Book Review: The Beginner's Guide to Writing Knitting Patterns

I recently read The Beginner's Guide to Writing Knitting Patterns: Learn to Write Patterns Others Can Knit by Kate Atherley (127 pages, 2015), which I found to be a great overview and reference manual for how to write a clear and comprehensible knitting pattern. Atherley is the Managing Technical Editor of Knitty.com, and an experienced knitting teacher. I believe this book would be helpful for both designers and tech editors, as it does a great job of outlining how to structure a pattern, all the elements that are necessary to include, as well as tons of little tips and examples for how to phrase instructions. Atherley not only gives concrete examples and problems to work from, but also goes over the philosophy underlying how to best convey complex information without confusion. She covers charts, grading, formatting and layout, as well as tips for selling online, marketing, and how to work with publications. Included in the appendices are abbreviations and standard terms, and a template. Atherley also shares numerous resources, such as where to download free stitch fonts, different chart making software, as well as books and articles that may be helpful.

[Image description: A screenshot of the coverpage of the book in question. The background is a grid pattern, with schematics, sketches, and a swatch all overlaid. At the top in large font it says "A Beginner's Guide to Writing Knitting Patterns," while partway down on the right hand side, what appears to be a small sticky note on the grid pattern says "Learn to Write Patterns Others Can Knit." At the bottom right, it says "Kate Atherley."]

Although this book is explicitly aimed at new designers, I do think it would be worthwhile for more experienced designers or editors to give a quick read. It is always helpful to review your process, and sometimes you pick up great little tips that way. I can see this book as being helpful to have on hand as a reference while working, but I think it would be invaluable while building your own checklists and style sheet. Overall, a great little book that has a surprising amount of information packed into its short length.