Some designers are super methodic, very fond of math and will tell you all about their grading systems, with 5 to 10 sizes for a single pattern… This has always scared me so much, looking like a different language I could never understand let alone speak.

For all the garments I designed so far, I knitted/crocheted intuitively, designing directly for myself or my kids and followed my intuition for the rest… trying to keep the “math part” to a minimum, as I always felt that however hard I tried, it never translated into something wearable in real life. This un-method kinda worked so far.

Then there was the Jehanne hooded cardigan. I designed it based both on the general shape of the Violaine, but most of all, on my own measurements and fit. BUT this time, there was a glitch and the helpful people testing the larger sizes showed severe sizing issues. I knew I had to alter those sizes, but for some weird reason I had no idea where to start, it seemed so daunting.

So I hired Krysten TenDyke to do some tech-editing for me, hoping she’ll get her magic wand out and hand me out a “perfect pattern”. Magic wand she didn’t have, but her notes, remarks and questions were JUST what I needed. I tell you, hiring an expert can be pricey, but it will be worth it because they’ll point out the important points. :-)

So. What I learned in the process is:
– while it would seem logical to have the front of a sweater larger than the back, it is not the standard used in the knitting/crochet industry, and there are good reasons for that (thanks to Raverly for all the valuable input I received on that question!!)
– an excel spreadsheet IS not as difficult to use as it seemed, and you know what ? It’s even a bit “fun” to see all those numbers coming out of it: sudenly I nearly have all my sizes ready, and all those triple-checks say it should even work !

– last and not least: triple-check gauge. On your swatch, on the finished garment and also after a couple months wearing the garment. Sometimes I keep finding different numbers, wondering if I was sick last time I checked gauge or if somebody changed those numbers during my sleep ;-)

Anyhow. So now I’m redoing all the math for the Roselette: this pattern highly needs a bit of TLC. There’s a couple things I want to edit, and I wasn’t happy with the current 6 yo size. The new version should go up to 10 yo size. How’s that ? I will also take in-progress pictures of the samples I’ll crochet to check those new sizes, and add those pics to the pattern.

This is making me very happy today. :-)