The Debut of the Sublime Snowflake

Well, after many renditions and drafts, the snowflake scarf that I've long envisioned is done. The scarf is knit in Artyarns 5 ply cashmere and the snowflakes are crocheted in Artyarns beaded pearl & sequins. I love it's simple elegance.

Today I taught a Jump Start Holiday Class at Knitting Central featuring the Sublime Snowflake pattern. I had everyone start out by crocheting the snowflake with their practice yarn. Everyone in the group were knitter’s first and crocheters second so I wanted them to feel comfortable with the stitches before embarking on their special sparkly snowflake yarns.

When people are new to a craft I think one of the hardest things to learn is the language of the instructions. There are a whole new set of abbreviations that those of us who have been reading them longer, take for granted. You really have to look at it through the student’s eyes. Then there's the option of charts to read either instead of or with the written instructions. Personally I find crochet charts much easier to read than the words. That’s not the case for me and knitting charts.

In the end I think it comes down to practice and the repetition of reading the instructions, comparing them to a chart and then looking at the piece your working on. There’s a certain degree of taking a leap of faith involved and some intuitiveness on the balance of the pattern layout.