per day as the rest of you. (If any of you manages to invent the 36-hour day, I’d love to talk to you!)

In the meantime, I’d like to address some questions and issues that have cropped up since Stitch-Maps.com went “live.” Here goes:

How do I get a username and password?

It’s a two-step process. First you’ll register by picking a username and entering your real name and email address. Then you’ll receive an email telling you how to set your password. (Didn’t get any such email? Not even in your spam folder? Go to the login page, and click on “Forgot your password? Request a new one.” That’ll send you another email.)

Ooh! I’d love to enter a stitch pattern in charted form rather than written form / create crochet charts / use slip stitches, 5-to-1 decreases, cables, and beads / mark repeated sections. Can you make that happen?

I’d love to! But – no surprise here – they’re all going to take some time. Please, be patient!

I want to try knitting from a stitch map. Can I get a print a PDF?

You can create and print a PDF if you have a premium subscription. Or you can simply click on any stitch map to see it in full-screen mode, then use your browser’s “Print” function.

Your subscription page and tip jar page don’t have “https” in front of them. Help! I’d like to pitch in, but I don’t want to expose my credit card data on a website that’s not secure.

Don’t worry! The site’s credit-card processing is secure. Under the hood, it uses a service called Stripe that takes all appropriate security precautions when transmitting data between Stitch-Maps.com and its site. That said, I’m working towards getting an SSL certificate and setting up HTTPS, just to set everyone’s mind at ease. Believe me, it’s the top item on my to-do list!

If I buy a basic subscription now, and decide to switch to a premium subscription later, will your site charge me the full premium subscription fee?

Nope! If you switch from a basic subscription to a premium subscription, your subscription fee will be prorated.

Given time (there’s that sticking point again!) I plan to add these points to the site’s FAQ, its knitspeak guide, and quite possibly a “Tips and tricks” page. But that will all have to wait until after I return from TNNA next week. Be gentle with my baby while I’m gone, okay?