Photos and Schematics Lie?

I spent most of last Friday with two of my knitting friends. It was a lovely day. We spent time knitting, talking about knitting and occasionally about other things. It made for a very fun and relaxing day over morning coffee and later on lunch. We specifically picked a restaurant that is very large and doesn't seem to care that we stayed about 4 1/2 hours. Trish was working on this pattern:
 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/553---3-4-sleeve-scoop-neck

She was using a gorgeous softly variegated yarn and the lace was very beautiful. She's very tall and always has to add length. Then she commented that a project page on Ravelry mentioned the neckline was too low. We looked at the photo and then the schematic. Hummmm, the schematic shows the neckline starts at the same point as the underarm? It certainly doesn't look that way in the photo. Unfortunately the disconnect may be as simple as seeing the garment on a small breasted woman, except I can see both the curve of her bust and where the sweater is pulling up at the front hemline so while the model is not very curvy she isn't flat chested either.  So I have to guess the schematic isn't completely accurate. 

Karen wanted our opinion on this pattern: 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/396---poncho

She really likes the ruffle at the neckline. Her version wasn't looking the same. When we looked at the schematic it indicated a straight more turtleneck like edge. When I looked at various Ravelry projects there was quite a variety of results, many of them were lower and wider. I also noted that the pattern originally called for a 50/50 wool acrylic blend that was either Aran or Worsted weight depending on the pattern source. Many knitters had substituted in different yarns, most often 100% wool. Aran and worsted are generally very close but most knitters feel Aran is a little heavier. 

I also suspect the neckline is slightly different because while the pattern is written bottom up in two pieces, many knitters converted it to in the round, both bottom up and top down. So sometimes the neckline is seamed, sometimes it's a cast on edge and in other projects it's a cast off. My guess is for the cast off finishes some are probably tighter than the cast on edges.  


Interesting that they are both Bergere de France patterns. The lesson here is we need to look carefully at the photo and the schematic as well as recognize that yarn substitutions may also have an impact on our final result. Trish also commented after reviewing this post that her experience with
Bergere de France patterns has been they are always brief and offer a lot less instruction than many other companies. The schematic does match the instructions given in print. She guesses that it is the photography that is misleading here.