I snapped this picture of my DesignaKnit 8 manuals with my phone this morning. 6.2 lbs of paper, printed double sided. 5 manuals. This program is amazing and super powerful. With so many features, I'm overwhelmed!
DesignaKnit 8 is a powerful computer-aided knitwear program for PCs. It is available in 4 packages (Standard (for machine knitters), Professional (for machine knitters), HandKnit (NEW!! for hand knitters) and Complete (contains both Professional and HandKnit).
With only a few hours a week to spend learning the features and the steps of DesignaKnit 8, I knew I needed paper to read and write on. As you can see, I'm already sticking post-it notes out the top. Found the section on printing out hand knit instructions. And I'm very pleased with what was shown.
DAK 8 has 7 garment print options.
Garment Notation is the garment outline with the shaping notations (i.e. 24: +1s19x6. which means at row 24, increase 1 stitch, then knit 19 rows, for a total of 6 times).
Garment Text is a row by row desciption of both shapiing and stitch pattern. This option is for the hand knitters and you will have to have either the HandKnit package or the Complete package (which includes the HandKnit).
Knit Leader and KnitRadar are two machine knit printouts. This are printouts that are either full scale or half scale. Tape them together and you use them for the knitting machine accessory that helps to shape garment pieces. I've printed out the full scale and used it as a blocking guideline. Cut out the garment pieces, tape them together, pin around the edges on the blocking board, lift off the paper shape, lay my garment piece down between the pins and no measuring is needed!
Shaping as X's. This is where each stitch is represented by an "x". I've not used this much in the past, but if you are really particular about each stitch, this layout shows it very well. I'm sure there are more uses for this, and this printout is on my "to research more" list. If color is used in this design, the x's will also be the corresponding color that you set it to be. In other words, if you have a row of hearts, this layout will show the x's in boxes of different colors. You can not only see the exact stitch shape, but also what color it is. The perfectionist will love this as a proofing tool!
Print Text Summary would be like the cover sheet of your pattern. It is information that was entered in your Options/Tensions window when the garment is being planned. If the garment was created in DAK Standard Garment Styling originally, then this summary will also include body measurements + the add'l ease. No guesswork here!
Authors note: I'm still learning, so there may be a few omissions and misunderstandings as I go thru the Designaknit manuals. With only a few hours a week, progress will be slow. Please share you progress with me as well!!
