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The ten minute preparation that stops a project stalling halfway through.
Almost every abandoned project was abandoned for a reason that was visible before it started: the wrong needle, no workspace, a missing notion, or a design decision made in a hurry. Run through this once and the project has a much better chance of being finished.
Read the whole pattern or plan through once
Not skim. Read it. You are looking for the step you cannot do yet, the notion you do not own, and the point where the piece stops being simple.
Note the finished dimensions, not just the size name
A "medium" is a different measurement in every pattern. Compare the finished measurement against the person or the space it is for.
Check your gauge or work a test piece
A swatch for fabric, a sample pour for resin, one test bar for soap. This is the single most valuable step on the list.
Confirm every material is in the house
optional
Physically put them together. Discovering at row 40 that you are one skein short is worse than discovering it now.
Check dye lots, bolt ends or batch numbers match
optional
For yarn, fabric and wax especially. A mismatch is invisible in the shop and obvious in the finished piece.
Clear a workspace big enough for the finished size
optional
Not the starting size. A blanket takes up the whole sofa by the end. So does a board on a workbench.
Write your start date and the pattern version on the project
optional
Useful for a project that will take weeks, and essential if you plan to sell or gift it.
Decide how you will stop for the day
optional
At the end of a row, at the end of a repeat, or at a marked point. Stopping mid-row is how stitches get dropped and counts get lost.
Print
Reset progress
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