I am firmly of the opinion that if there is something I have been meaning to do — but somehow never get around to doing — and if I suddenly get the urge to do that thing, then I should drop everything and do it!  So, in the spirit of “the spirit moving me” I found myself (finally!) at my computer (finally!) writing up the pattern for our “Teach-A-Friend-To-Knit Shawlette” (finally!).

It is kind of amazing to me that I even considered taking it on yesterday as we were coming off a lovely full and fabulous weeklong birthday celebration for George’s 60th with all our kids and grandkids here — so with everyone gone home and the kitchen cleaned up, I would have expected to find myself  draped over the couch with with glazed eyes flipping the pages of a knitting magazine.  

Maybe it was the fact that I had the house to myself for half a day and nothing very pressing or exciting to do.  It made me think, hmmm, maybe I could get some work done.  So, off I trundled to my computer with all my notes and the finished shawlette itself, as well as the yarn I used, the needles, etc.  Writing up the pattern is about recreating the process for other knitters and there are lots of details to impart such as the yarn specifics so I like to keep all the bits and pieces together until I get it all documented.

Now, I must confess that it has been a while since I have written up a pattern.  And I will also admit that I do not use my computer very much.  Hardly at all, really, since I find my iPad more convenient and usually sufficient for my techno tasks (such as writing my blog!).  It is so portable — like my knitting!  My iPad goes from the dining room table to the back deck to my favorite chair in the living room to Sarah’s house …. you get the idea.  Whereas my computer is hunkered down in the corner of my study.  But the computer is really the better tool for more extensive writing — such as pattern development— and I have told myself that I need to learn how to use it.

Of course, I have been using computers for years!  But the computers I have used have moved on (in the way techno gizmos do these day as they become outdated the moment you step out of the room to get a snack) and new ones have come to take their places.  And somehow I have never gotten around to learning the particulars of this particular computer.  Sarah tells me “Mom, it works just like the other one!” And she is no doubt correct — except that everything is in a different place and you have to do different things to make things happen.  And I have that older generational distrust of a machine that can suck down all my work like a flushed toilet if I hit the wrong button.  

That being said, I am happy to report that I handled my computer with surprisingly few difficulties.  In fact, it did operate much like the former models as long as I didn’t try anything fancy.    I puzzled out the tab.  And figured out how to insert a page break — tho I could not work out how to de-insert it later.

I quickly found myself completely absorbed in the process of pattern-writing.  I had forgotten how much I like this kind of work — all that careful meticulous attention to detail coupled with precise and concise wording!  I would leap out of my chair to dash across the house when faced with conundrums like the correct spelling of “yarnover” (was it yarn over? yarn-over?  yarnover! of course!).  I would scroll up and down checking for consistency — had I said “Knit across the row” in previous sections or “Knit all stitches”?   That sort of thing.  For hours!  

And in the end I had a complete first draft of the shawlette pattern!  Oh, there will be some tweaks and refining.  And Sarah will make it all pretty and hip-looking (because she is good at the fancy stuff!).  I saved it in the computer and in the cloud — and I printed out a couple of copies too, just in case.  Because, you know, you hit one wrong button and whoosh!  Down the techno tube!

I will give credit to a new resource which I found helpful yesterday — and which I am now reading cover-to-cover:  The Beginner’s Guide To Writing Knitting Patterns by Kate Atherley — a wonderfully experienced pattern designer, technical editor, and writer.  Not only is it a terrific guide to current industry standards, but it is chock full of common sense and good advice for the meticulous attention to detail that makes for happy knitters.

I am so stroked on pattern-writing now!  It makes me think I should (finally!) start designing those Teach-A-Friend-To-Knit hand mitts and cowl I have been meaning to do, but have somehow never got around to doing….