Saturday, January 4, 2014

More Knitting with Knitware

When using the Knitware program there are some things that you have to take into consideration. I was finding that my neckbands were coming out tighter than I wanted when I used the 'moderate' fit. As a result of that I decided a long time ago that I would always use the 'comfortable' fit & a wider neckband. I generally add on 6-8 stitches on the neckband & that has worked out well for me. No more problems pulling the sweaters over the heads. Also, sometimes my sleeves were too tight. Using the 'comfortable' setting took care of the issue too.
 
Another feature of the Knitware program is the ability to knit a swatch & weight it, then enter the weight into the program with the row number & stitch number(72 rows x 50 stitches) or whatever & calculate how much yarn you need for that sweater. That helps me to be able to make the biggest sweater possible with the amount of yarn that I have without guessing.  
 
 
 
This is another shelter sweater, in a size 4. I bought this yarn years ago & don't remember what the planned project was. It is really a cute yarn & has made a very cute pullover for a little girl.
 
 
This isn't a very good picture.  I used the KW program to calculate how much yarn I needed for this pullover. The program told me that I almost had enough for it, but was going to come up a little short. I thought that I could make it if I unraveled my swatch.  I did that & it worked for the green, but I ran out of the red just about 4" from the top on the last sleeve. I used a Red Heart Kids yarn as a substitute. It wasn't that great of a match but it was the best I could find. The pullover is a size 2. The difference does show up but I still think that some little kid will love this sweater.
 
Best Wishes to all for a New Year.
 
 
PS:I am dieting & have lost 34 LBS!!
 
 

5 comments:

maureenlthompson said...

Hi, I came across your blog via Suzy's blog. I have a question about the knitware program. I can not get it to work on my computer which is a 64 bit running Windows 7. I tried the 'fix' they recommended but still couldn't get it to work. Do you run it on a 64bit computer?

Sheryl Evans said...

Hi! I'm sorry that you cannot get Knitware to work on your 64 bit system. I use the 32 bit version of Windows 7.

Knitware was written by Janet T at least 20 years ago, maybe a little more. It was called Sweater Design at that time. Over the years she regularly updated & enhanced the program eventually calling it Knitware. In 2007 she sold the company to Ada Lai. At that time Ada promised us an update coming in a few months. Unfortunately that update never materialized. I think everyone has pretty much understood now that Ada is not the skilled programmer that Janet was. I would not download Knitware or any of the 'fixes' that Ada posts on her website, Great Knit Designs' as I have heard from other knitters that the downloads caused problem on their computers & the program would not function correctly. Sometimes you find an old disc for sale on Ebay, but other than that I would be leery of anything that Ada comes out with whether it is a 'fix' or an update. Frankly I would not buy an update from her at this time even if she did manage to come out with one because I doubt her ability to write a useable program. If you go to the yahoo group 'Machine Knitters' You might fine some usable information on how to make the program function on the 64 bit system. There is no one left on the Knitware Users list as they have all moved on. Good Luck!! ;-)

maureenlthompson said...

Thanks for your response.

I did try the fixes to no avail. In the end I took it all off of my computer. It didn't do any harm, thank goodness.

I think I will just keep an eye out for a 32 bit computer. Might be able to pick one up in a Thrift store or a yard sale.

I really, really want to try the program.

maureenlthompson said...

Hi, thanks for responding. I apologise if this is the second reply. I did one earlier and it disappeared so wasn't sure if it went or not.

I did try the fix for Windows 64bit to no avail. Thankfully it didn't harm my computer and I removed it from the computer.

I so want to try the knitware program so I will keep an eye out for a 32 bit computer with Windows XP or 7 just to use for the knitware.

Meanwhile I have my knit radar and a number of paper patterns for my 4.5mm. I just got a 9mm though which doesn't have knit radar.

I do have a few patterns for it and there are plenty online to download so I ccan keep on knitting.

Now for an end to our plumbing woes which are taking up a lot of time and some knitting time!

Sheryl Evans said...

Walmart has some cheaie laptops that would be ideal for that purpose. The hard part is going to be finding one that is Windows 7. Everything out now is all about Windows 8, & I can tell you right now that Knitware will not run on it.