#technical support

I have a question! How do you get the patches you make so perfectly gridlike and clean? Is it just an even tension issue? I'd love some advice on this if it's no bother :)

I'm so happy that the patterns are clicking with you! I might be reading too much into "binging" and "consistently stimulating enough to complete," but I've always meant to talk about how the Patches were 100% conceived of and designed to accommodate my own executive function issues (short attention span, bad working memory, demand avoidance, left-handedness in general, and a tendency toward despair when faced with mild inconvenience). You asked about technique, however!

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Tips for Polished Patches:

I'm happy to give personalized advice if anyone sends me pictures and consent to have their technique and yarn choices gently read to filth, but I can make some general recommendations!

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Wash up and fix your attitude: The real answer is usually "add borders," (see below) but also wash and completely dry your Patches; then put them where you can't look at them until tomorrow at the earliest. Don't take pictures until then either, if you can help it. The washing helps natural fibres most, but your acrylic yarn is also filthy, and the time apart is critical! I don't know if crochet stitches actually "relax" overnight or if it's just you that does, but your Patch will look more like its lovely self tomorrow.

On a related note, when you do look at your Patch, look at it with your human eyes, in person, rather than mediated through a cellphone camera. Maybe it's just me who needs to hear this, but your lighting is terrible, your camera app's un-disable-able post-processing is not doing your Patch any favours, and textile objects—even those meant to hang flat on a wall—are not meant to be viewed in perfect stillness from a single fixed perspective. Craft dysmorphia is real!

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Borders, borders, borders borders borders: (add borders)

Clockwise from top left: no border, Quick Mesh Border, Blanket Border (round corners), Blanket Border (square corners)

Make sure you're adding a border treatment that seals the two colours along the edge—these are the Blanket and Quick Mesh Borders in patterns. Without one of these to stabilize the grid and equalize any gauge differences between the two colours, your Patch will probably need to be pin blocked (yuck) or sewn onto something to look its best.

If borders are are out of the question (or somehow not the problem) we might also consider:

hope you're having a good day. I want to take the opportunity to thank you for your makeovers. I like how they preserve maxis ideas whilst adding your personal flavour. I use your downtown heavily in my personal playthrough and honestly it's the best one out there in my opinion. and now you're working on my favourite hood ever, belladonna cove. with all of that said, I'm sorry to bother you, but I have a problem with a lot you've made over, that is 310 bay view drive. the beach is an amazing idea. however, when I place the lot on a map (I've tried both the standard belladonna cove template as well as yours), the pool just... falls of a cliff? I've even changed the neighborhood.ini, following criquette's tutorial, but to no avail. I wonder if only the lot adjuster can help in this case, or is there anything else that I'm missing? thank you in advance.

Hi! thanks for the kind words, I'm glad you like my makeovers! However, I am not really working on Belladonna Cove currently, it is on hiatus indefinitely for the moment :)

For 310 Bay View drive, it is meant to look like an "infinity pool" so it going right up to/over the cliff is intentional, but I admitedly have not tested placing it from the bin, it could be I have overlooked something, its hard to visualise what you mean without an image so I will test it out myself when I get a chance 🤔 I did use the constrainfloorelevationfalse cheat when making it so maybe try playing with that! you could also just remove some of the pool so theres so squares by the cliff edge