Yarn shop owners: You have our permission to let your customers print their own patterns on shop premises! We have heard that some customers are not familiar enough with the internet, or are too eager to get started, to have to wait till they get home to print out a Knitty pattern, and a yarn sale might be lost. Since one of our goals at Knitty is to support the Local Yarn Shop, a lost sale for an LYS is something we want to help avoid.

So whether you allow a customer access to your own computer/printer or provide a workstation for customer use, both methods are officially approved by Knitty. Read below for full details.

Q. I own a yarn shop and would love to offer Knitty patterns to my customers. What can I do?

A. Every Knitty reader is permitted to print a single copy of any Knitty pattern for their own personal use. LYS owners are now permitted to provide your customers with the ability to print their own copies of Knitty patterns in your shop, provided you do not charge for this privilege. However, if your shop has a fee per page for printouts, that is not considered paying for the pattern; it's covering your costs. Please ensure that the customer understands they're not paying for this pattern in any way.

LYSs can set their own rules -- like a free printout if you buy the yarn to go with the project (and if your customers are shopping virtually, you may print the pattern and include it with their order, if you wish). That's totally up to them.

Here is what we suggest:

1. Print out ONE copy of any pattern you wish to feature in your store.

2. Put it in a binder or plastic sleeve and make it available for viewing by your customers.

3. Your customer needs to print their own copy of the Knitty pattern directly from this website. If they do this at home, you can write out the page URL for them to take home. Here's a handy 8 1/2 x 11" flyer that will give you a dedicated spot to write out Knitty pattern URLs for customers.

If you have a workstation for them to print their own copy in your shop, they may now do so.

4. Feel good, knowing you've helped designers continue to offer their patterns free to readers on Knitty.

Do you want to teach a course based on a Knitty pattern or article?
Please write directly to the designer/author with your request. You'll find each designer or author's e-mail address at the bottom of their page.

Do you want to sell kits of a Knitty pattern?
In order for you to use the picture(s) that accompany each pattern, whether in print or on your website, you must obtain the designer's permission. You'll find each designer or author's e-mail address at the bottom of their pattern page so that you can contact them. If permission is granted by the designer, please add "photo(s) used with the permission of Designer Name".

You may not print a copy of the Knitty pattern and include it with your kit. Instead, simply include the Knitty pattern's URL (see note 3 above) so that the purchaser can download a copy for themselves, and abide by copyright law.

We have been informed that some yarn shops are actually selling Knitty patterns. This is clearly a violation of copyright and should we learn of such violations, we will inform the designer so that they may exercise their legal rights.

Knitty is a popular resource for your customers and continues to help build interest in knitting worldwide. This, in turn, helps build your business.

By protecting the hard work of the designers and authors who contribute to Knitty, you are also helping to ensure that Knitty can continue for a long time to come. It's good for us all.

We thank you for your help and your respect of copyright law.