grade fail

So Aliénor was not graded for different sizes because it was written to be flexible: do this until it's long enough, pick up enough stitches, stop when it fits there and then do this, that sort of thing. And I did it that way on purpose, because I really don't much care for standardized size charts. I, for one, am one size when buying pants and skirts, and another size when buying shirts. (I don't wear dresses. Or, God forbid, jumpsuits.) I think many people are, and that bust measurement A doesn't necessarily mean armhole depth B. It all makes me feel quite curmudgeonly.

But Juana is... different. Yes, you're supposed to try it on as you go, but certain things have to happen in just the right place, so you have to know when you cast on exactly what will happen 55 rows later. So it required much intricate planning, and I can't just say "do this until it fits." Therefore, I need to write the pattern for multiple sizes, and hooee, pattern grading is a fussy business. Once I had the initial pattern charted, the math was easy, but drawing seven pattern outlines on the same chart is... not easy. I mean, it was fairly easy to draw them, but now what I have looks less like a knitting chart and more like... a subway map drawn by a demented neo-plasticist.

Hm. I've known for some time that this charting strategy would not work out, but I keep plowing ahead with it in the hope that a solution will occur to me. Something other than seven completely separate charts, resulting in a gigantamundo file that's too big to email or upload, and requires ten trees' worth of paper to print out.