Excuse me....but why on Earth would I become a test knitter?

These days are busy days for my one-woman business and I’ve got quite a few new designs in the making. Hence, my test knitters are also busier than usually.

I’m so grateful for their great work and dedication and the fact that they help me both in improving my designs and patterns as well as my personal development as a knitwear designer. I’m working closely with my test knitters and it has made me wonder, why someone would be willing to spend so much time and effort in helping me?

Therefore, I decided to ask some of those great people.

It has been fun, interesting and eye opening to receiving their responses and I really can relate to all of them. Below you find some of their answers to my question. Who knows, reading those may give you the urge to become a test knitter yourself? Here we go:

·        It’s fun and exciting to use my knitting skills to improve and support the development of new designs

·        Knitting is a fantastic world and I really enjoy being part of the continuous development of knitting on a large, for instance by providing feedback to knitwear designers

·        It feels good and makes me proud to be a test knitter as it means that the designer trusts me as a knitter in relation to his or her work

·        A skilled test knitter is supporting the work of making patterns of a high quality, hereby also supporting future knitters of the design to develop their knitting skills

·        It ensures that I develop continuously as a knitter, because as a test knitter I’m forced out of my comfort zone, thereby investigating new stitch patterns, techniques and yarns that I would not otherwise have known of

·        I get to know new people, and I really enjoy the opportunity to work with the designer and to follow the process

·        An advantage in being a test knitter is the opportunity to learn through the support of the designer, when working with a design and pattern above one’s usual level - especially if one is a less experienced knitter

I’m always on the lookout for skilled test knitters, so please don’t hesitate to contact me, should you be interested. You can reach me at hello@handsonknits.com. If you are in doubt what it takes to be a test knitter, you may want to read my blog post about what I value in my work with test knitters.