5 Reasons To Love Stitchmastery!

Founded by lifelong knitter and computer software expert Cathy Scott in July 2011, Stitchmastery has become the go-to programme for designers and knitters. After her fellow fibre fans in Edinburgh’s knitting groups told her of the time-consuming task of writing pattern instructions, Cathy came up with the idea for developing a special computer programme that could speed up the process and leave more time for the creative side of designing. Whether you’re a full-time designer or just like to dabble, here are just a few reasons why you should love Stitchmastery as much as we do…

1. It allows you to get creative!
Stitchmastery lets you design your own patterns and charts, whether that’s for textured stitches like cables and bobbles, lace effects and colourwork. There are plenty of pre-set stitch symbols and colours to use in the charts and as you add stitches to your design, the programme generates written instructions so you don’t have to!

Charts can be set up for flat or circular knitting and include pattern repeats, as well as increases and decreases with the ‘no stitch’ feature. The software also automatically checks the maths of your chart so you know your pattern will work. You can set many preferences from fonts and colours to grid sizes, abbreviations, stitch descriptions and more, then when you’ve finished, your chart can be exported in a wide number of formats, including JPEG, PDF, and SVG files.

2. Try before you buy
Stitchmastery has so many different functions and you can download a free demo mode so you can give it a go before committing. Once you’ve tried it out, you can purchase an activation key for £60. There’s a fantastic support network including fellow crafters on Ravelry, blog posts, Youtube video tutorials, Instagram or you email Cathy directly!

3. There’s a new version
In April 2018, Version 3 of Stitchmastery was launched and has since been updated and tweaked to make it as user-friendly as possible. The facility to customise stitches has been refreshed to give you more control over your symbols, and you can export a full glossary of the stitches used in your patterns. Numbers and words can be exported as text rather than images and then edited in the other programmes, and a number of new stitch symbols were added on request. Learn more about Version 3.

4. Multiple languages (and maybe more to come!)
The new version also has German and Danish stitch libraries and text templates, which allow users to quickly translate charts and written instructions. If you can help create translations for other languages, drop the team a line at support@stitchmastery.com. Read more about translating your patterns.

5. Join the knitalong!
To celebrate Stitchmastery’s seventh anniversary, the team has launched a special mitten knitalong. It runs until the end of October so there’s still time to join in. If you’re feeling really creative, the mitten template chart is available as a .knt2 Stitchmastery file so you can come up with your own design. There are even prizes to be won!

To buy the software or download the free demo version, visit stitchmastery.com.