Knitty published two issues in 2002 (the archived cover pages suggest viewing them with Internet Explorer and setting your font to 12) and has published four issues most years since. In the beginning it focused pretty exclusively on knitting, and through the years has added instructions and patterns for spinners and crocheters as well.
The cover archive shows a window into how knitting has evolved over the past two decades, from relatively simple sweaters to a burst of feminine details, lots of colorwork and lace. There have been knit thongs, tea cozies, toilet paper cozies and nose warmers in its virtual pages, along with classic sweaters, shawls, baby things and more.
This issue takes on pop culture with a tiny, angry knit uterus, a colorwork hat inspired by The Wizard of Oz, a “Queen’s Gambit” top and the spectacular Please Do Not Adjust Your Skirt, pictured here and designed by Lynne Sosnowski.
Those who weren’t knitters back in the earlier days of the Internet might not understand what it meant to have a curated, professional space online to get patterns. And that it has always been free (but also pays its designers) is a wonderful thing. Here’s to the next 20 years!
[Photo: Lynne Sosnowski via Knitty.]