Test knitting, what is it and why is so challenging sometimes? Well, when you write a pattern you have to test it out to see if what you wrote will work as a pattern. Or if you write detailed notes as you knit, which is how I've created the patterns that I've made so far. It turns out that its much harder to tell if your patterns work out that way unless you have someone else test knit them for you. Or you end up making multiple knits of the same project which can be fine, but also overwhelming. Which leads us to inquire of other knitters to help us test knit our patterns and help find errors among other communication issues that might be hiding.
That leads me to the second part of this experience, test knitting other designers patterns. Its fun in a way to do a KAL (knit a long) with other people and see the yarn choices that they've made, to see their project come to life in a different way than yours. It also can bring out things that you aren't the greatest at either, like making gauge swatches, or how you hold your tension. In a way though my first experience with test knitting has taught me some things about myself as a designer as well as a knitter. I am bad at certain things, but that just means that I have room for improvement. And I think that I forgot that in the daily grind of taking care of my family.
Being a good test knitter can mean many things to many people, and I think to me it means that you have someone who can communicate and give constructive criticism while also keeping in mind the designers preferences. This was hard for me at first since I've only ever test knit my own designs but seeing how this test knit was run gives me an idea of how I can be a better test knitter next time.
What are some things that you've learned about your knitting?