5 Online Stitch Dictionaries Every New Designer Should Know About
When you’re just starting out as a knitting pattern designer, stitch dictionaries can be pricey, especially if you want a selection. You’re not necessarily selling many (or any) patterns yet, so it can feel hard to justify investing in a set of them just yet.
That’s why I recommend using online stitch dictionaries.
Whilst their websites are not always beautiful or easy to navigate, they are free and a great source of stitch inspiration for those dipping their toe into knitting pattern design!
Even though I mostly design my own stitches or use stitches I’ve seen in ready-to-wear clothing, I still often visit these websites when I need a flash of inspiration to kickstart my design process.
Here are some of my go-to's…
Image description: an image of sweaters with different textures is shown with the title, 5 Online Stitch Dictionaries Every New Designer Should Know About.
Try These Free, Online Stitch Dictionaries!
Knitting Stitch Patterns
A lot of online stitch dictionaries don’t have the best photos of their swatches, but not Knitting Stitch Patterns. Their swatch photography is really crisp and clear, so you can see exactly what the stitch will look like knitted up.
The main downside is that they don’t offer charts for their stitch patterns, only written instructions, which is a bit of a shame.
That being said, they have a lot of really pretty stitches and some that I haven’t encountered before, which is uncommon with these online stitch dictionaries. It’s definitely worth having a look through!
Give this stitch a try: Gulls and Garter
Image description: a woman is sitting in a cafe knitting. The text under the image says, Knitting Pattern Design. 5 Online Stitch Dictionaries Every New Designer Should Know About
Knitting Fool Stitches
This website isn’t pleasant to navigate, and the swatch photographs often leave a lot to be desired, but this website has one of the most extensive stitch pattern catalogues out there.
There are literally hundreds of stitches on there, each categorised by appearance. It can take a bit of trawling, but if you have something in mind that you’re searching for, this website likely has something similar in its stitch dictionary.
The charts aren’t standard, but they are easy enough to follow and come with written instructions in a table, too.
Give this stitch a try: Sherwood
New Stitch a Day
This online stitch dictionary is one of the best to navigate, probably because it doesn’t look like it’s about 20 years old! The swatch photos are colourful and crisp, and they have a large selection of attractive stitches to choose from.
Each stitch comes with a video tutorial, as well as written instructions. I wish they offered charts, though!
For those of you who also crochet, there are lots of crochet stitches in this dictionary too.
Give this stitch a try: Barred Stripes Stitch
Knitca Stitch Patterns
It looks like Knitca is actually an online yarn shop, but they also have a small stitch dictionary on their website too - smart!
This dictionary is really attractive and easy to navigate. The swatches are nice and big, so you can see the stitch clearly, and they include both written instructions and charts.
The main downside of this website is the number of stitches available. There is only a small selection, so whilst it’s lovely, you won’t always find what you are looking for.
Give this stitch a try: Cable Stitch Pattern
Image description: beige sweaters all with different stitch patterns.
eKnitting Stitches
This is another one of those websites that are pretty horrible to browse - slow loading times, and you have to do a lot of scrolling to browse the stitch patterns. That being said, there are some lovely stitches on this website if you are patient enough to keep scrolling.
They offer traditional written instructions, a chart and a video for each stitch. They also provide more conversational instructions written in full, if you prefer it.
Give this stitch a try: Lace Rib Stitch
Conclusion: 5 Online Stitch Dictionaries Every New Designer Should Know About
You don’t have to have a full bookshelf of stitch dictionaries to discover interesting new stitch patterns for your designs. There are tons of free stitch dictionaries online, including the five I’ve shared above, that can help you to get your creative juices flowing.
Make sure you bookmark this page or pin it to your Pinterest board so that you can come back to it when you next start on a design. You’ll be glad you did!
Do you use any online stitch dictionaries that I haven’t listed above? Share them in the comments with your fellow designers!
