knitter

knitter is an open software to generate a circular/rectangular knitting pattern from a picture.

The method is inspired by the work of Petros Vrellis.

Uses and Derivatives

• Mona Lisa by Anwer Al-Chalabi
• Dog portrait by Wtfacoconut
• Similar algorithm using Qt/C++ by MaloDrougard (also includes an interesting report on the topic)
• ArtRapid web app and store. Can create circular knitting patterns for free and purchase physical artworks.
• Stringading shop. German manufacturer offering free preview and purchase of physical artworks.

How to use it

1. Clone the repository (or just download knitter.pde)
2. Copy your grayscale image into the same folder as the knitter.pde and name it image.jpg. Make sure your image is square if you want to use modes CIRCLE or SQUARE, otherwise your picture will be distorted.
3. Open knitter.pde with the Processing IDE.
4. Modify the configuration parameters at the top of the file (optional). You can also choose between CIRCLE, SQUARE and RECTANGLE mode here.
5. Run Sketch.
6. Find the best parameters using the sliders.

Output

Visual Preview

While running the Sketch, a simulated result is shown in the window.

Instructions

The knitting order is saved to instruction.txt.

String #1454 -> next pin: 84
String #1455 -> next pin: 122
String #1456 -> next pin: 154
String #1457 -> next pin: 128
String #1458 -> next pin: 80
String #1459 -> next pin: 14
String #1460 -> next pin: 83

Furthermore, an interactive HTML page displaying and reading the single steps is generated and saved to instruction.html.

The pins are numbered counter-clockwise starting from 0:

Thread Length

To have an estimate how much thread is needed, the total length is printed to the console in the end.

Total thread length: 1543 m

Screenshot

An example result of running the current algorithm: