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The current issue of Spin-Off had some delightful projects, including a crocheted yarn bag for knitters. Yesterday I bought some linen yarn to make a practice bag, with the idea of maybe making one out of the ingeo fiber I had also purchased, after I spin it.
However, the crochet pattern was written by a beginner, and it shows -- quite obviously. Crocheting in the round can be tricky enough, without bad directions added on top of it.
So I let the Spin-Off editors know...
Dear Spin-Off Editors,
I started on a practice version of the "Crocheted Bag for Holding Yarn" by Meta Thompson using commercial linen yarn, before purchasing fiber for this project.
The directions are very poorly written and confusing. For example, the first round is written that on first read-through it appears that one should single crochet 5 times before chaining 8 stitches for the loops -- which would result in 40 single crochet stitches in total, instead of the 5 needed.
The only thing that saved this project is that there is a photograph of the bag showing the crochet-work in detail. It was not a crochet chart, but it let me puzzle out what the author intended with her directions.
Next time, I suggest you test the directions better, and if at all possible include a crochet chart. I know that Interweave has the ability to print good crochet patterns, because there have been three special Interweave Crochet magazines.
I'm just disappointed that this expertise did not carry over to this Spin-Off article.
Thank you,
MY NAME HERE
I'm going to rewrite the directions, because it is a cute little yarn bag, but there really isn't an excuse for such sloppy work from Interweave.
However, the crochet pattern was written by a beginner, and it shows -- quite obviously. Crocheting in the round can be tricky enough, without bad directions added on top of it.
So I let the Spin-Off editors know...
Dear Spin-Off Editors,
I started on a practice version of the "Crocheted Bag for Holding Yarn" by Meta Thompson using commercial linen yarn, before purchasing fiber for this project.
The directions are very poorly written and confusing. For example, the first round is written that on first read-through it appears that one should single crochet 5 times before chaining 8 stitches for the loops -- which would result in 40 single crochet stitches in total, instead of the 5 needed.
The only thing that saved this project is that there is a photograph of the bag showing the crochet-work in detail. It was not a crochet chart, but it let me puzzle out what the author intended with her directions.
Next time, I suggest you test the directions better, and if at all possible include a crochet chart. I know that Interweave has the ability to print good crochet patterns, because there have been three special Interweave Crochet magazines.
I'm just disappointed that this expertise did not carry over to this Spin-Off article.
Thank you,
MY NAME HERE
I'm going to rewrite the directions, because it is a cute little yarn bag, but there really isn't an excuse for such sloppy work from Interweave.
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From:
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You should know I bought a book on beginner socks. I got sucked into a yarn store by my eye Dr.'s place and saw all these adorable socks set out as examples. I want em, so I guess I'll try knitting again after many years. Let me know if you have any tips or fav. patterns.
From:
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Gauge is pretty important in getting good socks, and you'll want to make your gauge swatch in the round.
My favorite sock book is Socks Socks Socks (http://www.powells.com/biblio/6-0964639157-0), which you should be able to get out of the public library. It's got a wide selection of socks to knit, at all levels of difficulty.
My favorite patterns are from Heartstring FiberArts (http://secure.elann.com/productlist.asp?Company=Heartstrings&Season=&WhoFor=&orderby=&SHORTGAUGE=&PROJECT=Socks&PRODUCTTYPE=4&StartRecord=41&DoAll=True), and tend towards cables and beading. They're available from elann.com