Success

One of my goals when I started blogging this year was to eventually work up the nerve to try designing a pattern. I have a picture in my head of a gorgeous sweater that will entail charts, and grading, and lots of math, and scares me a little every time I start to think about it. But back in July, a dear friend of mine got some truly terrible news about her health. She was understandably anxious at the prospect of losing her hair, and I decided to knit her a hat. I wanted it to be unique, and decided it was the perfect thing to try my hand at designing. I used Knit Picks Organic cotton, which I thought would be the perfect, soft yarn to use.

I knit it up in a day, and then set about writing up the pattern. I tried to think of all the things that are important to me in a pattern, and the exercise of sitting down and putting it all on paper was very fun. It reminded me a little of a writing exercise we did in the fourth grade, where we had to write the instructions, step  by step, to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. If we skipped a step (say, pick up the jar of peanut butter, or take off the lid), Mr. Muffs, my fourth grade teacher would try in vain to make a sandwich using our less than complete directions, hilarity would ensue.

I spent quite a bit of time trying to make sure the pattern was "perfect" and then one day I decided to get up the nerve, and publish it on Ravelry and Craftsy

I have to say that my my estimation, the whole thing was a SMASHING success.

#1 -- I started with yarn, and ended up with a hat, that looked pretty much exactly like the picture in my head

#2 -- Its as soft as I thought it would be

#3 -- My friend loves it. She wears it all the time, and I know it gives her comfort on a lot of levels

#4 -- I feel like I have crossed something off my knitting bucket list, and I'm proud of the result.

#5 -- I liked it enough I do think I'll do it again (and the scary sweater seems less so )

#6 --The bonus. 78 people have downloaded the pattern from Craftsy, and 131 have downloaded it from Ravelry! I couldn't be more tickled about that. Every time I get a note from Craftsy that someone else downloaded it, I smile from ear to ear.