On Tuesday we released our new iOS app StashBot. Based on the response thus far, knitters were ready for this tool, whether they knew it yet or not! We're glad to hear from so many of you that this app fills a need.
Some of you may be wondering where the averages presented in this app came from. All of the data was researched and compiled by our team.
We started with actual body measurements. For sweaters this included 8 different measurements. All sweater averages include 2" of positive ease plus 10%. Hats and mittens are based on head and hand / thumb circumferences plus 10%. Socks are based on foot length and circumference, leg circumference and an average height plus 10%. Neckwear was a little trickier, as it encompasses scarves, cowls and shawls. We took about 100 popular patterns and came up with 3 average dimensions.
Once we had our data, we field tested all sizes against popular Ravelry patterns and made adjustments where necessary. We feel that the resulting data are true averages for the modern knitter. Keeping in mind that these are averages, for some patterns the yardage or meters given will be an over- or under-estimate. If you know you typically like to work in cables or knit multiple swatches or add length or slouch to your projects you can factor that in and add more to the average. You'll at least have a starting point!
If you like charts, all the data is available in the print version of StashBot from your LYS. The StashBot app is simply searching this data in these charts.
If you have any questions about how we arrived at a particular number, feel free to ask us! There is a StashBot thread in the Knitbot Knitters forum on Ravelry, you can ask questions there, too!