I released Journal Six, version 3.0, last week. This version corrects the installer so that Journal Six will install under the 64-bit version of Vista. I have also included support for SilverKnit. If you own the SilverKnit device for your Silver Reed electronic knitting machine, you will be able to send stitch patterns to it from Journal Six. I hope everyone in the Northern hemisphere is enjoying the summer. I haven't been in much of mood to knit, but plenty of ideas are bubbling away. I record them in Journal Six. Then when the weather changes and I'm in a knitting mood, they'll be there, ready to go.
This is a screen shot from my new form programme generator. With it, you can generate sweater fronts, backs, and sleeves in a variety of sizes. Before working with the generator, you will need to draw a picture of your shape with measurements in centimeters and chart out the rows and stitches showing the applicable increases and decreases. Many knitters prefer to use pre-published form programmes, but just as some sewers draft their own sewing patterns, so too some knitters prefer to draft their own sweater designs. If you don't have access to many published form programmes or have some unique sizing issues, I think you will find this generator very useful. Enjoy, Jenny.
I was recently asked whether it would ever be possible to download form programmes to the E6000 Console. The short answer is no. If you have the chip set that came with Form 6, you will find you can get to PC START from the FORM prompt, but it is expecting Form 6 data rather that a traditional form programme. Form 6 uses an entirely different format for shape data than the form programme numbers. In many ways it is a much more simplified system, mostly just a listing of needles in work and rows counts. The way the program works is that you draw a shape with the pixels representing the stitches and rows. During the download the pixels are converted into instructions for increasing and decreasing. A disadvantage of Form 6 shapes is that if you want to adjust the width or length of the piece, you have to draw a new picture of it. To me, the form programmes are better because you can change some measurements without re-doing the whole programme. Theoretically, I could program Journal Six to change a bitmap of the rows and stitches into Form 6 data, but I personally think form programmes are more flexible. I don't have any plans to add Form 6 emulation to Journal 6 at this time. I do hope to make a form programme generator and post it on my website to make it easier for folks to write their own program for basic shapes such as sleeves and sweater fronts.
I updated Journal Six to allow stitch patterns to be exported as bitmaps so that you can use them in other programs or share with your friends.
If you haven't tried the demo lately, you may want to uninstall the old demo and install the new one.
If you've been thinking about purchasing Journal Six, what are you waiting for? This feature rich program will totally change how you interact with your knitting machine.
My earlier post on form programmes generated quite a bit of controversy. Apparently, some people insist that form programmes are uncrackable and that anyone who claims they understand what the numbers mean is clearly lying or deluded. Sometimes old beliefs are hard to let go of. Once folks believed sun revolved around the earth and Galileo begged to differ. I am no Galileo and certainly he paid a much heavier price for bringing his piece of knowledge to the world than I did. A few hot e-mails cannot harm me much. I do wish, though, that people would be more open to new ideas.
That said, extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. I offer my automatic short row pillow as that proof. This pillow is knit with the aid of a form programme I wrote myself. The piece is knitted in six wedges with the front and back being knitted simulatenously. The form programme takes care of all the shaping and so this pillow is very easy to knit despite its complex shape.
And thus, another form programme is brought into the world. Knit this pillow to remind yourself about Galileo, the infinite possibilities of the universe, and the importance of staying open minded. (but not so open your brains fall out :-)
Enjoy,
Jenny.
Ever wonder about all those strange codes that make up PASSAP form programmes? Well, so have I. After studying many programmes and doing endless experiments at the console, I believe I now understand much of the structure of the programmes and details of the codes. I've written up my findings as an aid to understanding published programmes and to allow you to try your hand at writing your own programmes. Enjoy!
By the way, you can store form programmes in Journal Six so that you may recall and use them when you knit your projects.
Happy Holidays. Here's a gift for PASSAP E6000 knitters...Some of the old PASSAP Model books show strange little card reader diagrams that are to be entered through the card reader in lieu of entering a knit technique number. Card reader techniques extend the abilities of your E6000 knitting machine and are a neat, but little known, feature of this wonderful machine.If you want to go beyond merely collecting pre-existing card reader techniques, you may want to try the card reader technique generator that I've posted at passappal.com. The generator will generate a card reader diagram which you may use to mark a reader card. Of course, Journal Six users will want to enter the diagram in the technique library so that it is available for direct download into the console.Enjoy!
Well, I've been busy, busy and version 2.0 of Journal Six with Sketchbook is now available. Price remains the same and previous purchasers of Journal Six will receive the upgrade for free. Journal Six is simply the best software for PASSAP E6000 owners. Try the demo today and decide for yourself.
Wow! Exciting news! I finished programming the sketchbook. Like the above stitch pattern? It took me all of five minutes to whip it up. I'm really pleased with how fun and easy designing with the sketchbook is. I think you will be pleased too. It makes a fine addition to Journal Six.
I still have to update the user manual explaining how the sketchbook works. So, probably still a few more days to a week until I publish the update. Thanks to all who have provided support for this project.
Work on the sketchbook continues. Here's a little doodle I whipped up in a couple of minutes. Looks promising, doesn't it? Many of the tools are done including the long desired text tool.
I've also been working on some cool symmetry tools. It took me a while to get the math right. Figuring out rotations and reflections does not come easily to me. I'm having flashbacks to geometry and trigonometry classes. Sines, Cosines, Euclid, and Pythagoras, you are all back to torment me!
I will be so happy when I get this module released. Still probably another month before that's likely to happen, though. Leave me a comment if there is a feature you'd like me to include.
Well, I've been working diligently on the sketchbook. Here's an in-progress screen shot. I'm starting to get really excited about this project! The users have asked for this feature ever since Journal Six was first released. I've always been hesitant because there are so many wonderful graphics programs available and I didn't want to spend a lot of time re-inventing the wheel. However, as was pointed out to me by the Journal Six community, those graphics programs can be expensive and they aren't optimized for stitch patterns. The goal of the sketchbook component is to provide a painting program that is specifically designed for creating stitch patterns quickly and easily.
Although the picture shows a lot of progress, there is still a great deal of work left. I can't guarantee when or if the sketchbook will be released. If I do release it, it will be a free upgrade for existing Journal Six users.
I am often asked, "what do you get if you try to knit the test stitch pattern and knit technique that may be downloaded from the settings page?" Well, here it is. It's purpose is to verify that your equipment is set up properly and capable of downloading. It certainly serves its purpose, but it isn't very exciting. The stitch pattern is just the word "DEMO" and the knit technique is a two color fair-isle technique that interprets each pattern row as four rows of knitting, essentially doubling the stitch pattern in height compared to most PASSAP techniques.
The current version of Journal Six creates stitch patterns from pre-existing images using many sophisticated processing options. You can go from an image to a high quality stitch pattern in a matter of minutes. Hatch and stipple modes work beautifully with photographs.
The assumption is that you already have an image to process. What if you are starting from scratch? Currently your only option is to use a graphics program such as MS-Paint, Photoshop, etc. This is a solution that works well, but these programs are not optimized for stitch patterns.
I'm toying with the idea of adding a sketchbook with some paint-like functions optimized for stitch patterns. Above are some icon drawings I've done for a possible sketchbook. I'll let you use your imagination in regard to what they might eventually do.
Now the big caveat: I can't guarantee that this will ever see the light of day. If you buy Journal Six, buy it for what it does now, not for what might be there tomorrow. If the sketchbook does make it into Journal Six, it will be a free upgrade for existing customers.
Those of you who have studied the user manual for Journal Six will recognize this image. I recently knitted it up as a four color cotton hand towel.
It only took a few minutes in Journal Six to go from a backyard photograph to a 100 by 100 stitch pattern. I used knit technique 209, which results in a gauge where the the pattern rows are approximate twice as tall as the stitches. The Aspect feature made it easy to preview what my stitch pattern would look like knitted.
Designing was easy. Knitting was another story. I used Brittany cotton for two of the colors and the other colors were some left-over yarn an ex-weaver gave me. This was a challenge to knit because the cottons were of different thicknesses. Slow and steady wins the race, though. I'm glad it's done, but I don't think I'll be mixing yarns like that anytime soon again.
This is now the prettiest towel I own.
Journal Six was finally released last week! I'm so excited and just a bit relieved. What an effort it was. It took about a year between its inception and completion working in nearly all my spare time.
There have been just a couple of sales so far, but I'm optimistic that things will pick up as word of mouth spreads. I have such fond feelings for those brave early adopters. They encourage me so much.
I will occasionally post things I've knitted with Journal Six as well as development notes for future releases. I hope you will find this blog informative and occasionally entertaining.
