Sometimes you want to make something, but you can’t find a crochet pattern for the item you want to create. With a little patience and practice you can learn to create your own original crochet pattern.
I have been crocheting since I was five years old, and I’ve made a lot of items. However, there have been times when I couldn’t find a pattern for the thing I wanted to create, or I couldn’t afford to buy the pattern. Instead of giving up on the idea, I learned how to create my own original crochet patterns for the projects I wanted to create.
The first step to making your own original crochet pattern is to get familiar with as many different stitches as possible. You will often find stitch guides in the front or back of crochet books, and there are many sites on the internet that will teach you stitches. Knowing a wide variety of stitches will give you a good arsenal for use in your own patterns. It’s also a good idea to learn various stitch combinations, like Paris stitch, loop stitch and others. You can even go one step further and learn how to make motifs that you can sew or crochet together to make items.
Once you have a good grip on a wide variety of crochet stitches, start thinking about what kind of stitches would be good for the item you want to create. For instance, if you want to make a doily, you’ll probably want to use chains, trebble crochets and slip stitches. If you’re making a toy you’ll want to use single, half double and possible crossed double crochet stitches. For ornate items, you’ll want to use some of those stitch combinations or motifs you’ve learned.
The next step to making your original crochet pattern is to just dive in and start working. You know how to do the stitches and what stitches will work best for the item you want to create, so start testing. I recommend using scrap yarn instead of buying new yarn, just in case you have to rip it out and try again. You don’t want to spoil a fresh skein of yarn or thread. As you work, write down ever row or round.
If you run into trouble with the pattern, look at what you’ve written down to see if you can figure out what went wrong. Do you need to increase or decrease more? Did you use fewer or more stitches than you needed? Did the stitch you chose to use not produce the desired effect? When you have an idea of what went wrong, unravel the bad part, and try again. Make sure you change your notes to reflect what you’ve done.
Sometimes you’ll get lucky and your original crochet pattern will turn out right on the first try. This always makes you feel good, and if you took good notes, you’ll be able to recreate the item at any time. If it didn’t go quite as planned, just unravel and try again. If you have someone around who knows how to crochet well, you can ask them to help you figure out where the pattern went wrong. If you’re on your own, you can either keep trying different things, or if possible, look at a similar pattern that someone else has made and see if you can get an idea of where the problem lies.
As you get more practice, it will get easier for you to create your own original patterns. A good way to get some extra practice is to take existing patterns and modify them to be something else. A good example would be one that I did. I learned how to make little crocheted snowmen. I modified the pattern to make a teddy bear, and then modified the teddy bear into a goddess doll. I also took a coaster pattern and modified it into a bikini top.
Creating your own original crochet pattens can be rewarding for more than just your sense of accomplishment. Once you get good at making unique patterns, and you learn how to write them down so they can be followed by others, you can sell the patterns. I wish I had written down all the crochet patterns I’ve created so that I could sell or share them. If you get really good at making original crochet patterns, you might be able to turn it into a bit of spare cash, as well as getting the enjoyment of making new crocheted items.
