In Which I Think I'm Clever

I've been working on my Lace Coat pretty steady. I have picked up 197 stitches along the straight edge of the hem band and started what the designer calls the "day lilies pattern." (I'm half way through the second repeat, and it's starting to look like it could become a skirt, rather than like a long odd scarf.)

In the pattern, the day lilies pattern is written out and not charted. It has a 16-stitch repeat, so it's not too bad to read the pattern the "long way" but I do prefer charts. I decided it was worth the effort to make my own chart in Excel. I've done this before and used my own symbols for the stitches, but it's easier to use standard symbols that I'm used to.

Enter this amazing knitting font which has knitting symbols instead of letters (and includes a handy chart so you can know which keys to press). I downloaded the font, made a chart, and then saved the chart as a pdf so I could load it onto my new Kindle Fire. (I'm very excited about that part!)

But I took it one step further...I actually saved several copies of the chart where a different row is highlighted on each one. That way I could not only more easily read the stitches, but I could also keep track of which row I'm doing. When I restart the Kindle, I can tell which pdf file I last used and that will tell me which one I need to do next. Here's a shot of the chart for row 3:

I only made charts for the odd numbered rows since almost
all the even ones are just purling. I didn't include a complete key
because I'm familiar with most of the symbols. I just added a
reminder above the chart for the symbols I may not remember.

So now I not only have charted the pattern, but I have made it easier to read, portable, and provided a way to keep track of what row I'm on. Clever, no?