I’ve been working with testers for the sampler pattern I’ll be publishing soon, and what a learning experience it’s been (is being? Not done yet.) I walked into this project pretty green at actually writing patterns for other people. And I did it with a large pattern and lofty goals.

How did I even get testers? Surprisingly easy. I put up a thread in the ravelry forum called “The Testing Pool”. I didn’t have a photo of the finished product — just something similar. I didn’t even know exactly what was going to be in the finished product. And something like 8 lovely people volunteered to work on it. (Well, more volunteered. I chose 8. I think.)

Eight testers was certainly more than I expected or planned to deal with. But I’m glad (for this project) I accepted so many. For all kinds of reasons. It’s been great having people in different stages of the project. It turns out (who’d have guessed?) we don’t all find the same things helpful. We don’t all (and come on, Rachel, you really should have known this) have good enough internet access to watch online videos. And those lofty goals? Surprise again, some of them were unrealistic.

And now, as the first photos have come in from someone following the pattern exactly, a tester demonstrated a flaw in my layout. You know, the one I planned so carefully and was certain didn’t have any major problems. Here’s one of her pictures (adorable, right?)

It’s not bad, and she’s not going to change hers (who wants to undo 9 rounds of outer border?) But even when I thought I was done, she has shown me a way I could make a significant improvement.

What can I say, I love these guys.