I published the apple seat pad on Ravelry, despite it not being test knit. I figured it was a good way to figure out how the system works etc.
Since then I've been working on the accessory assessment piece, which was a shawl I designed and made for David. I had the same person tech review it and this time I was able to find a few people who were willing to test knit it for me.
My version of the shawl came out like this:
It has a geometric zig zaggy pattern at differing scales across the whole thing created from twisted stitches. It's interesting without being too feminine. The zig zags are inspired by an optical illusion by German astrophysicist Johann Karl Friedrich Zöllner.
One aspect of the shawl that I was keen to have it be is reversible. I think it's nice when you're able to put a scarf or shawl on and not have to worry about which way round it is, or which way the ends are twisted etc - so I took quite some time during the designing phase figuring out the stitch so that it is reversible. This does make it a bit fiddly to knit as there are no easy rows and you're often knitting into stitches which have been twisted on the row below. It's also a bear to correct mistakes on as my test knitters discovered!
I published the pattern on Ravelry last week and have already had a few sales - which I'm pleasantly surprised about. I'm now waiting for requests for pattern support and hoping to see some more finished shawls out there.
The next assessment piece I'm going to rework and try to get published is an inset sleeve sweater. I might change this one a bit and actually make it sleeveless. At the very least I need to grade it into more sizes than just mine. I'm quite looking forward to having a go at that.
