Expertise and Modern Design

General Knitting
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I found this video extremely interesting. The video description reads:
When did releasing a pattern become the next step in learning to knit? And what do we actually expect when someone calls themselves a knitwear designer?

Being an excellent knitter and designing an excellent knitting pattern are different skills. In this video, we trace how knitwear design changed—from publishing and traditional gatekeepers to Ravelry, Instagram, and an audience-first pattern economy. Along the way, we look at what social media rewards, why technical expertise can be difficult to recognize, and what gets lost when popularity becomes a stand-in for quality.

This isn’t about discouraging new designers or pretending the old system was perfect. It’s about understanding the work behind a thoughtful pattern—and what happens when that work becomes invisible.

What does “knitwear designer” mean to you? Have your expectations changed over time?

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Very interesting video. I don’t agree with some of the blanket statements especially about the use of “knitwear designer” to describe authors of patterns. Just on the forum we’ve seen patterns from established designers or knitting magazines and publishers that contain errors or are poorly written. There have also been inovative patterns from new designers that may or may not be workable. We all have favorite designers who publish clear, detailed instructions that are easy to follow, relatively error free and produce the expected result.

For me it points to the value of Ravelry and the collective experience and advice of project knitters. Patterns are sometimes rewritten and posted in projects or forums. Simpler work-arounds are suggested. Charts are added in projects. Just the number of projects tells us something about the design. If designs haven’t been tech edited or had test knitters, the projects on Ravelry fill that need. Social media can contribute great leads to interesting patterns but the collective experience of project knitters is invaluable.

Thanks so much for posting this video. It’s a thoughtful commentary on designers, patterns, social media and Ravelry.

The clapoti which comes up in the video has been knit over 24,000 times:

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I think I disagreed with every comment.

My little man has been designing his own sweaters since he was 10 years old. It doesn’t mean he can knit, his technical assistant does that, it doesn’t mean he can write a pattern (I think style craft provided the basic pattern which we modified with size changes, colour changes, and stitch pattern changes), he can’t make knitting needles, or spin yarn, or mine coal or drill oil. He didn’t need any of the technical expertise talked about in the video, but he did design his own sweaters.

People have been designing knitwear since long before patterns were written or printed and traditional knitters were designing and producing all sorts of items without necessarily knowing one method of short rows never mind multiple methods.
The ‘incorrect’ short row mentioned in the video, with the cut yarn, I don’t know the pattern but I do know you can pull the two ends of that cut yarn and zip up the ‘seam’ to make a tighter pick up. I’ve done it myself without even knowing it was in any pattern, it’s very effective and I prefer the result. If you leave the yarn attached it’s very hard to zip up without ruining the tension on row 1. I’m not an excellent knitter or expert in any knitting method but I do experiment and design.

I do see designing, modification, making choices, as an early stage in learning to knit, why not? As soon as a knitter chooses a different colour, cast on, or increase method they are making design choices, they are designing.

With regards to people selling patterns based on a fashionable image, good photography, active advertising, it’s really no different to the advertising and sale of any other product. Many well advertised items are substandard quality, buyer beware, it’s just part of life that we need to pay some attention to our purchases and that we will be fleeced from time to time.

AI patterns, hate them of course, but it’s just one of the recent snake oils we should avoid.