Searching by row repeat

Posted 28 Apr 2020 by JC

Need to find a stitch pattern with a specific row repeat? You can do that now, in the “Search options” box on the Browse page.

For example, entering “8” reveals that, of the 6947 patterns currently on the site, 813 repeat every 8 rows. This could be handy if you’re trying to find a stitch pattern that’ll coordinate well with one you’re already planning to use.

Bonus: if a stitch pattern repeats vertically, its detail page now shows its row repeat as a link in the “Details” box – for example, for Primrose Edging:

You can click that link to find stitch patterns with a matching row repeat.

Cable crosses with slip stitches

Posted 24 Apr 2020 by JC

By request, Stitch-Maps.com now has symbols for a few cable crosses that feature slip stitches:

• 1/1 LSC
• 1/1 LSAC
• 1/2 LSC
• 1/3 LSC
• 1/1 RSC
• 1/1 RSAC
• 1/2 RSC
• 1/3 RSC

In the LSC and RSC crosses, a single slipped stitch crosses over 1, 2, or 3 knit stitches. In the LSAC and RSAC crosses, all the stitches of the cross are slipped. To figure out what an abbreviation means, keep in mind that...

• “LSC” stands for “left slipped cross”
• “RSAC” stands for “right slip all (stitches) cross”
• “1/2” means “one over two”
• etc., as previously outlined in this Ravelry post

Or – better yet – just refer to the key when following a stitch map, or to the convenience buttons when creating a stitch map.

Crosses like these aren’t common, but they can be used for interesting effects:

Enjoy!

Renumber and reformat

Posted 4 Mar 2020 by JC

By request, the Contribute and Edit pages now have a “Renumber and reformat” option, above the “Written instructions” text entry box:

Click that button, and up pops a dialog:

With this dialog, you can renumber the rows in your knitspeak – for example:

• To make room for 10 more rows at the beginning of your pattern, set “Start” to 11 and “Increment” to 1. Your existing rows will get renumbered as 11, 12, 13, 14, etc. Add in new rows numbered 1 through 10.

• To make room for an unknown number of rows at the beginning, set “Start” to 100 (or some such) and “Increment” to 1. Your existing rows will get renumbered as 100, 101, 102, 103, etc. Add in as many new rows as you need. Then renumber again, with a “Start” of 1 and an “Increment” of 1, to get “normal” row numbering again.

• To make room for rows in the middle of your pattern, set “Start” to 1 and “Increment” to 10 (or some such). Your existing rows will get renumbered as 1, 11, 21, 31, etc. Add in the rows that you need. Then renumber again, with a “Start” of 1 and an “Increment” of 1.

Each time you use this dialog, your knitspeak will get reformatted. Here you have two choices:

• “Condensed” means that identical rows will be displayed in a group – for example,

  Rounds 2, 4, 6, and 8: Purl.

• “Expanded” means that identical rows will be displayed individually – for example,

  Round 2: Purl.
  Round 4: Purl.
  Round 6: Purl.
  Round 8: Purl.

Note that you can also reformat without renumbering, if you so choose. Just uncheck “Renumber” before selecting “Go!” This can be a handy way of expanding your knitspeak before editing it.

Caveats:

• You can only renumber and reformat knitspeak that the site can understand. But the knitspeak doesn’t have to be knitable. So row 1: k37; row 2: p27 can be renumbered, even if it can’t be knit.

• All the usual knitspeak rules still apply. Specifically, you can’t have negative row numbers.

• The renumber function does not save anything, just like the “Check the knitspeak” button doesn’t save anything. To save your work (and draw a stitch map), you have to press the “Go for it!” button, as usual.

• You can specify a negative “Increment”... but you probably wouldn’t want to. Setting “Start” to 10 and “Increment” to -1 would renumber your existing rows as 10, 9, 8, 7, etc., effectively reversing your stitch pattern, which rarely produces meaningful results. But, hey, you’re welcome to try, and see what silliness results.

Questions? Comments? You know where to find me.

Just check the knitspeak

Posted 31 Jan 2020 by JC

At long last! Stitch-Maps.com now lets you check the validity of your knitspeak while remaining on the edit page, without taking the time to draw any stitch maps. Click the new “Check the knitspeak” button to the upper right of the “Written instructions” entry box:

And you’ll see a success message giving the pattern’s cast-on count:

Or you’ll see a detailed error message:

I imagine that this will be useful to knitters attempting to map complicated, large-ish stitch patterns. Consider this: *Enter the knitspeak for a couple rows. Check the knitspeak. Correct problems, if any. Repeat from * until you’ve entered all the knitspeak, then hit the “Go for it!” button as usual to save the pattern and draw its stitch maps.

Caveats:

• Checking the knitspeak does not save the knitspeak. You have to click the “Go for it!” button for that.
• I can’t guarantee with 100% certainty that success with the “Check the knitspeak” button will mean success with the “Go for it!” button. But it should work in all but the most obscure situations. Let’s call it 99.9% certainty, okay?

Enjoy!

Improved error messages

Posted 29 Jan 2020 by JC

Previously, if Stitch-Maps.com couldn’t verify the knitspeak for a stitch pattern, it would on occasion produce an error message like the following:

Row 3 can’t be worked on top of the preceding rows. The number of non-repeated stitches isn’t quite right.

Messages like this aren’t terribly helpful, when it comes to resolving the issue.

By request, Stitch-Maps.com now produces messages like this:

Row 3 can’t be worked on top of the previous rows. It requires a multiple of 9 stitches plus 2, but the previous rows produce a multiple of 9 stitches plus 4.

Hopefully, you’ll find these messages more useful, in locating typos and other goofs. As always, if you have questions or concerns, please contact me!