How to Adjust Any Pattern for a Personalized Fit | Podcast Episode #49

Episode Transcript

Brittany:
Welcome back to another episode of the BHooked Podcast. I’m your host, Brittany, and as always, thank you so much for joining me today. I’m really excited to share this topic with you. I have had so many requests come through about changing a pattern size.

So let’s say the pattern is in a small size or baby size, and you want to make this thing for yourself or for somebody who is larger. Well, I am going to share some of my personal tips with you on how I convert a pattern from either a small size to a larger size or a large size to a smaller size.

Now, before I dive into today’s episode, just a couple of little reminders for you. The first one is a really, really big one. The Warm Up America Challenge has officially started. You guys have heard about that in a couple episodes here recently. Well, you can find the pattern, two tutorials in right and left-hand versions, diagrams, printables. There is a ton of information that I have put together to make this challenge as easy as possible for you. And all of those resources are available right now at behookedcrochet.com slash w-u-a challenge 2018.

There is still plenty of time. If you haven’t started yet, or if you’re thinking about starting, don’t let the fact that it’s already begun keep you from joining in on this challenge. I worked up my blanket in just shy of two weeks, and that was working a few hours in the evening. That wasn’t me sitting all day because this is what I do for my full-time job. I was not doing that at all. I was doing regular work on my computer and preparing other resources for you, and I was just crocheting this thing in the evening, so very much like you would be able to do.

And I’m confident that because the date, the deadline to send in your lap can to Warm Up America is February 24th, I know you’re going to have enough time to get this thing done. So check out BeHookedCrochet.com slash WUA Challenge 2018. We already have over 450 people who are participating in this event. And that means that we’re going to send… Over 450 blankets to the Build-A-Bed program to go to a child in need. It’s going to brighten their life.

It’s going to make my day if you join in on this. And if you can’t, I completely understand. It’s a lot of time that I’m asking for you to donate. There is money involved because you’ll have to ship it. You’ll have to buy your supplies. And sometimes we just don’t have the time right now. That’s fine. I completely understand that. If you’re not able to participate, but you think you might know somebody who would be interested, that would be the best gift that you could give me is just to maybe share that challenge with somebody else who you think might be interested.

Okay, so the next thing I want to remind you of is where the show notes are going to be available. Of course, that is going to be at BeHookedCrochet.com, and this is session 49, so it will be BeHookedCrochet.com slash session 049. There are going to be some resources that I talk about here because I have previously written a couple of posts that I think are really going to help and supplement what I’m going to talk about today.

I also recorded an episode with Lena from Annie’s and man, she was a wealth of knowledge. We talk about a lot of the same things that I’m going to incorporate in this episode. So I do encourage you to go back and listen to episode 31 of the Be Hooked podcast with Lena, and the quick link to that is BeHookedCrochet.com slash session031.

Now before we move on to today’s episode, I wanted to take a quick moment to thank Yarnspirations for sponsoring this podcast. Yarnspirations is the online destination for inspiration and the yarns you love, like Peyton’s, Bernat, Karen, and Lily Sugar and Cream. BeHooked listeners, you’re able to get a special offer to redeem at Yarnspirations.com. All listeners can get 20% off your order of $40 or more at Yarnspirations.com by using the code B.Hooked. That’s B-H-O-O-K-E-D.

That is perfect because you guys know I use a ton of Yarnspirations yarn, Bernat’s, is actually the one that I’m working on right now. I’m going to be using Peyton’s in an upcoming project. So you can get 20% off your order when you order directly from Yarnspirations using this code, just because you’re a listener of the podcast.

Well, as always, you guys know that I love to really take a topic and break it down into bite-sized chunks. And the first step to really understanding something is to know why. Why you’re trying to do this. It seems super obvious. We’re trying to take a pattern from one size to another because the pattern isn’t written to fit who we’re going to make it for.

Well, the situations where you might want to change a pattern is of course going to be if you want to change the size completely. So that’s the most obvious. Let’s say you have a pattern in a child size and you want to make it for yourself. Let’s say it’s a child size hat and you wanna make it for yourself. So you need to increase the size, pretty much the entire size. You’re gonna have to increase the length and the circumference and everything else.

But the other thing that might not be quite as obvious, your reasoning why, is when you’re just adjusting the pattern slightly, and this could be for additional length or width. So this could be really applicable for garments or wearables. Let’s say you are making a scarf and you want to make it smaller or longer than the pattern requires.

Well, there are going to be certain things that you have to consider when doing this. The most easiest case would be the scarf where really you’re just, you’re going to stop crocheting when it’s the length that you want or you’re going to continue going. But it’s not always that simple.

In terms of other projects, like sweaters, for example. That is going to be one situation where you need to consider more than just the measurements. You actually do have to consider increases that occur throughout that pattern, and you have to consider stitch counts, because those are really, really important to be able to follow the pattern after you’ve made those adjustments.

So what do you do first? Well, the first thing you should always do whenever you start a project is make a gauge swatch. And I will be the first to tell you that I don’t always do this. But when I don’t do this, I almost always regret it. And that’s because making your gauge swatch is so important because the gauge swatch is the bridge between success the designer and yourself, because we’re all individual people.

We all have different styles of knitting and crochet. So yes, this goes both ways. Doesn’t matter what craft you’re practicing, you should make your gauge swatch so that you know that your outcome is going to measure the same as the designer’s.

Now, it’s not important for your gauge to match the instructions. And what I mean by that is your gauge needs to match the measurements. If it says 10 stitches by 14 rows equals two inches, that needs to match in order for you to be confident that your piece or your thing is going to come out the same size that it did for the designer.

The part that is completely flexible are the tools that you use to get there. Now the pattern will always give you a guideline. It’ll say a recommended, we’ll say five and a half millimeter hook. It’ll be more of a recommendation. It’ll say five and a half millimeter hook or size needed to obtain gauge. So it’s telling you that this is your starting point, but if you don’t get to point B with this certain set of tools, then you can change them.

So the first thing you would do is start off with your starting point. So use the yarn that you’re going to use and use the hook that it recommends first. Work up your swatch in the stitch pattern that it tells you. So it might say 10 stitches by four rows is two inches worked in single crochet. It’s always going to give you those instructions.

And so you’re just going to crochet a little square using a single crochet stitch and just crochet it up or knit it up if that’s what you’re doing until it’s just slightly bigger than what your measurement needs to be. So in this case, they would have given you two inches, sometimes they give you four, doesn’t really matter, as long as you make it bigger than that size so you are able to measure those stitches and those rows.

If after you’ve made your gauge swatch, if your measurement is larger than what the gauge specifies, then you’re going to need to go down a hook size. And honestly, in my experience, what I have found is that going down just one hook size will usually do the trick. If it’s just off a little bit, say it’s off by a half inch or so, about one hook size is gonna get the job done.

Now on the flip side, if your gauge swatch, if you measure more stitches or more rows within that square, that measurement, so two inches, then you need to go up a hook size. You need to increase your gauge because it doesn’t match the designer’s. So in that case, again, I would go with just one size larger.

Now I know you’re probably thinking, I don’t have the time or the patience to sit there and crochet something that I’m not actually gonna use. I would agree 100% because that is 100% the mind frame that I had in terms of gauge swatches.

But what I found is that, well, there was a particular instance where I went through almost an entire pattern. And this was back in my crazy days, we’ll call them, where I lived on the edge and I really didn’t follow patterns 100%, but I was just kind of experimenting with them.

Well, I learned the hard way after working through basically an entire section of this pattern and realized at the end that it was way too big because my gauge was off. My gauge was larger than the designer’s, and so I had to spend all the time ripping that section out and crocheting it all over again.

So in the grand scheme of things, it might seem like you’re wasting time or like you’re taking unnecessary steps, but let me tell you, the time that you realize how important gauge is, that’s going to be the time that you realize how much time you’ve wasted by skipping this little step.

Brittany:
So once you’ve made your gauge swatch, you’ve got everything matched and ready to go, then you need to consider the available sizes. So first what you’ll want to do is figure out what size is closest to the one that you need. If there’s only one size of the pattern, then that’s really all you have to work with. So there’s not really much you can do in this case. If you’re following a hat pattern that’s for a child, you’re making it for yourself, you just have that one pattern to go off of.

But in the world of garment making, there are typically multiple sizes available, and it’ll usually range anywhere from extra small to 5XL, depending on where you’re getting the pattern from. But let’s say there’s only three sizes and you need a size other than those three? Well, you’re going to pick the size that’s closest to the one you need, and that’s going to be your reference to increase or to decrease to get that perfect customized fit.

Now, once you have this information squared away, the next thing you’ll need to do is take the correct measurements for yourself or for the person that you’re making it for and compare that to the measurements given. I do strongly recommend that you go back and listen to episode 31 for detailed instruction on how to take correct measurements because Lena was, gosh, she shared some things that I didn’t even realize in terms of measuring yourself for garments. She talks a lot about the ease and that was something that I didn’t always consider because I was coming from a world where I wasn’t making garments and she has just been in and around it and designing wearables for so many years.

So you don’t want to take the measurement and use that exact measurement as your reference. Because if you did, your garment is not going to have any kind of ease, what they call it, or flow to it. It’s going to be skin tight because that’s what you measured. You measured your exact bust size. You measured your exact arm length, whatever it may be. You do need to consider ease and how you want that to fit.

Now, it’s not so complicated when you’re working with hats. Well, typically you do want the hat to measure pretty much exact to what you measure your head. You do have to consider the yarn a little bit because some yarn has a little more stretch than others. Some stitches have more stretch than others.

So in terms of hats, my little rule of thumb is to always stick to the side of making it just slightly smaller than what I need because I can almost always guarantee that a hat design is going to incorporate some stretch. That’s almost a requirement when you’re designing a hat because you don’t want to use, say, a cotton yarn with a really tight stitch because that’s not going to fit very comfortable. It’s not going to slide over somebody’s head and it’s not going to have any stretch or give. So it’s not going to be comfortable to wear.

So if I design a hat, I’m always thinking of those things. I’m thinking about the stretch that the yarn has and the stretch that the stitch has. And therefore, I know in the back of my mind, when I’m measuring my head for a hat, I know that my target needs to be just slightly less. And I’m going to say a half inch less or maybe even a whole inch less than what I actually need is going to give me a hat that not only stays on my head, but keeps my ears warm. So it’s kind of its job, right?

Okay, so I know I have thrown a ton of information at you right here at the start. We’re going to recap a little bit. The first thing that I need you to do if you ever come across a pattern where you want to change the size in any way, shape, or form is to first make a gauge swatch. And you can use the pattern for that information. And if your pattern doesn’t have gauge information, I’m gonna encourage you maybe to find a different pattern because that info is so important.

If you don’t have a gauge or a reference point to figure out whether or not your crochet style or your knit style is the same as that designer’s, that’s what the gauge’s job is there for. And so there’s no guarantee that at the end of all those hours that you spend making that project, that it’s going to actually fit you. Now they might list the measurement, but if they don’t list the gauge, just be a little bit cautious with your time approaching that pattern because you don’t know if it’s going to fit.

All right, so you’ve made your gauge swatch. The next thing you’ll do is consider those available sizes and pick the size that’s closest to the one that you need if there’s multiple variations available, or if not, you just have the one size as your point of reference. Then you’re going to take the correct measurements for yourself or the person that you need to make it for.

It’s gonna be a little bit more involved if you’re working on a garment. It is not going to be very involved if you’re working with a hat or a scarf. Just be very deliberate about taking the measurement as accurate as you possibly can.

Okay, so now let’s get to work. And before we dive into all of the nitty gritty details here, I am going to tell you that all of this information will be listed for you on the show notes page. So once again, that address is behookedcrochet.com slash session049. Don’t feel like you need to take notes here. If you can and you’re able to, definitely do so because the act of writing it down is going to help you commit it to memory. But if you’re on the go, just visit the show notes page the next time that you need to make adjustments. It’s always going to be there and available for you when you need it.

Again, I’m going to break this down into easy steps for you to understand. After you’ve figured out all of these preliminary steps that we’ve just covered, we’re going to take a few steps to physically take that pattern that’s available and change the size. So we need to find some information to do that accurately.

The first thing you need to do is figure out the number of stitches in one inch using your gauge swatch. So we are using it again. Once you make that gauge swatch, don’t rip it out. Just go ahead, fasten off and leave it there for your reference for this step.

So in order to take a pattern from one size to another, we’re adding inches or we’re taking away inches, right? We’re either making it bigger or we’re making it smaller. So in order to figure out our exact stitch count for the size that we want to make, we need to know how many stitches are in one inch so that we can calculate how many stitches we need to add total based on the size difference that we’re trying to accomplish.

There are a couple of tools available for measuring gauge and they make it really easy to see the stitches. You can absolutely use those. I have one personally that I like to use, but a regular old tape measure or a ruler works just fine too. You want to find whatever stitch you’re going to start with. So it could be anywhere within that swatch. And you want to make sure that your zero mark on your measuring tape or your ruler or whatever is lined up perfectly with that first stitch that you’re going to count.

Then what you want to do is count the stitches that you see until you get to that one inch. So you’re figuring out exactly how many stitches are in one inch. In a perfect world, you’ll have a whole number, but that’s not always the case. Sometimes you might have one stitch that’s halfway in between. Well, just keep that in the back of your mind. You will need to consider that. It’s not going to be a huge deal. Let’s say you round down or you round up. It’s not going to be a complete deal breaker, but it is something that you need to consider.

What I would go ahead and do is just write it down as I see it. If I see four and a half stitches in one inch, that’s the number I’m going to write down just because I like to be a little bit more exact. But if you want to do four stitches, that’s probably going to be a good situation if your yarn is a little bit stretchy or if you know that you want to have a little bit of ease.

Say you’re making a garment and you want it to flow a little bit more. Then I would write down five because that’s going to round up just a tiny bit and you’re still gonna get a size that fits you.

Once you have the number of stitches per inch, then we’re going to calculate the additional stitches that you’ll need to make up that difference. And you’re going to do that by considering the additional amount, the additional length, the additional circumference, the additional width, whatever it may be, you’re going to figure that out by using your stitch per inch that you just measured before.

So for example, if you need four additional inches of width or circumference, this actually works both ways, then what you’re going to do is multiply the number of stitches per inch to get the number of stitches you need for your size.

I’m gonna say that again because it sounds probably more complicated than it actually is, but this really is the step that you need to get right.

If you need, let’s say, four additional inches of width, you’re going to multiply the number of stitches per inch. So we said five in our example there, you’re going to multiply that by four, which is the additional inches you need. So we’re going to say five times four to get the total number of stitches that you need.

Let’s say you are working with a hat and let’s say you found a baby hat that you really, really love and you know you need to change two aspects of it. You need to change the circumference and you need to change the length.

Well, right now we’re just focusing in on the circumference of that. Let’s say the pattern is written and the final project is 15 inches in circumference. But let’s say your head measures 22 inches and so you need those additional seven inches.

Well, you’re gonna take your number of stitches per inch and you’re gonna multiply it by seven.

Once you have this information, the next thing you need to consider is your stitch multiple. In some cases, it’s gonna be really easy. You’re not gonna have a stitch multiple. If you’re just working with a single stitch, if it’s just double crochet, just half doubles, singles, if it’s just a single stitch, you really don’t have to worry about multiples and you can use the exact number in your calculation.

Brittany:
And what you’ll do in that case is you’re just going to add the number of stitches to the foundation or cast on. So let’s say, I think in our example, we had 20 stitches extra. For our garment, in our back garment example, we’re going to take the cast-on number from our pattern. We’re going to add 20 to it, and that’s going to be our foundation, so our foundation chain, or our cast-on number.

But let’s talk about those examples where a stitch multiple exists because, let’s be honest, most of the time we’re using more than just one stitch and we do have to consider the stitch multiple or the repeat that you go through to make up that pattern. If the multiple is given—in a perfect world—you’re going to take your foundation or your cast on number from your pattern, you’re going to add on the additional stitches that you’ve calculated that you needed. Whatever that total is, that’s gonna be your reference point.

And then once you consider your stitch multiple, you’re gonna find the number that’s closest to a number that divides by the stitch multiple. But we’ll be honest here, in most cases, a pattern does not give you the stitch multiple. It doesn’t say that you need to work this pattern in multiples of four plus three. A lot of times you’re gonna have to do a little bit of investigative work to figure out what the stitch multiple is that makes up that pattern or that section of the pattern.

Well, as I mentioned a little bit ago, you’re going to use the repeat in a pattern to determine the multiple of stitches that you need to work within. I have a really great resource on that. It’s a long blog post that just breaks everything down as clear as day. There’s some diagrams and some pictures with things that are highlighted to help you identify the multiple within a stitch pattern. So I do recommend that you check that out whenever you have some spare time and you can read that. That’s going to be probably better than anything I can describe here on audio without having you completely glaze over.

So that resource is called How to Find a Pattern Repeat. Really easy. You’re going to find that at behookedcrochet.com slash repeat, or you’ll find it linked in the show notes page.

So at this point, we have talked about how to figure out the number of stitches in one inch, which is your tool to be able to manipulate that pattern. We’ve talked about how you can calculate those additional stitches that you’ll need in order to make up that difference. And we’ve talked a little bit about the importance of the stitch multiple in terms of projects where you need to increase the width or increase the circumference. Basically anything that you need to make it wider, you’re gonna consider your stitch multiple because our stitches run from side to side, right?

Now, in some cases, you’re going to need to adjust the length. And in a lot of cases, this is pretty easy. We can just add or subtract the amount of length that we need, but the question comes up time and time again of where should I incorporate that length change?

Well, if you need to shorten or add to the length, I recommend that you do so in a section of the pattern where you aren’t increasing or decreasing. If you do, what you’ll end up doing is modify the stitch count and that’ll potentially cause problems later. Sweaters are just really great examples of how adjusting sizing can go completely wrong.

So I’m going to use this reference again. Let’s say you’re working on a sleeve and the pattern is for a long sleeve cardigan. But let’s say you want a three quarter length sleeve. That is absolutely an easy adjustment that you can make if you do it in the right place.

So a lot of sleeves will start down at the cuff. You’ll work some stitch points, repeat for the ribbing, then you’re going to go through an increased section because our wrists start out pretty small and our arms get a little bit bigger as we go up. So we’re going to increase throughout that section.

And then once we get to a good width that’s going to fit comfortably around, say, our forearm and our elbow, then we always go through a period where we stop increasing and we’re just working a flat pattern. That is the point where you need to make your length adjustments because at that point you’ve already gone through the increased section, so your stitch count is right.

Then you’re working through that flat section where your stitch count is not changing, but you’re almost always going to have to decrease to get the shaping in order to be able to attach it to the front and the back sections of your cardigan or your sweater. So in order for you to be able to follow those decreased sections as it’s written in the pattern, you need to make sure your stitch count is correct.

So let’s say you wanted to, you didn’t know this and you changed the size in the increased section. So let’s say you left off a big chunk of your increase and let’s say the difference of that is say 10 stitches of width. Well, when you go to work that decreased section, you’re going to be off by 10 stitches because you didn’t reach that stitch count.

So the moral of the story here is to make sure that you aren’t altering your stitch count. And Lena talks about this in episode 31. Again, I can’t recommend that episode highly enough. Definitely jump back and listen to episode 31. It’s gold, guys. It’s really good.

Now in some of the more simple cases, let’s say you’re adjusting the size of a hat, and we’ll take our example where we found a baby-sized hat, and we want to make it for ourself as an adult. Well, we’ve already done the math to figure out what the circumference needs to be in our stitch count within the circumference, but we also need to change that length too.

Well, depending on what style of hat you’re working with, you’re going to need to consider whether it’s a top down, so where you work at the crown, you increase, and then you work a section where you’re not increasing, and that creates the hat, or you can work from bottom up. So you’re just working one big long, one big large circle. You’re working around with no increases or decreases, and then once you get to the crown, you start decreasing.

Well, you’re always going to make your adjustments in sections of the pattern where your stitch count is not changing.

Okay, so we have talked about a lot of stuff, and I definitely don’t want to overwhelm you, but I do have a few tips, just things that I have heard from interviewing other guests here on the show, and things that I’ve learned personally the hard way. That’s honestly how I learn. I’m a very curious person by nature, and so even though something might tell me to do something one way, I might do it a different way because that tells me why. It tells me exactly why I can’t do it that way. And that’s how I learn.

If you are, I’m going to say passionately curious, like I am as well, I do encourage you to just try things and figure out why it’s written one way. And one could argue that you are wasting some time throughout this process. But for me, time spent learning isn’t time wasted.

Now, the first tip I’m going to mention here again is is listen to that episode from Lena. Episode 31, Lena talks about how to take patterns where many sizes are available, how you can pick and choose a la carte style and figure out how to have a really custom fit. If you want to make any adjustments, say to the sleeves or the length or overall fit, she runs you through all of this stuff. And we do talk more about garments because, again, this is really where things can get out of control. Garments are a little bit more difficult to change in terms of size. But she runs through all of that, and I know you won’t be disappointed with that episode.

The neatest thing that I learned from her through that episode was that you don’t have to use the same size throughout the pattern. So right now I’m working on sort of like a pullover. It’s almost like a hybrid between a poncho and a big comfy sweater. Well, within this pattern, there are like five different sizes and I have chosen one of those five sizes and I’ve just worked that throughout the entire pattern.

But you don’t actually have to do that. Let’s say you want to work a pattern that has, again, shorter sleeves or maybe has a tighter fit, but you need additional length. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel here.

If you need to make adjustments to any portion of the pattern and you have multiple sizes given to you, a lot of that work is already done for you. What I have found is that when I take a little bit of time I print the pattern out and I say, okay, this is the bust measurement that I want. This is the fit that I want. I’ll circle that number and I don’t really pay attention to what size it is. It could be small, medium, or whatever. I don’t really pay attention to that. I just circle the size.

Well, then I consider the length. If I want a standard length cardigan or sweater or whatever it may be, it’ll likely be that I’m using the same size, but let’s say I want to make it really long. Well then I might jump over to one of those larger sizes and circle that length.

And once I go through the entire pattern and I figure out the sizes that I want, I have to be careful when doing this, but I will go through the pattern, the actual text of the pattern, and circle the sections or highlight the sections that I need to focus in on in order to achieve the size that I want.

The next tip I want to reiterate is that all of the information contained within this episode, within the episode with Lena, and with the other additional resources that kind of go along with this episode, these are basic principles. And these basic principles you really need to have in your toolbox because it’s going to give you more flexibility in your craft.

You don’t have to depend on other people. You’ll just be able to know how to do the things you want to do. Also, just know that this works for flat pieces, for round pieces, for knitting, for crochet. It’s pretty uniform. Basic principles here that kind of span all of these different ways that you could adjust a pattern.

Another tip that I have for you is that if the size difference is small, then maybe just try adjusting the gauge to achieve the right size. I mean, as you’ve heard, there’s a lot of steps. There’s a lot of things that you need to do in order to adjust a pattern. If the size difference is small, then I would definitely encourage you to just change that gauge to achieve the right size.

Now you need to be a little bit careful in doing so because you don’t want to change the look of the design.

Brittany:
You don’t want to change the drape of the fabric or how it’s going to flow and bend and flex as you wear it. So you’re not going to be able to make huge adjustments here, but you should be able to safely go up a hook size—maybe two, depending on the pattern and the yarn—and achieve that additional size or that smaller amount of size that you need.

So again, I want to just highlight that to increase the gauge, you’re going to increase or go up a needle or hook size, and that’s going to give you a slightly larger outcome. You’re going to decrease gauge or go down a hook or needle size for a slightly smaller outcome. And again, what I have found, and it really varies by stitch pattern, by yarn as well, but I really have found a little bit of consistency in that a single hook size, so going from a size five and a half millimeter to a five, is going to give me about a half an inch difference. So just keep that in the back of your mind. That’ll tell you how much you need to increase.

But just know that if you go more than two hook sizes, you’re probably going to change the look of the overall fabric. In some cases, that might not be a deal breaker. If it’s a cardigan or a sweater or even a scarf, it’s not going to matter so much if you have some space between the stitches. But if you’re trying to make a warm hat or a pair of mittens, you probably don’t want to mess with the gauge too much. So staying at one hook size larger or smaller is probably going to be the best way to go.

Now I want to come back again to hats because I know a lot of questions are going to surface with that, because there are two different ways that you can work a hat. If you’re working a top-down hat and you know that you need to change the circumference, then things can get a little hairy because we increase to a certain point. So we start out with one small round, we increase to a certain point, and then it often takes a little while for the rounds to straighten out.

So even after we stop increasing, we might have two rows before we really start to see the shaping change within that project. So we really need to take an educated guess and experimentation when we’re changing the size of a hat that’s worked top down.

I have another resource that I think you’re really going to like in terms of how to properly size a hat, how to consider the crown circumference. So that’s basically your increase point. And I’m going to talk about all of the techniques that you need to consider for this in the resource at BeHookedCrochet.com slash hat sizing. Again, I’ll have that linked in the show notes page, but that is another one of those kind of epic posts where it has tons of information, charts, pictures, everything that you need to kind of solidify this information and be able to take that educated approach to changing the size of a hat that’s worked top down.

Now, the last tip I have for you here is that it’s always a good practice, a good idea to approach the designer if you’re making major adjustments to their pattern, especially if you plan to use it for more than personal use. You need to be very careful about this, guys. There are some potential legal implications. If you’re taking somebody else’s pattern, you’re changing it, and you’re publishing it somewhere else, that’s a big no-no. You can’t do that.

If you’re using it for personal use, I would say nine times out of 10, that designer is not going to care. I’m pretty open about it. I think that if somebody can take one of my smaller patterns, here are the resources that I have in place to allow them to change it or allow them to figure out how to change it. That’s a huge win for me because that means I’ve done my job really well.

But the one thing I wouldn’t be okay with is having that person publish it as their own. And that’s going to be the case for many designers. So if you can, if you need to make major adjustments, I would go ahead and try to reach out to that designer and just let them know what you’re doing, ask their permission. And I would say most of the time they’re going to be okay with it as long as you only plan to use it for personal uses.

All right, guys, I have beat this for 45 minutes. I’m really proud that you’ve stuck here to the very end. And I really hope that you have received this message. If it feels a little bit vague or wishy-washy in your brain right now, I’m going to say that’s probably normal.

So go over to the show notes page for this episode, behookedcrochet.com slash session049. Go ahead and read through the notes that I’ve taken there for you. It’s very, very bulleted, very easy to kind of put all the pieces together. And then maybe go back and listen a second time.

I think once you hear kind of a complicated concept the first time, it’s always going to feel a little bit vague, maybe a little bit messy, we’ll say, in your brain, and that’s fine. Just go ahead, check out the show notes, read through my outline there, maybe go back and listen when you need to make an adjustment to a pattern.

But to break it down into its simplest forms, if you need to take any pattern that you have found and change its size in any way, shape, or form, you need to make your swatch, you need to take your measurements, you need to calculate the difference and the stitches per inch or the rows per inch, and then you need to adjust the pattern accordingly.

That’s it in its simplest form. It really is just four steps. There’s just a lot of information to each of those four steps.

I know it sounds incredibly easy when you look at it this way, but honestly the majority of emails, like I said, is questions relating to customizing the size of a pattern. And as much as I try to answer as many of those as possible in a timely manner, those emails are probably the most difficult for me to answer because it is so personalized.

It depends so much on so many things: the yarn that you’re using, the hook that you’re using, your personal style of crochet or knitting, the pattern that you’re using, the person that it’s going for. There are so many moving parts.

So my goal for this episode was to provide an additional resource to help those people be able to take that pattern, knowing all of their personal things, all of these moving parts that go into adjusting a pattern, being able to take those with an educated guess and be able to accomplish the size that they want. And of course, I am always here to help whenever and wherever I can.

Now, perfecting this art definitely takes practice. The first time I tried to adjust a pattern, it didn’t work out right. And I’m going to say it’s probably not going to be perfect the first time you try it either. But just know that that’s okay. You’re not going to get it right the first time. And you’ll probably improve the second time and the third time. And eventually, you will get it right.

This isn’t something that I just figured out overnight. I mean, honestly, it’s taken me several years of writing my own patterns, reading other people’s patterns, understanding the way things come together that has allowed me to really be able to wrap my brain around all of the math and the details that go into changing the size of a pattern.

My biggest advice for you would just be to dive in face first sometimes. If you know that you want to make something and you have been putting it off because it’s not in the right size, just try it. What do you have to lose? You might lose a little bit of time. You might not have a usable project at the end of that time. But just know that that time was spent learning. And because of that, it was not wasted.

Now, if you have any other questions, maybe there are some points that I haven’t covered here, please leave a comment on the show notes page. Once again, that’s BHookedCrochet.com slash session049. Just scroll down to the comments section. Leave your feedback there. I read through every single one of those comments, and I take all of that into consideration. So if you have those questions or anything to add to this episode, you can do so there.

All right, guys. Thank you so much for listening to today’s podcast. Once again, I’d like to thank Yarnspirations for sponsoring this podcast. And whether you knit or crochet, Yarnspirations.com is the online destination for inspiration, products, free patterns, and of course the yarn you love, like Patons, Bernat, and Caron Lilly’s Sugar and Cream.

In case you missed it, at the beginning of today’s episode, listeners are offered 20% off. That’s huge, guys! 20% off your order of $40 or more at Yarnspirations.com using the coupon code B.HOOKED. That’s B.H-O-O-K-E-D.

Thank you guys so much. It’s been wonderful explaining all of this to you. I hope that you receive it well, that you use it, and that you accomplish your goals because of it.

I will see you next week for episode 50. I have something special planned for episode 50. I know that in February, we’re talking about garments, but I’m going to change things up a little bit because we have gone through 50 episodes of the podcast and I don’t know about you, but that is a huge, huge accomplishment for me.

So many hours go into creating each one of these episodes and to hit 50, that’s a huge mile mark for me. So I have something very special planned and I hope you will join me next Thursday for that very special episode.

Alright, guys. Bye-bye.