So lets say that there is a customer, lets call her Lucy. Lucy is taking our blanket class, the Hemlock Ring blanket.  The pattern is a feather and fan pattern, after the initial section is complete. Lucy called the shop to ask if she could make the blanket larger by repeating the pattern more. We told her that, yes, she could make it larger by simply repeating the pattern. What Lucy was really asking was if she could make the blanket larger by repeating the stockinette stitch sections of the feather and fan more (so only a portion of the pattern repeat). Well, no, you can’t. That will actually make more of a helmet shape than a blanket. So when Lucy got to class this weekend, she had a helmet, not a blanket. Lesley here is demonstrating the affect of not having enough increase rows in a round stitch pattern that is meant to lay flat:

So the lesson here is: #1 fewer increases in the round makes a hat, more increases makes the fabric lay flatter and more “blanket-like”. #2 ask more questions! The more you ask / talk, the better we can figure out exactly what it is that you meant to say.  And of course, it always help if you are in the shop with the project Luckily “Lucy” is a good sport and was working away at the blanket again before she left class. I have no doubt that we will see a finished Hemlock Ring in the very near future.