$1936

So, I've been making bracelets for a number of years and after finding this site it was the first time I've had to work without written out directions (or being shown by friends) and only use charts. I have no problem reading the charts here but what I'm wondering is... does anyone know any tricks to figure out (in general) the best way to make any given bracelet a little more... sensibly? It's kind of hard to explain, all I mean is that sometimes when I have to follow the chart directly and tie the knots row by row, the bracelet ends up looking good but a little disjointed. For example, something as simple as pattern #2, basic Vs... I would normally (and do) start off by just tying three forward knots with the outermost left thread, then three backward knots with the outermost right and join them together in the middle (as opposed to tying a yellow FK, red FK, red BK, Yellow BK, and then moving to the second row). So basically what I'm asking is: have any of you found that once you get the hang of it, most bracelets can be made without following the row-by-row instructions exactly, or are there some patterns that if you don't work by row the strings end up entirely out of order? Trust me, I realize I didn't do a very good job explaining myself... but if you understand what I'm saying, I'd love some input!

I have found that on a couple myself once you've done them a couple of times it can be done without instructions. Like yourself when i first started making mine it was basic diagrams and instructions.

I think alot of the ones that use f/b or b/f knots are more trickier to do rather than say a pattern that is mainly diagonal based.