The Size Washing Manifesto

Size washing. Size baiting. Lying. Ignorance. Whatever you want to call it, lots of patterns are labeled ‘size inclusive’ that, frankly? Aren’t.

Today, I’m going to invite you to look at patterns with a more critical eye.

Are we post-size inclusion?

If you’re here, we probably share a passion for size inclusion. You’ve probably surrounded yourself with like-minded friends, follow like-minded designers, and filtered your Ravelry results so you don’t see designers who refuse to make patterns for fat knitters.

Every now and then, I start thinking ‘whew, good thing that’s mostly solved except for a few jerks.’ But I like a good reality check, so I do an exercise every year. I pull the top patterns from Ravelry’s Hot Right Now, and see how inclusive the day’s ‘hottest’ patterns really are.

This year, I’m sharing my analysis with you.

5 out of 44

Of the top patterns that fit on my computer screen (I evaluated 44), 12% are for a size inclusive range (that’s just looking