I would really love it if this were paired with a renderer. As a knitter, I often want to see what designs knit out to without actually, you know, knitting.

Disney Research comes up with some pretty cool stuff. I loved their 3d printed speaker idea from a couple years ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zralu3wYUTU

Fantastic initiative. My wife works in knitwear and I've been cooking up a disruptor for what is frankly a lagging industry. Current best-in-class software can be seen at e.g. http://www.stoll.com/stoll_software_solutions_en_4/pattern_s...

Is there more you can share at the moment? My wife sometimes works with Stoll software and we are thinking about buying a double bed from them in the near future.

Compiler... 3D... and Knitting all in the same sentence.

What a time to be alive.

Just think of the nice bit of historical symmetry in that what is seen to have been the first programmable machine was a loom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacquard_loom#Importance_in_co...

Reminds me of the plush toy cloth pattern generator, http://www.geocities.jp/igarashi_lab/plushie/index-e.html

This would create a pattern, they have an example of sewn cloth, and inflatable balloons they built.

which was kind of a decendent of teddy 3d http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~jacobson/seminar/igarashi-et-al-1...

This is a lot more about the UI (which i still think is amazing 17 years later), not so much about the compiler.

Just don't turn on -funroll-loops.

Is there a 3D Knitting service, similar in spirit to Shapeways, that allows you to send a design file of some sort, and they'll send you a knitted item?

This seems like a great startup opportunity...

I wonder how does it compare with off-the-shelf commercial knitting design software.

Agreed. How are knitted objects normally made on these machines? Are they using the "assembly" instructions?

Reminds me of the openKnit project. http://openknit.org/

They have a new, soon-to-be-launched kickstarter company at http://kniterate.com. I really, really want a machine as described that works.

Combined with proper user body data collection techniques, this could create real customized apparel.

That's going to be cool. Combined with Disney, I imagine this becomes tailor-made Disney-branded clothing without the tailor. Their boutique shops like to let you customize.

How? Most apparel isn't just knitting

I want to see this paired with a Kinect. Walk into a store, select a sweater off the rack that you like. Scan the tag at a kiosk. Get scanned. Customize the fit and color. Come back in a couple of hours with a new garment.

You don't need a compiler for that. Simple patterns have increase/decrease points to adjust to the normal variations in the human body shape.

You'd need a compiler if you wanted matching sweaters for your dog, chicken, and you.

Most of Disney research is as sophisticated as cute.