Excel to the Rescue

I freely admit this is not where I wanted to be at this point of the year with this design, but it’s where I find myself.  A lot of my work happens in the “little grey cells” sorting out things before I ever approach the computer or knitting needles.  And well, they can be temperamental.  So after Turning Points came out and I had a week off, I opened up the Meanwhile in Maine design ready to dive into the schematics and get it off to TE.  Then it happened… on the first line block of schematic numbers.

Wait, that’s not right?!?

How do I have 2” and 4” positive ease on the last 2 sizes?????  What WAS I thinking WAY back in 2021 when I graded the pattern the first time?  Was this truly intentional?  Multiple trips down all the rabbit holes ensued while trying to remember what the little grey cells had in mind – believe I was trying to add stitches (2 and 4) for the cable and ended up adding inches.  And that process took about a month later… hmm, little grey cells, we need to have a conversation about that… are you taking your vitamins 😉.  (Yes, btw, I am.)

Once it was determined to be in fact an error, how best to solve it?  I created a new copy of the excel (and called the old one original), fixed the grading (phew it still worked!), and set to work checking line by line for discrepancies.  It didn’t take long to realize this was not going to be an error-free way of correcting things.  So.many.rows.so.many.cells 😉.

Then the lightbulb moment – excel is a really powerful program, I wonder if it’s smart enough to compare cells.  Guess what, it is!!  (There are multiple ways but I found having 2 different workbooks the best way).  In one of them open a new sheet.  In A1, 1 enter the formula:

=IF(Pattern!A1 <> [Sheet2]Pattern!A1, “Pattern1:”&Pattern!A1&” vs Sheet2:”&[Sheet2]Pattern!A1, “”)

Where “Pattern” is one of the sheets you want to compare, for me this was the new version in the new copy of the excel and [Sheet2]Pattern was the original excel sheet.

Then pull this formula all the way across and all the way down and watch the cells pop up with different information!

Next step, for me, was to highlight all of the different cells on my new version and compare these values to the appropriate spots inside my InDesign written pattern. 

I *still* have to go back and regrade the swooping hem, but that’s going to be another heavy brain day so instead, the final step is to blogging the grade works to the hips progress 😉.

Heads up – the following is about Hurricane Helene

Meanwhile in Maine Update

It’s just camera dad and me up here right now while camera mom is stuck in the Hurricane Helene disaster in Western NC.  I’m so beyond thankful to report that camera mom came through unscathed!!!!  Camera mom & dad’s home does have a tree on the garage, but as well as can be seen there isn’t any damage under it.  Once it comes off, they’ll be able to tell if the roof was damaged.  I’m so thankful for concrete and steel construction that was stronger than the 40-50 foot flaming maple!  Though I’m far from there, my mind and heart keep going back over and over throughout the days.  The devastation across the area is unheard of and seeing videos / photos and knowing the people who are in them, it’s a kind of emotion I’ve never felt in all my years – both overwhelming thanksgiving for the preservation of life mixed with speechless shock over washed away parts of houses, a car on someone’s roof, so many cars in living rooms, and more.  In midst of the devastation, I’ve seen so much goodness in hearing how people are helping each other!  Last night the news came in that the final outstanding couple from our church membership was able to check in and give the “we’re okay, but without power and with property damage”.  With the extensive damage to infrastructure as well as homes, the clean up will take weeks before the rebuild can even begin.  I’m so thankful to those who are working around the clock to restore power to all the areas.  Camera mom got hers on Sunday just before the generator ran out of propane… like literally and a local landline phone, today, too!  Please join me in praying for the recovery efforts to all those areas impacted by Helene!

The “parents” referenced were the couple that checked in on me while both camera mom and camera dad were up here in Maine during the build. (video link)

If you want to help in other ways, I recommend Samaritan’s Purse (samaritanspurse.org) – they are located in Boone, the “big town” near us, and were out organizing volunteers, hospital overflow centers, etc. right away.

ETA: a family from church’s sustainable farm was completely flooded… update to include link to their story & fundraiser.