Knitwitter Getting Started Guide

Be part of knitwitter by adding your secret message, hidden in knitting or crochet, to our autumn 2020 exhibition as part of ControlShift.

1. Think of a message

What would you like to say but still keep hidden?

• Perhaps you'd like to send a secret message of love or thanks you'd like to preserve
• Or a wish or hope you're afraid to say out loud.
• Maybe there's something you've always wanted to shout out but haven't had the confidence
• Or a message that can only be understood by animals or beings from another realm

Type your message into the textbox of the knitwitter app. You'll see it appear as binary code in the box beneath it.

2. Hide your message in a pattern to knit/crochet

• Click "next".
• Click the pattern option buttons to see different ways your message could look as a pattern.
• Change the numbers in the boxes to adjust the pattern (you'll need to press enter/update pattern to see the changes).

How secret do you want your message to be? You can change the pattern settings to make it harder or easier for someone to decode or harder or easier to knit, or more interesting to look at...

When you've got a pattern you like, click "Print Design" to see a print friendly version of the design. Print it or save it as a pdf

IMPORTANT: The knitwitter app does not store any data or use cookies so once you leave the website your work will disappear. Make sure you don't lose it by keeping a note of your message and the three numbers you used to make the pattern.

3. Make your knitting/crochet

There are two main ways to turn your pattern into a piece of knitting.

You could:

• Use one colour for 0 and another for 1
• Use one stitch for 0 and another for 1

(remember you're working on the back of the piece for every other row so you might need to reverse your stitch choice for every other row).

New to knitting or crochet? Don't let that stop you. We've put together some of the best YouTube instructional videos on the knitwitter blog.

4. Share photos of your work with us

Be part of our knitted database of yarn by doing one of the following:

• Tag photos of your Knitwtter knitting or crochet on social media with #knitwitter
• Email photos of your work to pics@knitwitter.com

We will not decode the messages or store the text. That data will remain encoded in the knitting.

Please include your name when you share your work.
We want to credit everyone who contributes.