Friday, December 9, 2011

Online Pattern Sources


Hello all! 

Sorry about the lateness of today's post - but I still managed to get it done!

In tandem with Wednesday's post about where  to buy your yarn online, I thought I would share with you all out there in the knitverse my favorite places to find patterns online.

Now books are fantastic source for patterns - as my poor over-worked bookshelves can attest to. But the internet is also a great to find new patterns from fellow knitters, to get free patterns (or fairly cheap ones) and even to publish your own. Often times these patterns can be downloaded in pdf format, which I love. I can store these pdfs on my iPod and carry dozens of patterns around with me all the time - no need to carry books or easily destroyed paper copies.

When I have an inkling to knit something new the first place I check out is the wonderful Knitting Pattern Central . I don't if it's possible to describe how much I adore this site. With literally thousands of free (!) patterns and tutorials - over 14,000  at last count - from all over the net and arranged in a few dozen categories, this should definitely be your first stop when looking for a new pattern on the web.

If for some odd reason I haven’t found what I'm looking for at KPC, I head on over to Ravelry to look around there. With over 66,000 patterns in 200+ categories, Ravelry is also a fantastic place to go pattern diving. Only drawback is that not all the patterns are free. Some cost a small amount of money, anywhere from $2 to $8, or are is a pattern from a book and not available for download. You do have be a member of Ravelry to access their sight - but this is a quick and easy (and free) process.

And there are still more options if you still haven't found what you're looking for. If you have a specific yarn in mind to work with, check out the yarn company's website. Chances are they'll have a list of free patterns to go with specific yarns. Some of these sights are better than others, Berroco, Caron,  and Classic Elite Yarn to name a few. Lion Brand Yarn's  website is also a good place to look - but I find their patterns are  a bit simplistic and geared more toward a beginning knitter.

And, with the internet being the vast pool of information that it is, there are thousands of other sites out there to get knitting patterns from. And heck, if you still can't find what you're looking for, then I guess you're just going to have to write your own, aren't you?

What's your favorite place to find patterns? Online? In a book?

Casting Off,

Megan

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