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Today in crochet chronicles a tale of a bad pattern. I criticize modern pattern makers for mistakes but there's a long tradition of poor pattern editing.  While on vacation I went to a used book store and found this gem. It's from 1981 or 1982 and has some nice patterns in it. I really like this one on the cover.  But, this one, called Daisy Field, really caught my attention. I thought it might be a great car project to just make hexagon sized pieces. I decided on more of a light olive for the background with a dark forest green for the last round and the joins. I even read the instructions to make sure it was something I could do. Yarn ordered and ready to go!  My first sample didn't get past the flower because of mistakes that I made but I had success with the second flower and got this far before I realized that something was wrong. Do you see it? That is NOT a hexagon! It's a septagon! Septagons don't work for fitting together for a blanket. The pattern is written this way. If you go back and look at the picture from the book you can see a 7-petaled flower on a hexagon so there's no way that blanket was made with this written pattern. I even found reference to it on Ravelry and the person made one block and I don't think they realized it was 7-sided either!  I'm pretty sure I could make this block easily with a 6-petal flower and hexagon base. But here's a bigger problem. The flower is attached to the hexagon only with slip stitches between each petal. That's just asking for toes to get caught. I'm guessing that the blanket in the book was made by appliqueing a daisy on a hexagon base. I'm now searching for another pattern to use with the yarn I purchased. I have a few good alternatives so far.  But that didn't keep me from making something. I finally got started on the pocket shawl for Mom. The pattern is from Pamela's Adoring Crochet and you can find a free tutorial and $1.99 PDF on this page.  It has a tighter pattern on the edges to give it some nice structure. The center is 7 repeats of a 3-row pattern. It's really easy and this yarn is working up nicely.  Pamela primarily designs crochet doll clothes and since my little friend, Ella, is a cheerleader this year I got this pattern and will make an outfit in her elementary school colors. Pamela even designs patterns for shoes!  Speaking of Ella, I was finally able to give her the opera dress last week. She was thrilled! This doll is one that her Mom played with and the dress looked great with the doll's blue eyes. I think she liked the fur-trimmed hood even better than the dress. You can see a shoe peeking out. Her grandmother bought her silver sparkle shoes to go with the dress.
9/22/2021 11:19:06 am
I find that in quilt patterns too where the pattern directions were obviously written from from viewing a finished quilt and things just aren't right. In quilts it is measurements that were taken from the quilt and seam allowance is added to some pieces and not others.
Mary Anne
9/22/2021 05:50:45 pm
Could you try 'doing a google' for errata for that book and see if anything shakes loose? I agree with you that the flowers on the original look to be appliqued in place....no doubt about it. I suppose you could do a plain (ish) green background and then applique flowers randomly to end up with the same appearance, and a whole lot less angst.
Debbie
9/23/2021 06:49:21 am
The picture from the magazine of the hexagon quilt, IS a hexagon, with a 7 petaled flower. I think that after you make the flower, you are supposed to divide the back into six and proceed accordingly. I'd love to see what is in the written pattern!
Gene Black
9/23/2021 08:22:33 am
Bad patterns are so frustrating. I think those daisies in the "sample" photo were made separately and added on top of a hexagon base.
patty
9/23/2021 09:29:48 am
That is too bad about the pattern not coming out right. The doll's fancy dress fits her perfectly and is so beautiful! That cheerleading outfit will be so cute! Love the yarn you using for Mom's pocket scarf. Did you get that at Hobby Lobby? 9/23/2021 10:03:50 am
My first attempt at quilting many years ago was using a pattern in a magazine. No matter how I tried, I could not figure out how to construct it. I was so discouraged. My mom had me send the magazine, fabric, etc. to her. After she had it, she called to tell me there was an error in the pattern. I was so relieved. Still, I didn't pick up quilting again until a few years later. Comments are closed.
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I'm Vicki Welsh and I've been making things as long as I can remember. I used to be a garment maker but transitioned to quilts about 20 years ago. Currently I'm into fabric dyeing, quilting, Zentangle, fabric postcards, fused glass and mosaic. I document my adventures here. Categories
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