Testing “Custom Fit” Sweater Design Software

Hi There!

I’m so excited. I just can’t hide it. (The music fades out. . .)

A few weeks ago, Amy Herzog announced that she is working on new software to tailor sweater patterns for a flattering fit. Amy recently published “Fit to Flatter” on this topic. In the announcement, she asked for Beta testers of the software,  I sent the information requested and was accepted as one of the testers!

So what does this mean, you ask? Testers will use the pre-release version of the Custom Fit software to tailor a sweater design to their shape and measurements. And then knit the sweater within four weeks of the start date. A timeline of four weeks is a bit scary. Most of you know it always takes me a lot longer than that. But then, I rarely work on one thing at a time.

Groups of testers are starting at weekly intervals. I assume that problems found by the first group will be fixed and then the second group will test the next version. I start August 5.

Before the start date, we’ve been asked to decide on a yarn and pattern stitch and knit a swatch. One idea is to use this opportunity to knit a sweater I’ve been looking at for a couple of years by Marianne Isager. It’s I called Sukkertrøjen, which translates as “Sugar“.

I like the textured fabric, the pattern stitch and the color but the shape is designed for a figure with a lot of straight lines and will not flatter me. So this is a good opportunity to take the aspects I like and change the rest.

I have a lot of “Dakota” a cotton/linen blend by Classic Elite that was discontinued a long time ago. I’ve swatched in with three needle sizes: US 4, 5, and 6. The first picture shows the last swatch I did on size US size 6 before washing. I would tell you that I always make 6 inch square swatches but too many of you have seen me measuring tiny bits of knitting to determine the gauge.

I thought that the other swatches might have shrunk when I washed them.  So I outlined the size of this swatch before washing. In fact, washing did change the swatch.  As you can see, the swatch got shorter and wider – by a bit.  In the picture, I aligned the top left corner with the pencil outline.  You can see the swatch shrunk in length and grew in width.  I pinned the right edge back so you could see the original line.

As long as I use the after washing measurements of the swatch to design the sweater, it will fit. But only after washing.  A project with this complication may not be the best option for testing Custom Fit.

So, I came up with another possibility. I have some Europa yarn from Berroco. Again, a yarn discontinued long ago. Europa is a fun tweed with lots of color. The fiber is 75 percent wool and 25 percent cotton blend. I think the base strand is wool and the tweedy bits are cotton.

As you can see in the picture, the swatch is the same size after washing as it was before. Yes!

There probably isn’t enough yarn for a full length, long sleeved cardigan, so I’m thinking about a shorter cardigan with ¾ length sleeves that hangs open in the front.

And so, I have two choices for the sweater I will make to test Custom Fit. Frankly, I am more excited about making the Sugar/Isager sweater but the Europa cardy seems smarter.

Good thing I have until August 5 to decide.

Thanks for dropping by. I’m off to more KnitKnot Adventures.

Jann