Cuboidal Beta Knitting - questions & answers

Wow - 400 of you signed up to beta knit my new collection!

I’ve spent the morning selecting beta knitters and it’s not been an easy job. There are 200 places, and I need to stick to that number despite the sign-up response, as logistically and mentally I simply can’t manage more. I’ll be sending out emails shortly, both for those who were selected and those who weren’t, and I’m not looking forward to disappointing so many people.

Nearly half of the sign-ups were for the beanie/slouch style, and one fifth of the sign-ups for the beret/flat-cap style. Even the envelope slouch had double the number of sign-ups to places!

If you selected one of the other styles then it’s more likely that you’ve got a place; ditto for the 2nd choices, even more so if you were happy to beta knit any style as your 2nd choice.

And if you didn’t provide one of the 3 social media accounts I’m afraid you weren’t selected, as having either an Instagram, Twitter or Ravelry account is required.

Here are the key points:

• My Ravelry and Facebook groups are there for discussion and sharing your progress however I won’t be able to monitor the groups closely and I kindly ask that you use the feedback form for any feedback, or post any questions here on this blog post - my moderators are fantastic but we don’t want to overload them!

• We need a neutral space for questions, a space that isn’t inaccessible to many or that doesn’t require a log-in or account. So if you have any questions at all about the beta knit patterns, please post them here! That way I can help more folks.

• Please don’t email me with questions or images of your Hats - as much as I’d love to hear from you and see your photos, there are hundreds of you and only one of me! The only way this can be manageable is if we all use the systems and resources provided.

• I will be checking the feedback form frequently, and you can edit or update that form at any time. You’ll find a link to the feedback form on the first page of the file.

• Hashtags have been included in the file - please use them! This will help us all see what everyone’s up to, and will help folks who may be unsure of things or keen to see how a different style is developing. Personally I can’t wait to see what you all make and I don’t think I’m alone in that!

• Folks who use Ravelry will receive test-knitting codes in the email containing the files. Please add your project to Ravelry and add the tester code - this will ensure your project is automatically linked when the patterns go live!

• Beta-knitting will finish at the end of August. Please use the feedback form by that time to share any comments you may have. Please also include a link to photos of your project, in particular your finished Hat. To qualify for a courtesy eBook I’ll need to know that you’ve finished your Hat and shared your progress online - whether that be Instagram or Twitter posts, or via your Ravelry project page.

• Please don’t forget to tell me in the feedback form whether you’d prefer Ravelry or Payhip for receiving your courtesy copy of the eBook when it’s published. If that question isn’t answered you’ll receive it via Payhip.

I’ll update this post with more information and answer questions as they come up.

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A Questions & Answers update!

13th August 2022

• yardage: there isn’t a guide in the beta-knitting files about how much yardage is required for your beta knit Hats. The yardage will vary greatly between sizes, styles and yarn weights. There will be a section going into the eBook about how to more accurately calculate yardage but it’s impossible to provide yardages for all the sizes across all the yarn weights and other options. For now, go with an approximate yardage that you’ve used before for similar Hats.

• there will be in-depth tutorials in the eBook for the Crochet Cast-on, Crochet Cast-on Mid-row, Standard Bind-off and Garter Mattress Stitch. I didn’t add them into your beta knit files as I was already overloading you with tutorials and these are all available on this blog!

• you don’t have to use the Crochet Cast-on, you can use a different method that works for casting on mid-row. However, the Crochet Cast-on perfectly matches the Standard Bind-off, which will make for neater finishes along edges that remain visible, and it’ll also make picking up stitches easier as all of the edges of your squares will have the same ‘V’ edge.

• I need to update the ‘Morph’ pattern as the brim should be worked in Yarn A, not Yarn B.

• discussion threads for each of the Hats have been set up on Ravelry, so you can share your progress and photos! However please continue to use this post as the main question point, as I’m not able to use Ravelry as much as I could before the site re-design and my tech editor can’t use it all, so we’re not able to monitor it closely or answer questions as quickly or often. If you need to share photos with me for help then let me know in the comments and direct me to where.

• and finally for today - please read through and follow the tutorials even if you’re a mitre square pro! There are several unique twists and approaches to these, some quite subtle, and these have been done deliberately to aid the construction and ensure you don’t need to keep breaking the yarns.

14th August 2022

• the square types: there are 8 different squares that are used in different combinations throughout the collection. For the beta knit you received the squares that are used in your style, but the final collection will include all 8. You will be able to mix and match the squares but for the beta knit I wanted folks to follow the square style used in that Hat and sample :)

• the stitch counts and those that are a “multiple of 4 minus 1”: this is relevant to a few styles, however given that there’s one table for the whole collection I wasn’t going to break up the table or edit it for the different beta files, as that would only introduce errors!

• all of my tutorials in my eBooks are in black and white. This helps folks who may be colour blind, and it also makes the tutorials easier to read as the colour of the yarn is less distracting.

• the pattern ordering in the beta files isn’t ideal, I know. It was a juggling act trying to separate out a collection for the purposes of the beta knit. The collection is in layout now and it will have improved ordering, with the tutorials placed first to make sure everyone reads them!