How Not to Write a Pattern

I am still working out the best ways for me to put my knitting patterns to paper. I am currently working on a pattern that I started writing a few days ago. So I went through a dictionary of knitting stitch patterns. This is good because I know what direction I want to go. I know I am working on a wash cloth so I know that I need to cast on 40 stitches. This is very good so far. This gives me a boarder of 5 stitches on each side and enough for 2 pattern repeats in the center of the washcloth with the stitch I picked out.

Things are still going great I have knit the first 8 rows for the bottom of the wash cloth. I like to knit the pattern as I am designing it. I need feed back from the yarn and the pattern. So I get the next 16 rows done and it looks wonderful. Now this is where things start getting wonky.

Eric had an asthma attack so I gave him his first dose of medicine and went to grab the note book that I was writing in plus the knitting pattern under way. Yes I moved everything into Eric's room. I figure once he had the meds he would settle down. I started knitting like I had done hundreds of time in his room. Of course I was not writing a knitting pattern but rather doing mindless knitting on ponchos, scarfs or caps. Some where along the way in the next 2 hours of popping up and down from the rocking chair aka the knitting chair and Eric's bed to get him in a better position to breath I screwed up on my row count.

My first reaction was that the knitting dictionary was wrong. I could not possibly make a mistake like that. My row count and the books row count for the second half of the pattern did not match. Just to prove that I was right and the book was wrong. I sent out a call on Facebook and Twitter for a couple of test knitters. This is where I have to give a really huge thank you to Jen. In less than 24 hours she managed to not only knit up the pattern but find all the mistakes. So I started a second one following the corrections so far so good.

So to sum this up don't expect to write of coherent or cohesive pattern while taking care of a sick child. Calm and quite are necessary. As to the question can you see the wonky pattern the answer is no. I am still some what of a perfectionist at heart on somethings. If you want to take the pattern and make it wonky go right ahead. It will be out sometime around the 20th of this month.