I have been a fan of Ysolda for about two years.
It goes beyond just reading her blog and staying updated on her latest pattern releases. Perhaps if she knew how much I stalked her, she might get a bit weirded out. I have tried to apply the way in which she built her self publishing career to my life with the hopes that I too can break into the design world. It would be more accurate to say that I stole a lot of ideas from her: building a blog and website on WordPress, listing patterns on SandraSingh.com, hosting patterns on Ravelry, and submitting designs to online magazines. All this I learned from Ysolda without ever meeting her.
I was thrilled for her when she published her first book of patterns: Whimsical Little Knits and promptly bought myself a hard copy of it.
The first pattern I chose to knit was Grown-Up Booties.
Like all patterns, I researched the booties on Ravelry before casting on. Several people complained about the booties being too big (more specifically, too wide). Rather than adjust the pattern as would be required, I ignored all the advice and followed Ysolda’s pattern to a ‘T’. I lost faith after knitting just one and tossed it into my knitting basket, ignoring it for a week. It looked like the Ravelry people were correct. During last night’s baseball game, I finally bore down and sewed up the booty.
As you can see, there was no reason to fret. The booty fits perfectly.
Now, I just have to knit the matching pair.
The Life, Designs & Crafts of Marie Haigh 