Grannyknot
Hi Debbie, I have been bought knitting pattern books (including some of yours) by my children over the years as gifts. However, although I would say I am a relatively experienced knitter, sometimes I struggle like the clappers with the patterns, because too much knowledge by the knitter is assumed. So ... I tend to gravitate towards buying patterns online, or even sourcing free ones, because often there is the opportunity of a dialogue with the pattern designer if you are stuck, and/or because it is an electronic version of the patterns, updates can be readily made if errors are picked up. (I print them out of course, but often revisit the website to check for comments when I am struggling).
So my question is - do you test your patterns on "ordinary" knitters? And what do you think about online sites being more suitable for sourcing knitting patterns than books (which are often expensive to buy)?
In a collection of designs I always try to have a range of patterns that suit a range of skills, so that within a collection of say 12 designs there are ones that will be suitable for a beginner or inexperienced knitter and some that will be enjoyed by the more experienced knitter. I sometimes struggle when reading other designer’s patterns if they are worded in a way that I find ambiguous so I try to make my patterns read in as simple a way as possible.
However, knitters can sometimes misread instructions, for example they may not understand the way that brackets or parentheses work. Sometimes there simply isn’t space to include everything, such as writing out row by row increasing into shaping such as on a sleeve. All my patterns are knitted by “ordinary” knitters, and they will point out if they have found something confusing.
If a knitter has a query about one of my patterns, they can contact me through my website. I love to work on a collection of designs in book form because it allows me to tell the “story” behind the pattern and the theme that has been inspired by the yarn. However, there is definitely a trend for single patterns.