What's clear to one, may not be clear to another

Recently a few of us knit the Aamu top in the Norah Gaughan book. It can often get confusing when you are working the neck, shaping both sides at the same time. It can be even more confusing when you are also doing underarm shaping at the same time (as in this sweater.) I admit that when I knit my Aamu, I did have to sit for a minute and really think hard to figure out exactly what I would be doing on each row. I'm a visual person, and I usually draw something out on paper to help me visualize what I'm supposed to be doing. With this sweater, I didn't draw anything out, but I COULD have, as it was a bit confusing.

When Kalen got to this point on the sweater, she asked for some advice on how to make sure she kept track of everything properly. My first thought was to draw it out for her, so that's what I did. But what might have worked for me, didn't make sense to her.

So I put my computer skills to work. And this is what I came up with.

It worked perfectly for Kalen, and I wish I had thought of it earlier! Look how easy it would be to follow this! Lesson learned - use whatever tools you have to make it more clear. It doesn't matter how, just do it!