Trial and Error

So last weekend I learned the secret to doing top down knits with a stitch pattern, and spent a couple days this week playing around with it:

So now I am merrily working on what is hopefully going to be a long sleeved sweater for Emily done in Floating Rib Stitch.   It's always fun to see how well or how badly the first attempt turns out! LOL

But I have plans for the simple slip stitch rib pattern (second one on my sampler) too... :)

I have found three very kind knitters to test my LTF Double-Breasted Jacket pattern.  I wanted to share it for free, as a sort of thank you for the many free patterns I have used and enjoyed.  I've put off asking for someone to try test knitting it for about six months for fear that it wouldn't be clear enough.  What can I say, I'm not a risk taker!  

I've made several successfully from the pattern in its current state, but it's already causing headaches for one of the testers, just as I feared.

I suspected there would be short cuts in there that I wasn't catching, and there are... for instance, my instructions say "Work in seed stitch..." and then don't define seed stitch.  In fact, because I give the instructions for the setup row, they strongly imply you should be knitting in 1x1 rib stitch!! LOL

Hopefully this isn't too much of a trial to their patience, as it will certainly be a learning opportunity for me.   I'm taking lots of notes!