A Cautionary Tale

To those of you wondering, Mary finished the wedding garter in time! Congratulations to Mary and her family.

She brought block #1 from the Building Blocks Afghan Class.  It's coming along nicely.

Since Mary missed the second class (son's wedding) she wanted to go over block #2. She had started the seed stitch border but at some point had got off pattern and it turned into ribbing.  We ripped it back.

Then I had her cast on 10 sts and work the chart.

Michelle started Scalene using one skein of Zohar's Socks (Fingering: Bamboo, Merino, 420 yards) and one skein of Tosh sock (Fingering: 100% Merino, 395 yards). Can we take a minute to admire how her yarn coordinates with her project bag?  

It looks great.  I love the subtlety of the stripes. I suggested she add a yarnover at the beginning of her rows and drop it at the end of her rows to give the scarf more room for blocking.

She bought this skein of yarn while in Florida to knit a pillow.  She's not sure if she will have enough for both sides of the pillow. If not she either knit with a solid yarn, cover it with fabric, or needlepoint.

Eileen said that if it wasn't for the fact that she has only one more bobble cluster left on her poncho, she would be changing patterns.  I get that, bobbles are not my favorite either. Somewhere in the last row she acquired an extra stitch.  She probably picked up a ladder while knitting the cables so she purled two stitches together in an inconspicuous place. We also reviewed interpreting pattern language, i.e. inc each end this row and, fol alt rows six times. 

Next up was a crocheted blanket requested by her baby boy.  Her 43 year old baby boy. He wanted Dallas Cowboy colors. She found a pattern for a giant granny square afghan. Eileen had tried it a bunch of times at home and it just wasn't coming out right.

We read it out loud together and she knew what to do.  She couldn't understand why she didn't understand it when she tried it earlier.  Selective reading.  We read what we think is there or add/subtract words. Reading out loud makes a difference; it forces you to read what is really there. For the most part, there are exceptions to any comment.

Eileen and I really puzzled over Row 1 of this afghan.  It was not coming out right.  Neither of us are new to crochet. Finally we worked it the way we KNOW granny squares it should be. Eileen admitted that she did not read the comments about this pattern (and there were 15).  Usually she does, she figured it was a granny square afghan, what could be off.  Well, I'll tell you, nearly every one of the 15 comments was about Row 1 being wrong.

This is truly a cautionary tale. With all the information available on Ravelry and other craft sites, there is no good reason not to do your research. Read comments, helpful notes, and check for errata (that word always sounds dirty). I am offering a Ravelry class on Saturday, August 15 at Westport Yarns where we will go over this and more.