Preview Knitting

Sometimes I’ve got a design that I don’t really need to be test knit. It’s a straightforward pattern, I’ve done something similar before, it’s been tech edited, I know how it’ll fit people… there aren’t any big surprises here. Things like shawls and accessories, mostly.

When that happens, it feels inappropriate to ask people to test knit it for me. I don’t need you all to be in one place chatting, you don’t need me looming over you while you knit it, it’s all a lot of structure and stress that isn’t actually serving anyone.

The thing is, even if I don’t have any burning questions about fit and feedback, it’s still really helpful to have a bit of a buzz and discussion around a pattern right before it comes out.

So with that in mind, I’m going to start launching these patterns a little differently. Instead of test knitting them, I’ll instead do something called Preview Knitting.

I’m going to give away a bunch of copies of the pattern, a little bit before launch day, on the proviso that you start knitting it like… now, and post about it all over the place.

Social media, knitting websites, if you have a blog write a post about it, if you go to knit and natter show your friends… whatever works for you. There aren’t any hard and fast rules here. The deal is you get the pattern free and early if you’ll help spread the word. That’s it. If you can use the right hashtag and tell people the launch date and my handle / website’s URL / whatever, even better. If you do find any problems, it’d be great if you let me know. But there’s no obligation.

Even the deadline is fuzzy: it’s great to have posts going out before launch day, but after is good too. Anything in the two weeks before or after launch day is really helpful, even if it isn’t an FO pic.

I hope that this will achieve a few things all at once:

• Allow me to continue to generate some interest in patterns in the run-up to launch day
• Facilitate a more laid back preview phase that gives everyone a bit more free time
• Create a new way for people to get patterns for free
• Allow knitters who’d like to test knit but can’t manage deadlines to take part

Preview knits will be announced on my social channels (including Discord) and to my test knitters email list. To apply, you’ll need to fill in a form; successful applicants will receive the pattern by email as if they’d bought it.

Disclaimer time: preview knits will be limited, not everyone who applies will get the pattern for free. All preview knits will aim to have a mix of people I’ve worked with before (e.g. test knitters) and people I haven’t. Anyone who repeatedly obtains patterns to preview knit without contributing online content will not receive further patterns.

Find open test knits and previews here.