Drum Roll please...
By Megan Goodacre
We made it! The new site is up, working (touch wood), and it's exciting. So many improvements and additions. Where to begin?
First, a little housekeeping.
Passwords are so private that we can’t look them up or move them from one database to another. So if you have ever logged in to Tricksy Knitter (to buy a pattern or use the chartmaker), you will receive an email with a link to reset your password. You can use the same one that you had on the old site or a new one.
If you are on our newsletter list, you will receive a link to create a member profile. This is totally optional, totally free. But you will need a profile to download free patterns.
Can't wait for the newsletter? Click here to set your new password right now.
Any downloadable purchase you made on the old site is available here on the new site. Simply log in, then click on Patterns at the very top of the page.
Oh yes, all the free patterns are still free!
And I've added an excellent (if I do say so myself) eBooklet for making Triangular Shawls. I love how popular the free patterns are. Knitters download them 24 hours a day (literally!) and I love the thought of Knitted Washcloths, Shawls, and Cowls being cast on at all hours.
The free pattern section has been tidied up with information and images added. The change with the free pattern section is how you download the patterns. Simply add the item to your cart and checkout. Checkout and log in (or register) when you are prompted, and you will be given the link to download.
No, there’s no sinister motivation behind this change in procedure. It’s simply much easier for us to manage the files this way. And, it means I can notify you if I find an error in the pattern. And it means all your patterns, whether purchased or free, are in your pattern library.
I detest housekeeping, let's move on the good stuff. What have we added to Tricksy Knitter?
A lot of you are coming to Tricksy Knitter on iPads and smart phones. And we decided that we had to give you the best experience we could on the small screen.
The main improvement we made was to create a responsive website. Responsive means the page adapts to your screen, whether it's a smart phone, laptop, tablet, or monitor. And that doesn't mean everything gets smaller. Images, menus and text will actually rearrange themselves for you. (It's pretty cool. Sometimes I just flip my iPad back and forth between portrait and landscape to watch the images adapt.)
Ooh la la. The piece de resistance. Behind the scenes, Charles has reprogrammed the chartmaker to be lean, mean and fast. On the front-end, we've given it a cleaner and easier to use interface.
The old colour picker gave you as many colours as a monitor can display, but you had to use a little slider to pick your darkness and a small cross hair to find your hue. It was thorough, but time-consuming. The new colour picker is designed with yarn in mind in an attractive grid.
Shared charts now display the author name. You can click on the author's name and see all of their shared charts. Copied charts now show where they were copied from.
The old site grew and grew, until it has so many appendages that useful articles were hard to find. We've done a thorough spring clean and re-organization. I hope you enjoy the new How to Knit section, I think it's a lot easier to navigate. And if you're looking for a topic, simply use the search box on the top right.
This booklet has been in the works for a while, and many of you have asked “when will it be available?” It’s here. Not just one pattern, but two, and not just two patterns, but a step-by-step guide to making a top-down triangular shawl. The booklet includes two complete patterns plus tutorials for a garter stitch tab, provisional cast on, reading knitting charts, calculating yarn requirements, and blocking lace. It even includes blank charts for designing your own lace.
All the patterns from Study Hall Knits are now available on Tricksy Knitter!
I’d like to take the high road and be ad-free, but google ads help to subsidize the cost of running the website and making free designs. The difference on the new site is that we are curating the ads more strictly, trying to filter out anything that looks suspicious.
First, a little housekeeping.
Your member profile
Passwords are so private that we can’t look them up or move them from one database to another. So if you have ever logged in to Tricksy Knitter (to buy a pattern or use the chartmaker), you will receive an email with a link to reset your password. You can use the same one that you had on the old site or a new one.
If you are on our newsletter list, you will receive a link to create a member profile. This is totally optional, totally free. But you will need a profile to download free patterns.
Can't wait for the newsletter? Click here to set your new password right now.
Pattern Library
Any downloadable purchase you made on the old site is available here on the new site. Simply log in, then click on Patterns at the very top of the page.
Free patterns
Oh yes, all the free patterns are still free!
And I've added an excellent (if I do say so myself) eBooklet for making Triangular Shawls. I love how popular the free patterns are. Knitters download them 24 hours a day (literally!) and I love the thought of Knitted Washcloths, Shawls, and Cowls being cast on at all hours.
The free pattern section has been tidied up with information and images added. The change with the free pattern section is how you download the patterns. Simply add the item to your cart and checkout. Checkout and log in (or register) when you are prompted, and you will be given the link to download.
No, there’s no sinister motivation behind this change in procedure. It’s simply much easier for us to manage the files this way. And, it means I can notify you if I find an error in the pattern. And it means all your patterns, whether purchased or free, are in your pattern library.
I detest housekeeping, let's move on the good stuff. What have we added to Tricksy Knitter?
The mobile experience
A lot of you are coming to Tricksy Knitter on iPads and smart phones. And we decided that we had to give you the best experience we could on the small screen.
The main improvement we made was to create a responsive website. Responsive means the page adapts to your screen, whether it's a smart phone, laptop, tablet, or monitor. And that doesn't mean everything gets smaller. Images, menus and text will actually rearrange themselves for you. (It's pretty cool. Sometimes I just flip my iPad back and forth between portrait and landscape to watch the images adapt.)
Chartmaker
Ooh la la. The piece de resistance. Behind the scenes, Charles has reprogrammed the chartmaker to be lean, mean and fast. On the front-end, we've given it a cleaner and easier to use interface.
Chartmaker: New colour picker
The old colour picker gave you as many colours as a monitor can display, but you had to use a little slider to pick your darkness and a small cross hair to find your hue. It was thorough, but time-consuming. The new colour picker is designed with yarn in mind in an attractive grid.
Chartmaker: Sharing
Shared charts now display the author name. You can click on the author's name and see all of their shared charts. Copied charts now show where they were copied from.
How to Knit Section
The old site grew and grew, until it has so many appendages that useful articles were hard to find. We've done a thorough spring clean and re-organization. I hope you enjoy the new How to Knit section, I think it's a lot easier to navigate. And if you're looking for a topic, simply use the search box on the top right.
Triangular Shawl Booklet
This booklet has been in the works for a while, and many of you have asked “when will it be available?” It’s here. Not just one pattern, but two, and not just two patterns, but a step-by-step guide to making a top-down triangular shawl. The booklet includes two complete patterns plus tutorials for a garter stitch tab, provisional cast on, reading knitting charts, calculating yarn requirements, and blocking lace. It even includes blank charts for designing your own lace.
Study Hall Knits
All the patterns from Study Hall Knits are now available on Tricksy Knitter!
Advertisements
I’d like to take the high road and be ad-free, but google ads help to subsidize the cost of running the website and making free designs. The difference on the new site is that we are curating the ads more strictly, trying to filter out anything that looks suspicious.