Pattern Errors

[charkitty]

Seems like many of the patterns I've purchased contain errors. It's like the publisher does not review these patterns before publishing. These errors occur either in the beginning or towards the middle of the pattern. I know I can go to a website and check for corrections, but it's just annoying.

 

I remember many moons ago it was rare to find an error in a pattern. Not anymore! Seems to be the norm. I've gotten so frustrated I'm beginning to lose interest in crocheting. I feel sorry for any beginner who encounters this problem. I'm sure they would just give up on crocheting.

 

Anyone else have this problem?

 

Sorry, rant over! LOL!

 

 

charkitty

[GEMINI4659]

I myself think that this is one of the reasons many beginners never pursue/progress further

in their crocheting. Many times I have sat read and reread a pattern and shaken my head not being able to figure how the pattern can work.

[peggytoes]

As a pattern designer - it is very difficult sometimes to get a PERFECT PATTERN! I have several ladies doing their best to test my patterns, I test them twice and I know sometimes they still aren't perfect, but I am trying MY best to get them that way.

 

ALSO as a pattern designer - I would like anyone who finds an error in my

patterns to let me know.

I wish there was a MAGIC STICK to wave over a pattern and make all the

errors go away!!! If anyone knows of any SUPER ideas for getting patterns

PERFECT - Please DO SHARE!!!

 

And I'm sorry if you've ever found errors in my patterns ... I am doing my

best!

[LondonLaura]

Yep, it often feels like every pattern has at least one error. Sometimes it's fairly easy to figure out what should be done, but other times it seems like rocket science trying to figure out how to make it work. If the pattern is well within your capabilities it's probably quite easy to sort out. If you're testing yourself and your crochet skills then it's easy to be uncertain if it's your own errors or the pattern that is getting it wrong.

 

I'm making a blanket from a Terry Kimbrough pattern right now - reputable designer, gorgeous pieces, but errors in the pattern. This is on the edging, which means that you've already completed the entire body of the blanket by the time you come across the pattern error. I will be contacting her to see if she's aware of this error, after all mistakes do happen and if no one points it out... I would've thought that with a professional designer like this her patterns would've been tested to the hilt before being published.

 

I wonder if it would be useful to have a section on here especially for Pattern Errors/Hints & Tips where people could post any errors they find and how to correct it? Or tips that made a pattern easier to work in some way?

[Real Deal]

LondonLaura ~ I like your idea of having a place here to post pattern errors and corrections. Errors are very common today.

[PBLKNP]

I find what I have to do is just do a web search for "errata" or "corrections" for a specific pattern. Also, I always read the pattern completely through first, no matter how simple it appears. And, if all else fails, I just adjust the pattern to fix the problem.

[jheatherley]

Yes, that's a great idea.

[Craw]

I come across errors all the time too. Lots and lots of them in magazines as I think they throw those publications together faster than a book or even printed leaflet. Magazines have deadlines to meet and that usually means more errors. It was especially frustrating to me when I was just beginning to learn to read patterns and crochet. I became very critical of myself saying I was stupid and couldn't learn when all along it was just a mistake in the pattern. I'm making a bed doll right now from TDCreations. There are several errors in it but nothing I couldn't figure out. Had I been doing this doll when I first learned to crochet, I'd have probably given up on the pattern and blamed myself for not being able to understand it. In the beginning, the slightest things can throw you off.

[Karen C.]

Yep, it often feels like every pattern has at least one error. Sometimes it's fairly easy to figure out what should be done, but other times it seems like rocket science trying to figure out how to make it work. If the pattern is well within your capabilities it's probably quite easy to sort out. If you're testing yourself and your crochet skills then it's easy to be uncertain if it's your own errors or the pattern that is getting it wrong.

 

I'm making a blanket from a Terry Kimbrough pattern right now - reputable designer, gorgeous pieces, but errors in the pattern. This is on the edging, which means that you've already completed the entire body of the blanket by the time you come across the pattern error. I will be contacting her to see if she's aware of this error, after all mistakes do happen and if no one points it out... I would've thought that with a professional designer like this her patterns would've been tested to the hilt before being published.

 

I wonder if it would be useful to have a section on here especially for Pattern Errors/Hints & Tips where people could post any errors they find and how to correct it? Or tips that made a pattern easier to work in some way?

 

What particular pattern is this? Maybe I can help you sort it out? I have many of her designs and I've crocheted a lot of her afghans. If you let me know the design and the publication it's in I might can help.

[Empress Busy Bee]

I find what I have to do is just do a web search for "errata" or "corrections" for a specific pattern.

They don't always have one though.

 

Also, I always read the pattern completely through first, no matter how simple it appears.

Sometimes it's just not obvious until you're working the pattern.

 

I was working on a pattern from a book a couple years ago and the math or something was completely wrong on it. I posted here for help and no one could figure it out. So I emailed the designer, a well known and experienced designer, I got a reply back and it was an error on her part. She emailed back and forth with me a bit and was supposed to redo the whole thing but that was the last I heard from her. I never did finish what I was doing as I had a lot of other things going on. I don't know if I'll ever try to work something else out on that or just forget about it.

[Katchkan]

You must also realize that designers that send in patterns to be published have no control over the patterns once the editor receives it. Oftentimes they reword the pattern to fit their style. Somethings don't translate well or things get forgotten in the rewrite. So it isn't always poorly written patterns. One of the reasons I am leaning more and more to self publishing. I have more control over what I present as a pattern that way.

Even with mulitlple testers things can and do slip by. It just goes to show we are only people too.

[LondonLaura]

Karen, thanks for the offer of help. I figured out what to do, but like Craw says, sometimes you can't do that and then doubt yourself. Thanks again for offering to help though

[pasteeater]

I can understand your frustration. It isn't fun to work on something only to find out it's not working out. I recently made up my first real pattern and had hopes to try and sell it. The problem is it's really hard to get the terms right and the stitches to add up. I guess I can understand how there are errors. I'm sure people who have experience in designing don't have errors on purpose. It's really hard [for me anyway] to write out a pattern. I know if you buy patterns through etsy, for instance, they offer their email address to you if you have any problems.

[CroJulee]

As a pattern designer - it is very difficult sometimes to get a PERFECT PATTERN! I have several ladies doing their best to test my patterns, I test them twice and I know sometimes they still aren't perfect, but I am trying MY best to get them that way.

 

ALSO as a pattern designer - I would like anyone who finds an error in my

patterns to let me know.

I wish there was a MAGIC STICK to wave over a pattern and make all the

errors go away!!! If anyone knows of any SUPER ideas for getting patterns

PERFECT - Please DO SHARE!!!

 

And I'm sorry if you've ever found errors in my patterns ... I am doing my

best!

Ditto what she said. I've had some of my patterns tested and I've gone over them a few times myself and still miss a few things but I do try very hard to make my patterns easy to understand, I do offer "Pattern support" just in case some one has a hard time with it but so far I haven't heard anything yet, but please, if some one finds an error in one of my patterns, please let me know. I'm sure every one agrees with me, but customer service is very important but we can only provide good customer service if the customers are willing to let us know when somethings not right.

 

Anywho!!

Just my 1.5 cents

 

Have a great night!

 

Julee

[Karen C.]

I hate errors in patterns and I sometimes wonder when the pattern says "advanced" does it have more to do with how the pattern is written or what crocheting skills you have to complete the project?!

[Elle]

While the designer does have a great deal of responsibility to make sure that a pattern is accurate, I would imagine that the patterns as we see them printed are only as accurate as the people who prepare them for publication. Unless a pattern is typed by the designer, submitted on a disc, and only has to be copied from the disc onto another program before it ends up on paper, there's always the chance that whomever recopies the pattern prior to publishing can cause all kinds of problems in the way of typos, transpositions and even omitting things, especially if the pattern is a complicated one.

[eurolyons]

After posting a pattern here for the first time a month ago, and having 2 of my patterns recently tested, I have a new appreciation for designers. Pattern errors are unfortunate...I was so mad at myself that ANY typos were found at all. Typos are my fault...and it's not like I didn't proofread my own work, several times.

 

Sometimes it's how something is written that can be confusing. In working with patterns myself...sometimes what I see as an error, turns out to be that I didn't get what the designer was going for...I didn't get her concept. This has happened a couple of times recently. I'm sitting there insisting it's an error and then later on, bam...oh, so that's what she meant...well then, why didn't she write it THIS way...

 

Each publication has their own writing style guidelines they want designers to follow when they submit a pattern, so if they accept a pattern and they feel they pattern writing needs editing to suit the publication's style, I'm sure that's part of the problem with errors. I agree with what Katchekan posted on that subject.

 

Also something else to consider...everyone is trying to make sure that they are also writing in their own voice, how many ways is there to writes some of the most common stitch patterns? I know for myself, that I'm trying to be clear, yet not sound like I'm plagarizing anyone else's phrasing...

 

If you've ever worked with vintage patterns from the Victorian era, one could say those patterns are "riddled with errors" only because of omissions. They don't spell out every.single.stitch because some things were just assumed the crocheter would know what to do next.

 

I saw a recent crochet magazine that on the cover said, "All patterns tested 3 times." That's great. Now I'm wondering if people still found any errors regardless.

 

Also, just with my own patterns, they are not "super experienced, advanced" patterns, but they are also NOT necessarily "easy, beginner" for the first time, never.held.a.hook.in.their.life crocheter either.

 

It's been a learning experience with the pattern testing to discover just how differently people think, just by the questions I received...things I take for granted and think that everyone else would automatically know, were asked...

 

Typos I get as a real error, but unless it's a glaring error of omission, what I might consider an error maybe it's not.

[Miss Crochet]

I have a brain that has difficulty following written instructions, like a pattern or a manual. I'm a visual/kinesthetic learner, so I have to SEE something. So a pattern with minor errors often doesn't bother me, because I am usually following a picture or a close up of the finished product as well, so I can fudge it a little! Having said that, I also have never made anything that relies strictly on gauge, or where stitch-count is vital to the outcome of the finished product (a wearable, for example.) For that reason, I would only buy/make a pattern that has lots of pictures, close-ups and maybe illustrations of stitch sequences. Nonetheless, I do get very annoyed when I have to spend precious crochet-time trying to figure out what the designer meant by her cryptic instructions.

 

 

(I have been thinking about tackling a Seraphina shawl but only do it now that I have found that super diagram on C'Ville that shows you the stitches in a graph form. If I didn't have that, I wouldn't even dream of it.)

[Miss Crochet]

While the designer does have a great deal of responsibility to make sure that a pattern is accurate, I would imagine that the patterns as we see them printed are only as accurate as the people who prepare them for publication. Unless a pattern is typed by the designer, submitted on a disc, and only has to be copied from the disc onto another program before it ends up on paper, there's always the chance that whomever recopies the pattern prior to publishing can cause all kinds of problems in the way of typos, transpositions and even omitting things, especially if the pattern is a complicated one.

 

As the daughter of a graphic designer: absolutely. Think of all the small things that could be left out of a pattern - a dc or sc could make a big difference. Sometimes text flows over or behind e.g. illustrations or it gets cropped by mistake. Unless the typesetter is a crocheter, s/he can't know if a hdc has got lost along the way. One row instruction looks pretty much like the next. A designer should have the opportunity to thoroughly proofread her work before it goes to publication. Anything I have published has been sent to me by the publishers after typesetting for a final proof - and I find tons of errors.

[LondonLaura]

I'm finding this thread very informative! Seems like there's many a slip between cup and lip as the saying goes, or perhaps I should say many a ch sp between two shells The replies from designers have certainly given me a better idea of the full story, thanks for giving your point of view so clearly, it will make me less annoyed when I find an error

 

It must be very frustrating for a designer if the error occurs during publication - at that point it's out of their control but will likely be considered their mistake all the same

 

I admit to getting cross when I find errors - sometimes it's a quick fix and other times I end up feeling like I might as well have designed the pattern myself. But I'm a stubborn so and so, and there's also a perverse part of me that enjoys figuring out how to make something work and the satisfaction when it all comes together. Hey designers, that doesn't mean we want mistakes there on purpose though

[eurolyons]

I have a brain that has difficulty following written instructions, like a pattern or a manual. I'm a visual/kinesthetic learner, so I have to SEE something. So a pattern with minor errors often doesn't bother me, because I am usually following a picture or a close up of the finished product as well, so I can fudge it a little! Having said that, I also have never made anything that relies strictly on gauge, or where stitch-count is vital to the outcome of the finished product (a wearable, for example.) For that reason, I would only buy/make a pattern that has lots of pictures, close-ups and maybe illustrations of stitch sequences. Nonetheless, I do get very annoyed when I have to spend precious crochet-time trying to figure out what the designer meant by her cryptic instructions.

 

 

(I have been thinking about tackling a Seraphina shawl but only do it now that I have found that super diagram on C'Ville that shows you the stitches in a graph form. If I didn't have that, I wouldn't even dream of it.)

 

It's a funny thing with me...I think that I'm a visual learner (and I am to a large degree) but it takes me a second to get my barrings with the international charts for regular crocheting...it takes me a few minutes to figure out the code you know? And I'm one that likes to use pictures to learn a pattern. And I find most pictures in patterns are very helpful.

 

However, if given a choice between written pattern and a stitch chart with the symbols, I need the written pattern...unless there are photos of at least the finished piece. Odd huh?

[Amy]

 

I wonder if it would be useful to have a section on here especially for Pattern Errors/Hints & Tips where people could post any errors they find and how to correct it? Or tips that made a pattern easier to work in some way?

 

This sounds like a great idea, but unfortunately, it could also end up causing copyright issues for Crochetville if the actual corrections are posted here. It would all depend on what the error was, and how much of a pattern had to be posted for the corrections.

 

Most pattern publishers might prefer for the errata to be published on their own websites, and for us just to post a link to the errata.

 

Let Donna and me think about this and see if there's some way to do this that would be helpful to our members as well as respectful of the copyright issues involved.