Charts

I like charted patterns, although for anything other than colourwork I always try to include both charted and written instructions in my patterns, given that they're sold digitally I figured why not give people the choice?  A while ago I was watching some of Kate Heppell's Kitty Knits vlogs (they're on youtube and she's lovely, you should check her out) and she mentioned that there is a large segment of knitters who can't read charts.  I thought that was a funny statement, they's a key right there and I think they're so intuitive, plus it's the sort of thing that's easy to learn even if it looks like Greek the first time, at least that's what I thought.

Last week I was knitting something, there was a shape made out in reverse stockinette and I had a chart showing which sts were purled and which were knit.  There were only the two symbols and they clearly made out a particular shape when an older friend who is a very competent knitter walked by, saw the paper, and exclaimed, "that can not be a knitting pattern!  Is that a knitting pattern?  How can you read that?"  Genuine questions, from someone well versed in all things knitting.  I was considering leaving the written instructions out of this pattern but I have been put quite firmly back in my place.   Isn't it so funny how something so clear to one person is confusing to another?  I would have found working written instructions for this particular pattern maddeningly frustrating, I make way more mistakes when I use them, my dyslexia makes using written instructions pretty difficult but she would have been able to do it no problem, while finding the way I do things simply foreign.