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I n part 1 I wrote about using Kendall Down's Knitwear Designer on a BBC micro to generate my knitting pattern. That was November 2020. I'm not a fast knitter. I tend to just knit a few rows each day rather than spending hours at a time on it. Plus I spun the yarn for this project.  Here it is done. I don't have a record of the exact measurements I fed into the program, but the fit is fantastic, so top marks to Kendall Down.  For those interested in the details of the spinning and knitting, I made quite a chunky yarn. (The gauge I gave the program was 5 stitches per inch, which I got on 4.5mm needles). I made a 4-ply yarn with 3 plies of Devonia from John Arbon , which is a blend of British sheep breeds, and one ply of Tussah silk dyed 'cyclamen' by Katie of Hilltop Cloud The pattern just gives you stitches and allows you to work in your own choice of colourwork or stitch pattern. 

 F inally we arrive at this stage:  It took a while to get here because I spun the wool by hand. Sadly the stitch pattern itself isn't created by the software. It generates the patterns for the knitted pieces, and gives you "knit X in pattern" to allow you to get creative with colourwork or stitch patterns.  After an inch of ribbing (waist) the stitch pattern I've established here is something resembling the stitch pattern in the jumper I'm trying to recreate (pictured in part 1).  What the software does do is to generate a basic pattern based on the information you give it about your own  measurements and the gauge you want to knit at. (5 stitches per inch in my case here). It allows you to visually adjust things like the neckline, or even draw your pattern pieces freehand. My job now is to simply put in a lot of knitting time. (Audiobooks and podcasts at the ready.) I'm having trouble deciding where to put posts about this project, as it combines knitting an...

 K nitwear Designer from Database Publications, written by Kendall Down. Some time ago I discovered and bought this software. It allows you to design a jumper or other knitwear; give it some sizes and your knitting gauge, and it gives you a knitting pattern. I believe it works on the Electron as well as BBC and Master, but I don't have a disc drive for the Electron. In the following pictures I'm using it on a model B+.  The disc worked, the only issue was that it sends its output to the printer.  If you're knitting the garment then you really do want the pattern on paper.  Frustratingly I gave away a Centronics dot matrix printer just a couple of years ago, slimming down for a house move. It's not the kind of thing I really want to give space to again. Is it possible to connect a modern printer to a BBC via RS232?  I'm not sure.  If it's possible to save the output as a text file and recall it and read it off the screen, then I suppose that might work. ...