“There is no ‘wrong’ in knitting – you’re in charge of what you create” – Meg Swansen
I received a note from someone who had made one of my patterns recently, included in this note was the comment “I hope you don’t mind, I changed it a bit as I wanted it wider”. My response to that is Brilliant, you did what you wanted not what I wanted.
Patterns are not something that must be followed to the letter. They are designed the way the designer thought they looked good, other people with different body shapes and different views of what they want to wear will want to change bits and pieces. Some people will want to leave everything as it is but not everybody.
How often do you look at a recipe and think I don’t like the method they have used there I will do it my way? Patterns are the same if you don’t like SSK do a K2tog tbl or a Slip 1 Knit 1 psso. You could even swap to a K2tog if you think it looks better. Swap a round neck for V, add waist shaping, take out waist shaping. No one can tell you you’re wrong because it is your knitting and you are the one who is going to wear it.
I have knitted jumpers using the length for a M with the width for a S. For both my husband and my son this produced a much better fit. I looked at a cotton bolero and decided I wanted it in mohair with narrower bands, in fact I rarely use the specified yarns in anything I make. I have taken a pattern designed for fine weight yarn and knitted it in 8ply to get a completely different look.
Just remember when experimenting that you may have to rip it out, there is nothing wrong with that. No one is going to get a 100% success rate when they try something new. Some things just won’t work. As long as you have fun trying does that matter?
