Writing My Own Patterns, a Much Bigger Feat Than Expected

 

I have been mulling over the idea of creating my own patterns for a while now. I currently write down ideas and I know exactly how to read my own instructions when I go to replicate a project, but will others understand my written instructions? The insecurity of putting a pattern out there spikes my anxiety, especially if I decide to charge for the PDF of my patterns in my shop. It's the idea of having others publicly bash or critique my work. It wasn't until the ever-so-popular Bernie Sanders PDF pattern overwhelmed all the major social media outlets, that I decided to try my hand at writing patterns to sell. Clearly, I didn't think any pattern I designed would sell as many copies as the Bernie Sanders, but the idea of potentially selling that many copies of a pattern intrigued me. 

The thing about writing patterns is you must have an idea and be able to envision that idea as you crochet whilst recording the instructions. This process can be time consuming and frustrating, especially if the idea isn't turning out how you are picturing it in your mind. It's a lot of crocheting, writing, unraveling, erasing, and repeating. My first pattern was Stitches from Animal Crossing. I was so eager to see this pattern come to fruition that I spent an entire weekend working away at it. This character is very colorful and finding the exact shade of the colors was a challenge in and of itself. Once I was comfortable with my color selection, I went to work. I literally spent the entire weekend designing and crocheting Stitches that my back ached from sitting in the same spot. I was happy with the end product because he was something I created but I wasn't excited with how some of him came out. Stitches definitely looked better in my mind than he did crocheted in my hands. Then I made the all-time no, no and looked up Stitches on Etsy to compare my work to other Stitches out there. I didn't do this prior to designing my own pattern because I didn't want my work to be influenced by someone else's. Doing this just made me unnecessarily judgmental towards my own work. 

My plan was to ruminate over Stitches for the week and then look at him again with fresh eyes the following weekend. During that week of rumination, I came up with several other projects and I never felt motivated to review Stitches again and that's why the PDF pattern is not listed on my shop. I will eventually review and edit the pattern. I feel it is best not to work on a project when there is no drive in me because then I am not creatively invested in my work and I want everything I make to look it's best. 

I did eventually write up a pattern for Mr. Teddy, which is part of a larger project I hope to reveal later this year or the beginning of 2022. Mr. Teddy PDF has gone unsold, but I know it will take time for others to trust the pattern creator they are purchasing from. I believe it just takes a couple of people to purchase a pattern from a seller then others will follow suit. 


I do find it interesting to see the different pattern writing styles of others. I enjoy learning new techniques when working from someone else's pattern and it's a good feeling when something clicks, like the lightbulb goes off when crocheting from another's work. I am always learning new things and figuring out why certain things I have tried in the past have not worked out. I always work on a pattern with an open mind and take it as an opportunity to improve my own craft and writing.

Happy crocheting my friends!