The first time someone told me they did this, I was stunned and flabbergasted–and a little embarrassed.
The second time someone said this, I wanted to hide under a bed.
By the third time, I was a teeny bit proud and still baffled.
I remain at the baffled stage.
What I’m talking about is deconstructing a book to see how and what I did with it.
I’ve heard this from a couple of people, and I’m always flattered–but also always wishing I would have thought of it that way before I’d written it. “Oh my God, what would I have done differently if I’d known someone was going to dismantle my book and then see what the building blocks are made of?”
Of course, by now, I know not a damned thing.
But I will always–humbly–wish for better materials, better words, more knowledge, a better brain so that my edifice might be as enduring as possible.
Of course the one thing I’ve always found really fascinating about this is that the people who do it don’t write anything like me.
In the most wonderful way possible. They write stunning, miraculous books with their own unique power and voice. Why would they look at my little project and try to make a pattern out of it?
I figure anything they got from my book they worked an amazing synergy over, a complete transformative wave, and I boggle at what wonderful writers they must be to take what I have and use it in something completely different. It’s magic, like taking old milk bottles (me) and creating dazzling runway quality faux-fur coats with them.
See?
Amazing.
I bring this up because of this pattern here on Ravelry; http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/dragonscale-gloves
Which is beautiful and stunning and gorgeous.
Which are a little different, but still amazing.
I’m not great at reading patterns, you see.
I mean, I’ve done it–I have blankets and the kids have sweaters to prove it.
but I’ve always had to change something up. The yarn, the length, whether there’s a picture of a duck on the front, as the pattern says, or if I can modify that pattern to be the front AND back. Squish’s TREMENDOUSLY outsized sweater that I made a few years back ended up that way because I was practicing the raglan increase on a poncho, and Squish suddenly wanted a sweater instead.
It’s always something different. About the only thing I follow religiously is the standard sock pattern, and I still add patterns every now and then to spice it up.
Anyway…
All this to say, I looked at those pictures and deconstructed them and made something similar but different.
Unlike the people who have, say, looked at my books to see what made them go, my version is worse not better
But I’m still proud like a little kid.
And Squish is an amazing model.
And I had fun. And I’m pretty sure I learned something too–I’ll let you know the next time I try to do this. Although next time, I may break down and look at the pattern instead of just the picture.
If nothing else, doing this sort of thing sort of shatters your delusions of grandeur, whatever they may be.
Unless you’re one of those people who broke down my books–in which case, all your grandeur is 100% non-deluded and awesome.
It’s my knitting grandeur that always takes the hit.
