CustomFit Enhancements – Subscriptions, Calculators, and more

Hi there, lovely knitters!

I hope your holiday season is going along smoothly and joyously; around here, things are just starting to get truly nutty. My gift knitting is definitely not going to be done by the end of next week (!):

But that’s okay. I have a backup gift, and anyone who’s close enough to me to receive hand-knits understands that timing is… flexible. To say the least. Besides, I have some fun enhancements to CustomFit that I’d like to share today. I’ve been hard at work, this fall, improving subscriptions and developing some fun goodies. So as we all crank gift kitting into high gear, take a glance at the changes!

VIDEOS

First up: New videos. In fact, I’ve created a whole new playlist over at my YouTube channel, of screencast videos featuring different parts of CustomFit. Two in particular that CustomFit-curious knitters might like are a welcome video, that takes a quick spin through the basics of a CustomFit account:

And a pattern creation video:

If you’ve wondered how to create a pattern with CustomFit, or if you’ve never explored the fit customization options, this one is for you. I step through all aspects of creating a pattern in detail – from the basic information you’ll need to put in for any design, to the options you’ve got in terms of changing the dimensions of a sweater pattern before you buy it.

I’ll be adding to this playlist over time, with new videos both for new features and by request – so if there’s something you’d like to see me demonstrate, leave a comment here or drop me a note at [email protected] and let me know!

MAKER UPDATES

My thinking about subscriptions has changed over time – and I’ve just updated one of the levels to address what I’ve learned. Originally, I intended the maker subscriptions (at all levels) to make CF less expensive for avid sweater knitters – full stop.

But over the last couple of years, I’ve learned that the biggest benefit to subscribers is the freedom to experiment and change your mind while you’re knitting – when patterns aren’t limited, precious commodities, knitters fiddle around and do some amazing stuff. (Major kudos to the ultra-talented Indigodragofly for helping me understand this fully.)

Unfortunately, most knitters at the maker level haven’t seemed to feel as free to experiment (they get a limited number of credits, on a fixed schedule) as those at the maker-plus level (unlimited pattern generation). I think that’s a shame.

I’ve also been seeing an increasing number of makers getting stressed out about the rate at which their credits are accumulating – many knitters seem to feel the need to “keep up” with this arbitrary schedule of credits. And a CustomFit subscription should be the opposite of stressful.

So I’ve made some changes to the “Maker-level” of subscriptions to address both of these issues:

• From now on, the first two pattern generations each month are included in a maker-level ($4.99/month) subscription. So if yarn chicken suddenly has you feeling the need for elbow sleeves instead of long, or you’ve decided you only ever wear V-necks, you can regenerate and experiment for free.
• Credits that makers have already accumulated are theirs to keep, of course, and will never expire. And for makers who want to share the CustomFit love, I’ve made a way to turn a number of your credits into codes that can be given away. You can find it on your account management page:

Information about all subscriptions can be found on the Maker page on CustomFit.

CALCULATORS

In addition to the changes above, CustomFit subscribers also now get unlimited access to a set of handy calculators.

I’ve been wanting to write a sleeve cap generator, and other handy tools, for ages – but unfortunately the smartphone app model wasn’t right for me. This fall, I decided to make these tools part of CustomFit – CustomFit is device-independent, works on anything with a browser, and building them here required no new infrastructure on my part – all major wins. You can get to the calculators from the “resources” tab in your CustomFit navigation bar, and I’ve made 3 to start:

• A buttonhole spacer, that evenly spaces a number of buttonholes over a number of stitches. Have a different number of buttons or stitches than the pattern specifies? No problem!
• A simple shaping spacer, that will distribute your shaping rows evenly over a set of total rows. You can choose how many stitches to shape on each shaping row, which makes this useful both for things like sleeves, and for things like V necklines.
• A sleeve cap generator that takes information about your armhole, bicep stitch count, and gauge, and generates a set of sleeve cap instructions that are custom to your needs. I’ve wanted to do this one for ages, and I’m so pleased to finally have it out there.

I’ll be following up this release with a set of videos explaining how to use these calculators over on my YouTube channel next week. And of course, there are a few more calculators in the works. So stay tuned!

MASH-UPS

Finally, I’ve made a tutorial on using CustomFit to create a “Mash-Up” with another design:

“Mash-Ups” aren’t the way I recommend anyone start their CustomFit journey, but nearly everyone gets there eventually. This guide includes a step-by-step on how to make a mash-up, and a link to a downloadable PDF worksheet you can use while you’re knitting.

I’ve also started to create free Mash-Up worksheets for some of my most popular designs that aren’t built into CustomFit directly. You can download them from this page.

STILL HERE?

Whew! That’s a lot of update, and I’m super impressed if you’ve stuck with me all the way to the end. My gift knitting is calling, so I’ll sign off here – but I love to hear from you! So if you have any comments or questions, please don’t hesitate to give a shout-out.

Happy holidays!