Shows Continued Improvement
You know how you look back on those (dreadfully earnest and sickeningly leaden) papers you wrote your first year of college and just wince? Or maybe it’s entries in your high school journal or your first few blog entries that make you cringe. Well I did that the other day. Not with papers, but with my early patterns.
Popped was my first pattern, and I didn’t know what in the world I was doing back then. Luckily, that one got totally revamped somewhere along the way as part of it’s release through Knit Picks Independent Designer Program, so it’s fine now. Slant and Dippers were patterns two and three, and they’re still a bit rough around the edges. There’s nothing really wrong with them. Scads of people have used them with great success. They just feel a bit…less polished…than my newer stuff. They’re longer than they need to be (I was way too chatty back then), and they do things like tell you what needle size to use rather than tell you what gauge to get. What can I say. I was new at this. It was also two cameras ago and well, the pictures kind of suck.
So I’m fixing them. I’ve taken down the old files while I revamp them. I’ve streamlined the text and updated the charts to use the same symbols I use now. I will take new pictures if I can find the socks (they may have worn out by now). They’ll be back some time next week. (If you’re looking for the for the SKA October knit along, don’t worry, they’ll be back well before the start of the month.)
I actually like Popped, Slant and Dippers. I have them all. And I have a bunch of your newer patterns. It’s nice to see a progression in terms of style and complexity, so don’t feel that there is anything wrong or amateurish about the earlier patterns.
I can’t wait until your new book comes out. In the meantime, I have your other patterns to keep me occupied.
Hope you had a good time in Nova Scotia. We pride ourselves on our hospitality.
Oh I’m so glad to hear it! I like them too. They’re good socks, and lots of people have used the patterns successfully. I just think there are a few fairly important parts that I left out of Slant and Dippers (you know, like gauge) that have led to some questions. It’s not that they were bad…just that they can be better.
And we had a great time in Nova Scotia, and everyone was very welcoming!