So I’m pretty much known as a shawl/shawlette/lace designer. I’m good at it. I make pretty things. I was actually making happy noises and sending phone pics to my distributor Heather as I was pinning out a new design last night. It came out so beautiful.
But I also want to a be a sweater designer. Like Thea Colman. She makes the most beautiful sweaters. I actually have a few sweaters coming out in publications in the future which I am very excited about! But I wanted to streamline my grading process. Make life easier for me and my editors!

So I headed over to Craftsy and signed up for Faina’s Goberstein’s Sizing Knitwear Patterns. It is an amazing resource for folks who want to design sweaters, whether for themselves or for publication. Incredibly thorough, it starts with measurements and swatching – she even provides a very comprehensive set of measurement standards.

I will say, to take full advantage of this class, you really, really need to have access to Excel or some similar open source spreadsheet software. The meat of this class for me is in the spreadsheet tutorials. I’ve set up all the spreadsheets using her handouts and am ready to design a brand new sweater using them.

This gorgeous Anzula yarn – Cricket in the Pesto colorway – is going to grow up to be a lovely short-sleeve summer sweater using the stitch patterns in the swatch above. And I’m going to use Faina’s spreadsheets and grading methods to make everything just right!

So if you’re looking to grade sweaters – whether you are a beginner or even have done a few like me – Faina’s class really does give you everything you need to know to grade sweaters. And the lessons and spreadsheets can be used again and again, so it’s a worthy investment. But lucky you, you can get Faina’s class for 50% off by clicking on this link!

So go, learn how to grade sweaters and watch this space for the new summer sweater I’m working on!