An Update on Yesterday's Post

Hey y'all. It occurs to me that I did not turn my most considered critique to the Blanche Too pattern, in yesterday's post.  I can't say why that is, exactly, but I'm going to pin it on excessive workload and mid-winter misery, both of which have undercut my ability to be as objective as possible.

Having said this, allow me to qualify a few things:

• It didn't take me 2 hours to figure out how the flat and circular patterns intersect. It probably took an hour. I spend another hour trying to figure out how to operationalize the instructions.

• On that point, I'm willing to admit that I'm perhaps not the most intuitive reader of knitting patterns. 

• Susan Crawford patterns, of which I have made 3, are not the type to hold one's hand, metaphorically. I mean, they hit all the points, but they tend towards the old-school. I do realize this, I mean I've bought many of her books. In fact, her patterns are synonymous with modernized vintage knitting, in my mind, and those books were my impetus to take up the craft. So respect where it's due.

• Alas, you're only as popular as your latest hit. I still don't recommend that you make the circular version of the Blanche Too - unless you are experienced and you read knitting patterns without issue. And if you're still considering it, I do suggest that you read the entirety of the circular instructions to ensure you've got them down. If, after that, it all seems fuzzy, just knit the sweater flat. Those instructions, while not warm and cuddly, will get you from A to B in a straight line. 

In closing, and I'll try not to harp on it any further, all of the instructions, for a particular method of construction, should live within the overarching section which details that method. That's just good technical writing. Blanche Too is a simple, short-sleeved, largely stockinette jumper. It would have been pretty easy to make this pattern far more approachable than it is.