Kniterate is essentially a clothing printer that allows
an entire knitted garment to be designed and fabricated within a desktop space.
And while a desktop knitwear printer might be especially useful to those with a background in fashion design,
Rubio says that Kniterate is intended for anyone to use.
And although Kniterate is small enough to be used in a domestic setting,
Rubio says that the machine is primarily intended for use by various groups of people and community organizations.
Kniterate's first batch of machines are priced at
just under five thousand dollars, which is a stark contrast to the tens of thousands that industrial knitting machines with similar capabilities typically cost.
It started as an open-source knitting machine, evolved
into a fully automated machine, and now the Kniterate team has launched a crowdfunding campaign to
finance the first round of machines available for purchase.
Kniterate Co-founder
and CEO Gerard Rubio says that the process of creating a mashup of 3D printer and domestic knitting machine, has led to a deeper understanding of the mechanics of knitting and the user interface of a 3D printer.