It's... all... relative

That title reminds me of the episode of Friends where the girls lose their apartment to the guys... Ross is the quiz host and has a category called, "It's... All... Relative!"

Anyway...

I heard from more than a few of you about the judge's comments about the Cords and Cables crochet jacket

Well done. Nicely finished--the closures are wonderful. Choose a more difficult pattern to achieve a higher place.

You all are great--here's some of the feedback that I received:

I was lucky enough to see your jacket up close and personal when you had it on display at a yarn shop on the pennisula. I can't believe the comments of the judges regarding the difficulty level of the pattern, let alone that because it is constructed side to side makes it even more difficult from a fitting perspective. I give you a 1st Place.
- Donura

My theory about the crochet is that the judges would see anything "lacey" as more difficult than anything jacket-like. I agree with Donura - side-to-side? Crocheted cables? Recalculated sleeve caps? Definitely a first! Congrats on your three prizes, you deserve them all!
- Spinnity

You should have entered your beautiful pineapple doily in the crochet category! Maybe the judges would have found that to be more compelling? What an odd comment, that jacket is awesome.
- Teenuh

Plus a couple more that came in through email.

The comment doesn't bother me that much, in fact I appreciate the judge providing insight as to why the piece didn't place higher. For me, the project was not that easy for a couple of reasons--this was the first sizable crochet garment that I've made in many years, yes, the side-to-side construction was a challenge. Moreover, the fact that I could not for the life of me get gauge meant there was a lot of swatching, planning and a bit of redesign and rework, especially for the sleeves.

But level of difficulty is relative, right? It depends on a person's skills, preferences, and cognitive and technical abilities (and a few more things I can't think of right now).

If I were to assess the difficulty of the knitted pieces I submitted, I'd say the piece that took 2nd place was much more difficult than the lace stole from a technical perspective. But that's just me. I like charts, the lace project was pretty straight forward, and it didn't require much stitch manipulation.

I don't choose projects with competition in mind anyway so the judge's comment won't influence which projects I make. And because we're talking about perceived difficulty as a criteria for judging, it may not have a huge influence on which projects I send to the fair.

I appreciate your support and feedback. I feel very fortunate to have done so well this year and look forward to seeing everyone's pieces on display at Cal Expo next month.

Hmmm... maybe I will take Teenuh's & Spinnity's advice and enter the doily next year to see if it is more in line with expectations--an entry has to be made within 2 years of the fair so this piece will still be in that window.


Pineapple Song
Ravelry project details

[My difficulty ranking: Jacket more difficult than doily] Well what do you know? The comment is influencing my decisions!