Summer Sky Pattern Availability

Posted on | April 10, 2008 | 4 Comments

**Edited to update – The draft version PDF is now available**

As most of you know by this time, MagKnits is no more. Enough opinions have been shared on the subject so I’ll refrain from giving mine here, except to say that despite any difficulties MagKnits gave me a chance and published my first design, and I’m thankful for that opportunity. The good news is that many of the designers who have been featured in the publication over the last few years are actively working on ways to make their patterns available to the public again (indeed, some are already available for download on Ravelry).

I’ve been weighing out how to handle Summer Sky, my pattern that was originally published in the August 2007 edition of the magazine. Ironically, just last weekend I was answering some questions from a kind knitter (Janel, thanks so much!), which brought to my attention a rather glaring error. I was in process of writing an update to post here and on MagKnits when I got the news of the magazine coming down.

If you are working on the pattern or had it in your queue, please email me (melatpurlingplansdotcom), or PM me on Ravelry if you are there and I will get you a working copy (gratis, of course) just as soon as I can correct the error and pdf it – a couple of days at most. Again, an error has just been discovered – if you do have a printout from MagKnits, the error was not corrected prior to the site coming down – please contact me and I will make sure you have an updated copy to work from. I’ve contacted the folks in Ravelry with open projects – and I’m hoping that between this post and one to the Ravelry MagKnits pattern thread I can catch anyone else who may be working on it.

I had not anticipated MagKnits becoming unavailable, but it does offer me the chance to improve the pattern and the layout. In light of the error, and other enhancements that I plan to make, Summer Sky will be re-worked with improved instructions, charting and formatting, and tech editing (I am actively seeking a tech editor for a review once I have re-worked the pattern. I’ve made some inquiries, but if you know of anyone you can recommend or do any tech editing yourself, I would love to hear from you). Once complete, I will offer the updated pattern for sale. This will take some time, so I will keep you in the loop through updates here and on the pattern page in Ravelry.

Summer Sky was my first design, and my first pattern-writing experience, and I learned a lot. It’s not a difficult knit, but the pattern writing was challenging due to the different gauges, short rows, insets etc. (that’s what I get for choosing a rather ambitious idea to pursue for my first pattern! Like I said, I learned a lot). Now that I have slightly more pattern writing experience under my belt, I feel like there is room for improvement from the pattern as it was published in previously and that a rework is necessary for Summer Sky to be on par with the quality of Chrysalis and the PS Mitts patterns. I think this will make for a more knitter-friendly, enjoyable knit, and I will feel more comfortable making it available once again. I will keep you posted!

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