Tips for Designing Simple Crochet Patterns Anyone Can Make | Podcast Episode #118

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Are you ready to design your first crochet pattern?

Well don’t worry, it’s much easier to write your first crochet pattern if you keep it nice and simple to start out! Basic shapes and stitches are the perfect starting point and if you would like to add some interest, throw in some colorful stripes!

Special Guest

In this episode of The BHooked Podcast, you’ll hear from Krista from the blog, EasyCrochet.com (formerly known as Rescued Paw Designs). She shares just how easy the process of writing crochet patterns can be. This is pretty much her specialty and she shares all her tips in this episode!

Episode Transcript

Brittany:
Hello again and welcome to episode 118 of the BHooked podcast. I have a really special one for you today, especially if you’re looking to make your first pattern design.

Now, if you have been crocheting for a while, perhaps you don’t love to follow patterns, you just sort of like to do your own thing, and you feel like maybe the next step is that you should start writing these patterns down, these creations that you’re making so you can share them with the world. Well, that’s what today’s episode will help you do.

Now, we’ll specifically look at the simplest form of pattern because, let’s be honest, it’s always easier when you try something new if you just start simple. Now, I’m joined with Krista from Rescued Paul Designs, and she really specializes in blanket making and specifically blanket designing.

Well, she believes that writing a pattern for a blanket is the perfect first project for writing your first pattern. So she’ll share a lot of her wisdom today on how you get started with that. We talk about things like how to pick the right yarn, how on earth do you get the sizing right, how to incorporate some other elements so it doesn’t feel so simple. In other words, it might look more complicated than it actually is.

Before we get to it, though, I want to let you know that the show notes can be found at behooked.com/118. If you have any questions whatsoever as it relates to this topic, feel free to direct those questions on that page. Also, it’s a great place to connect with listeners of the show. Perhaps there are other people who are writing their first patterns, and it’s always great to have a friend to try something new with.

All right, without further ado, let’s get into my chat with Krista from Rescued Paw Designs. Krista, hi, welcome to the show. It’s such a joy to have you here.

Krista: 2:59
I’m excited

Brittany: 3:00
to share too. So tell me your crochet backstory. I love this part. I love to learn when people start to crochet and sort of hear their story. So let’s start there. How did you learn how to crochet and who taught you?

Krista: 3:13
Well, back in, I believe it was 2013, my sister had taken a crochet class at Michael’s or Joanne’s or someplace like that. And she decided it wasn’t for her. She had a bag of yarn. She had crochet hooks and she was trying to get rid of them. And I said, OK, I’ll take them.

And I was a stay-at-home mom. I mean, I’m still a stay-at-home mom, but at the time and I needed something to keep me busy and something I could pick up, put down. So I said, OK. My first project I did was so bad. So, so bad.

Brittany: 3:53
Do you still have it?

Krista: 3:55
I wish I actually really wish I had it because I get a lot of people that come to me and ask, you know, what am I doing wrong? You know, I’m just starting. I don’t think I could do this. And I’m like, I so wish I had my first project to show you say that, like, you can do this. It’ll get better. It always gets better.

Brittany: 4:13
Yeah.

Krista: 4:13
So I actually taught myself from YouTube and searching Google. I tried to read patterns. I couldn’t do it. So I went right to video. The rest is history. Just kind of kept

Brittany: 4:28
going. So what led you down the designer path? Was it because you couldn’t read patterns and you sort of did your own thing?

Krista: 4:36
Yes, I found it really, really hard to follow patterns. Like I would pull up a pattern and say, OK, I’m going to make this. And I’d read it. I’d say, I don’t know if I really like how this is written. I think I could change it to do something different. And so I just kind of started doing it that way.

Put one up on my blog. I started a blog actually to like showcase my family, my dogs, couponing, which I was really big into back then. And I decided just to throw up a crochet pattern and people responded well to it. So I thought, okay, I guess I’m going to keep doing this.

Brittany: 5:13
Yeah, that’s really cool. So I would love to hear where the name came from.

Krista: 5:17
I have… Well, back then I had two rescue dogs, Oscar and Gus. And initially when I started my blog, I was going to be about my dogs and my kids and just kind of like my life. And that was my life. I have a passion for animals, for dogs, cats. And I decided to name it after them.

Brittany: 5:44
Yeah, I think it’s really cool. It’s very unique and it’s not something that you forget easy. So I think that was a great strategy there.

Krista: 5:54
Well, since then, they have passed away. So I do have two more rescue dogs. So it still applies.

Brittany: 6:01
Yeah, that’s really great. So bring us into the present a little bit now. What are you primarily focusing on? I mean, obviously, you’re still creating designs and you still have your website going. What does it look like if somebody were to just dive into your world there?

Krista: 6:17
I have a big focus on blankets. I love designing blankets because it’s something that I can do. And I’m sure you enjoy it too. You can just sit down in front of a TV, whatever, and take it with you anywhere. And it’s just simple lines back and forth. And I just love creating simple patterns.

Brittany: 6:41
Yeah, and that’s why I’m really excited for us to dive into that a little bit because it’s something that you focus on so much. And I feel like for somebody who is just getting into the idea of being a designer, you know, putting that label to their name, it’s a scary thing. And it sounds like you have to know a lot or have some kind of prerequisite to do it.

And I really feel like it’s not always the case. And I feel like… When talking about writing a simple pattern for somebody’s first pattern, a blanket really is a good way to go.

Krista: 7:15
Definitely. When someone’s first looking at writing a pattern, it is overwhelming when you just look at it from the outside. But when you actually get into it, it’s really quite simple. It’s just simple stitches. Start with basic, simple stitches. Don’t worry about overcomplicating it. And then it’s easy.

Brittany: 7:37
It really is. It really is that simple. So before we get into those steps, though, what was the first pattern that you ever wrote? Was it a blanket?

Krista: 7:45
It was. It’s still on my blog. It was just a double crochet blanket. It was one of the first stitches I learned as most beginner crocheters start with like a single crochet, a half double crochet, double crochet. And I needed a blanket for my living room. I picked up some yarn. Like, okay, I’ll do– I did not use any guidelines. I just decided I want it to be a certain length, and I made it that way and width.

So I definitely have had to go back and edit that quite a bit since starting. I think it was end of 2013, beginning of 2014 when I wrote that pattern.

Brittany: 8:25
And I feel like that’s a good first lesson right there. I am the same way to this day. I still am going back and editing patterns and tweaking it and making them– better. You know when you first start out with writing patterns you have a different style and maybe you don’t know the correct lingo and that sort of thing, but it’s never permanent. You can always make edits and you probably will.

Krista: 8:52
Yes, yes definitely.

Brittany: 8:57
So my listeners know I am totally a steps kind of gal and I would love to really break this down just step by step. What does somebody need to do if they’re saying, yes, I want to write a simple and easy pattern right now? What do they do?

Krista: 9:13
Okay. Well, the first thing I would suggest is going to– I don’t know if you’ve probably been to yarnstandards.com. You can print out or save a PDF of the standards and guidelines for crochet and knitting. I have that with me all the time. It’s just a good resource to have on hand when you’re writing a pattern because it has the crochet abbreviations.

I do have crochet abbreviations on my site too, but this is just something that you can print out and it’s there with you. So definitely I would recommend going there and checking that out. Cause I mean, there’s a whole slew of information, but we’ll just start with the basic step-by-step process.

I definitely– after you go and check out those guidelines and have that with you, I would start with a simple stitch. Like I said before, like a single crochet, a half double, or a double. But if you just want to go completely basic, let’s do a single crochet.

And then I’ll just say I’m making a blanket. You would start with writing out what skill level it is. And that’s in that guideline too, how many chains you’re going to start with, your materials, notes like a note section. So that would include your gauge, which is a whole other topic, your finished size.

So if you have like– if you’re going to make a baby blanket pattern, you know it’s not going to be that big and you can look up on those guidelines how big you want it to be and say, okay, well, I’m going to make it this big with these single crochets. Is that– am I complicating it?

Brittany: 11:03
No, no, I don’t think so at all. I think this is really, it really is a good starting point. Now you might not necessarily be typing this into the backend of your website to publish it at this point, or like, are you using a notepad or Evernote or something like that to hold onto this info?

Krista: 11:20
Pen and paper. I’ve tried to write this out at first, but I just really like having that pen and paper and just right in front of you.

Brittany: 11:28
Yeah.

Krista: 11:30
So after you decide the stitches you want and you have to pick out your yarn, I would suggest just going with an acrylic yarn, something that you can buy at a craft store to start. And then you’d have to do your foundation row, which is like I mentioned before, was the chain amount. And work your single crochets. And then you just kind of work it from there.

Brittany: 11:54
Okay. A couple of follow-up questions to that too. So I know that there are a lot of questions circulating around how to choose your supplies. And I know the yarn label will have an estimate or a recommendation rather on what hook size you should use with that yarn.

But let’s start with the yarn first, actually. An acrylic is definitely a good go-to. Really, I think the important thing here is that you can use anything you want. Yes. As long as, you know, think about the end project. You mentioned a baby blanket. So you probably want that to be washable. Yes. And it would be nice if you could also throw it in the dryer. There’s only a few yarns that can do that.

So just sort of think about the end process and let that guide you—what yarn choices you do. I like that you also mentioned to just get something that you can find in your craft store. That makes the pattern more usable or useful to everybody. Do you have any other tips when it comes to making yarn selections?

Krista: 13:04
If we’re talking as a beginner crocheter or just someone starting out, um, I would—

Brittany: 13:10
Say as somebody who’s writing their first pattern, maybe they’re not a beginner crocheter, they’ve sort of got the feel for it, but they just don’t know what type of yarn to use for their project.

Krista: 13:22
I know whenever I write my patterns, I like to include yarn that is available everywhere. So if that be on Amazon or Michaels or Joann’s, I need to know that it’s widely available. And I do like to use yarns that aren’t so widely available, but it is always a good thing to use those yarns that everyone can find.

Brittany: 13:49
Yes, I totally agree. Now for the hook choice, where is your starting point? Do you use the yarn label’s recommendation or do you have another system in place to know like what sort of drape you’ll get? Or do you make swatches and that sort of thing?

Krista: 14:08
For my hooks, I—okay, I’m not gonna lie—I do not follow the recommendations. I will eyeball it. I will take the yarn, I’ll pick a few sizes. Let’s say it does recommend a six millimeter or J hook. I will grab that hook, and then I’ll grab a couple sizes on either side of that.

And I’ll try a little swatch, like you said, with each one of those hooks to see which one works for me and for what I’m making.

Brittany: 14:44
I totally agree. I think I didn’t always swatch either. In the very early days, like you, I did not like to follow patterns or really just didn’t know how. And so I would just make up whatever I needed to make. And when it came to doing blankets especially, I didn’t swatch. I would just go ahead and start working and wing it.

But I came across a couple things that sort of changed my ways a little bit. And that’s not really understanding the drape that that particular yarn is going to have. And the reason I say that is—I finished a full-sized afghan, sort of like a throw-sized afghan, and it was in this really soft and like, not really smooth, but kind of fuzzy yarn.

And it was great and soft to the touch, but as a blanket, it was very heavy. And you may not like that as a blanket. If you’re wanting something a little more light and airy, this is definitely not it. It was a very dense yarn. And had I swatched before then, I would have known that.

But, I mean, fortunately, blankets are okay if they have a little weight to them. And it’s actually one of our favorite blankets here in the house. But I think that’s just a learn-from-my-mistakes sort of opportunity there.

Krista: 16:04
Yeah, definitely. Like, if you are debating on what yarn to use, you—like you said—just make up a little swatch. ‘Cause I’ve even found using some yarns, you make that swatch up and even if you manipulate it a little bit, it will stretch. It will move. It won’t hold up the same. So you can just kind of see how it’ll hold up.

Sometimes you can make a blanket with a single crochet, but once it’s been used, it could be stretched out and change the shape completely depending on the yarn that you use.

Brittany: 16:38
Yeah, totally agree. Okay, so maybe when they’ve made their swatch, they can sort of play with it a little bit, stretch it, maybe throw it in the washer if it’s going to be a project that’ll be washed, and really put it through its paces before you invest the time in making the blanket.

That’s the one sort of hold-up that I have about writing a simple pattern for the first time being a blanket—just because they do have a tendency of taking a lot of time. So I feel like you need to take a few extra minutes in the early stages to be able to avoid wasting time, because it’s gonna take you a little while to finish the project.

Krista: 17:18
Yes, yes, it will. Okay. For sure.

Brittany: 17:21
Yes. So now the foundation chain—I know that is another question I hear all the time is, how do I even know how big to make it?

Krista: 17:33
When I was first starting, I just did a Google search. It’s not that easy to find, actually. There’s not a lot of information. I use Google images, and usually I would use like a standard quilt size from like a mattress company, whenever I first started—if that makes sense.

And I kind of would go from there of how I would want to chain it out. So if I wanted to make a king blanket, I would chain X amount to get to that size and I would measure with my roll tape to make sure it was the size I needed.

Brittany: 18:09
Yeah. And I think what the hold-up is on this particular question is, “Well, how do I do it right?” But I feel like the right answer is to experiment and see how many chains really are in the width that you need your blanket to be. I know that’s certainly what I do.

Krista: 18:27
Yes, because even if you are making a king size, you’d want it probably to come over the edge of your bed—or over, you know, any of the edge of your bed. So you might want to make it a little bit bigger, a little bit longer. So it really will depend.

Brittany: 18:40
Yeah. Okay, so I will definitely have a link to some afghan sizing charts and that sort of thing in the show notes. Like you said, it is sort of a more difficult thing to find. I know you can find lots of images, like you said, on Google and Pinterest and that sort of thing, but just so you have a starting point on that.

So now we have the foundation chain, we’re going into it, we’re working up the project. Now, are you one to—or would you advise—to write the pattern as you go, or do you sort of write it out first and then see if it works?

Krista: 19:17
I’ve done both, but I would suggest writing it as you go. Because I’m the type of person where if I’m writing it out and I’m like, okay, I don’t really like how this is working, I’ll change it or make some edits as I’m going. So most of my pattern writing notebook is a line written out and crossed out, then another line written down. So I suggest writing as you go.

Brittany: 19:48
Yeah, I do that a lot too. If there’s something—a project where sizing really matters—and I need to do a lot of estimates on ordering yarn like ahead of time, then I’ll try to do it beforehand. But honestly, it’s so much easier and so much more enjoyable when you can just freehand it and write it down as you go. So I think that’s a good tip for a first pattern.

Krista: 20:13
Yes, I agree with you. Definitely. Just write as you go as a beginner pattern—not as a like, a basic simple pattern, that’s okay. But like you said, if it’s a little more complicated, then you’d want to try to figure that out beforehand.

Brittany: 20:30
Well now I feel like we have a good foundation for the basics. I think the other topic that is really prevalent when writing patterns is like, where to find the inspiration and how do we even know what to create?

So let’s kind of go down that road for a little bit. First of all, where do you find inspiration?

Krista: 20:52
I take a lot of pictures. So I love looking in stores like Target or wherever I am. And if I see something I like, it doesn’t even have to be like a yarn or any kind of type of material. I’ll just take pictures of anything I see.

So if it’s a pillow, or if it’s a sweater, or if it’s just a picture—I love taking pictures just to have that to go back to and look at. I don’t know if you do anything like that either.

Brittany: 21:23
I do.

Krista: 21:25
Okay. So I’m not too crazy.

Brittany: 21:27
No, no, definitely not. If I see a design even—and I know somebody, Sandra, who’s Mobius Girl, she’s on Instagram—she has taken a picture of a flooring tile because she liked the design on the tile. And I thought that was like really clever.

So I’ve even gone as far as doing that too. If I see a design that I like, and I think I could maybe replicate that pattern, if you will, with stitches, then I usually will give it a try.

Krista: 21:57
Yes. Yes, for sure. And I always will look at what I’m drawn to by myself—if we’re talking about clothes or garments or anything I’d want to recreate with yarn. And I always pin color inspirations on Pinterest.

So I have a board on Pinterest where if I just see something that I love the color of, or love the blend of color or the color palette—it doesn’t matter what it is, if it’s Easter eggs or paint samples or a sunset—yeah. So I’ll do that too.

Brittany: 22:31
I love doing that, and that’s a tip that I have shared as well. There’s a—I’m trying to think of the website that it is that always publishes color palettes based on a photo.

Krista: 22:42
Design Seeds.

Brittany: 22:44
Yes, that one.

Krista: 22:45
I have that saved as a bookmark.

Brittany: 22:49
Yeah, I love pinning their images and going back to that when I need some color inspiration.

Krista: 22:55
Definitely. Now, do you have a favorite color that you go towards?

Brittany: 22:59
I feel like it’s changing right now. I’m going through like a phase, I believe. Blue is always my go-to. It’s my calm color. It’s just what makes me comfortable and happy. So I tend to go towards blues.

But for some reason, I am really drawn towards like a blush pink right now. And that is so opposite of what I would have normally picked. I am not a pink person at all, but for some reason I’m loving it. So I’m sort of being drawn to blush pink and taupe and more like warmer neutrals. It’s really strange how it’s happening, but I feel like that’s all part of the process too.

Krista: 23:41
No, you kind of sound like me. Like I always lean towards blue too. But the stuff that I just have been pinning probably the past week or so has been that blush pink, that taupe—just kind of like what you said. I’ve been pinning that onto my color inspiration board.

Brittany: 23:58
Yeah, that’s so funny. Well, color is another interesting way to make a simple pattern that doesn’t look so simple. Yeah. How do you incorporate color? How would you recommend incorporating color into your work—a simple blanket that maybe only has one stitch—to make it look like it’s less simple?

Krista: 24:19
Actually, the first pattern I posted many years ago, it was a color-blocked blanket. And so just kind of like we talked about, pick the colors that you’re drawn to at the time. So we could make a blanket in blush, taupe, and blue. And you could do a block of pink, then change your color, make a block of blue, make a block of taupe. And that gives it an interesting look, but it’s still really, really easy.

Brittany: 24:48
Yeah, I love that idea. And stripes come to mind too. Have you ever used the website—or well, the website name? I don’t recall the name of the website right now, but there is a random stripe generator. Let me see if I can pull it up really quick. Because I want to give the person credit.

Krista: 25:10
I have. I know what you’re talking about. Biscuits and—

Brittany: 25:13
Jam. That’s what it is. Okay. Yeah. So Biscuits and Jam has a random stripe generator where you can choose the yarn colors you have. And there’s like a pretty big variety. And you can tell it how many stripes you want to be, like how many rows you want each stripe to be. And then it’ll generate a random stripe pattern. And that’s like… a perfect way to come up with a cool striping pattern, and you can save the image and just work off of that.

Krista: 25:44
Yes, I actually used that I think in the fall when I designed—I think it’s called the Willow Throw, if I’m remembering correctly. But I did go to that site and used, drew inspiration from that. I had it randomly generate a pattern. I might have tweaked it a little bit, but I definitely used that.

Brittany: 26:02
Yeah. Yeah. I think that’s a really cool resource for somebody who’s really just has no clue which direction they want to go. It’s a good way to get inspiration. It’s also a really good way to see how something is going to look before you actually make it.

So if you want to do a color block blanket where the blocks may be—I don’t know—10 inches or so wide, and you’re like, I don’t really know if it’s going to look right with just maybe four big blocks… well, you can like type it into this random stripe generator. Colors might be flipped, but you can sort of get the idea of how those stripes will come together or how they’ll look together.

Krista: 26:40
Yes. And that’s a great way to, like you said, when you’re writing a pattern and you want something a little different, just to add that in there. Gives a little variety.

Brittany: 26:51
Yeah. So let’s talk about stitches too. I know it’s easiest to stick with one stitch. Would you recommend maybe doing a second stitch for a simple pattern or should they really just sort of stick to one?

Krista: 27:05
Oh, sure. Yeah. I’d like to do—say you want to do a single crochet, half double crochet, single crochet, half double crochet. That’s easy enough to write out. It’s easy enough for beginners, and it gives a little bit of a variety.

Brittany: 27:20
Yeah, I agree too. I think the first pattern—well, I never actually published it, so it really wasn’t a pattern—but the first thing that I made for myself wasn’t a blanket. It was a cup cozy.

And I learned the double crochet first, and then I learned the single crochet. And I thought it was like super clever to blend those two together. So I had a double crochet row followed by a single crochet row, and then I just repeated that. And it made a really cool-looking pattern. It made me feel like I really created something cool. But I was just using the two most basic stitches.

Krista: 27:58
Yes. And if you use those basic stitches, like we had talked about earlier, the yarns will look different—different yarns will look different with different stitches. Does that make sense?

So, if you’re going to use a big bulky yarn and make your double crochet and your single crochet, or if you’re going to use a thin yarn—I mean, every yarn looks different with the stitches.

Brittany: 28:22
It does. And I feel like that’s part of the fun when you’re creating your first design. I know for me, I did a lot of sort of a similar thing that you did. I found something that I needed or wanted for my home and I just sort of went with it.

I would go to the yarn store, I would go to like a craft store that’s local here in the area, just because I could see it and feel it. And I didn’t have to guess if the colors were going to be right from ordering online. I do that now if I’m familiar with the yarn, but when I’m just coming up with a brand new design with a yarn that maybe I’ve never used before, I like to see it and feel it.

And I feel like when you are making something for yourself and you’re just recording it—maybe for future use or for somebody else to use—it makes it easier to finish, especially if you’re working on a big project and writing a pattern for a big project like a blanket. Definitely yes.

So I’m trying to think now—as you’re working through the pattern, we’ve got the foundation covered, we talked a little bit about how you can incorporate different stitches and different colors. What happens at the end of the whole process? Do you go through some type of editing phase or how would you suggest a beginner finish up their pattern?

Krista: 29:50
So, this is why I like to use pen and paper. So once I have it all written down, I like to go into… If you’re going to put it on your blog, you can go into, let’s just say, WordPress. Or if you’re going to upload it to Ravelry or someplace like that, you can use Google Docs.

So I like to have it on pen and paper because then as I’m typing it again, I can see the pattern—it just makes a clearer picture of the pattern so I can go through and make sure there are no mistakes, no major issues.

Brittany: 30:31
Yeah. Yeah. I like that too. I think it’s a good strategy. Anytime that you can sort of go back and redo your work, if you will—it kind of feels redundant, and it maybe feels like you’re wasting time.

But when you wrote the pattern down originally, you were in a different mindset. You were in that creative mindset where, you know, we don’t always pay so much attention to our grammar, or maybe we transpose numbers, or we wrote something down wrong.

But when you’re actually typing the pattern up, you’re in that editing frame of mind. That’s when I catch a lot of mistakes.

Krista: 31:09
Yes. And believe me, I mean, there are many patterns I’ve released and I’d get an email the next day—”I don’t think this is quite right.” I’m like, how did I miss that?

So, I mean, it is maybe a good idea too, if you even have like a crochet friend or anyone that you can maybe show the pattern to, just to see—just to have different eyes look at it.

Brittany: 31:30
Yeah, I feel like that’s a great idea too. I just spoke to Emily—she’s a tech editor for several of the bloggers and designers—and she said something that was just sort of like an aha moment.

You can’t fill in your own gaps. Like, you can’t edit your work because you can’t fill in the gaps that your brain makes when you’re typing things out. So if you type something and you miss something, you missed it because you knew what you were talking about and you just sort of skimmed over it.

But somebody else who’s coming behind you and trying to replicate that—that gap or that hole will be really obvious because they aren’t in your mind. You know, they don’t see the pattern the way you did.

So I agree. Pattern testers are another option too. I don’t know if—would you recommend trying to get a pattern tester for the first pattern or just kind of stick to a crochet buddy or somebody who is familiar with crochet who can help?

Krista: 32:36
Me, personally, I probably—for the first pattern—I wouldn’t, if it’s a blanket, something that’s pretty simple.

Now, if you’re doing, let’s say, a sweater or something—a garment—something that’s a little more complicated, it is good to have testers since it involves sizes, it involves so many things. So it’s just kind of good to have it for that. But I don’t think for a first beginner blanket.

Brittany: 33:06
That’s just simple. Yeah, I would agree too. And I think it depends on your end goal for the pattern. If you’re just writing it for yourself or to share in a crochet group, it’s not as critical.

I mean, it is—I don’t want to say it’s not important to not have mistakes—but I feel like it’s a little bit different than if you’re trying to ask for money in exchange for that pattern. I feel like there’s a different standard there.

Krista: 33:33
Yeah. And like, most of my patterns are free. So there probably are mistakes. And that’s why people will email me, and then I’ll fix them.

So if I’m going to sell my patterns, I go over them with a fine-tooth comb to make sure everything is correct as it can be.

Brittany: 33:51
Yeah, I completely agree. So is there anything else that somebody would need to know about in order to publish or just write their first simple pattern? I guess it doesn’t have to be published, but are there any other areas that we haven’t covered?

Krista: 34:10
I would make sure you write down the number of stitches that are in each row—because you think you’re going to remember, but you won’t.

Brittany: 34:17
Oh, yeah. That’s a great tip.

Krista: 34:20
Make sure if you’re writing your pattern down, make sure you at least write down to say “turn your work.” Because with most blankets, it’s back and forth, working into the row before, and you need to turn your work.

So I’ve had a lot of people message me about that when they’re first starting. That’s something like that I don’t even think of—kind of like what you mentioned before. Sometimes I miss that part because it’s just something I do. I don’t even think about it. But as a beginner, you want to make sure that you include that in your pattern.

Brittany: 34:53
I agree. I did not do that in the early stages either. And I’m sure there are patterns on my website right now that haven’t been edited that don’t have that.

But I was surprised to receive a lot of emails about that too that said, “Hey, am I supposed to turn?” And it’s like—yeah, I didn’t even think about that. Of course. So yeah, I agree with that.

Krista: 35:14
And you need to be really specific about where to place your stitches. I mean, I’ve read patterns from like big companies where—me, as an experienced crochet designer—I’m like, what are they talking about?

Like, it needs to be simpler. You need to really, really, really explain it—almost too much—when you’re writing your first pattern. Just, if it’s for beginners, definitely.

Brittany: 35:43
Yeah. So do you include that in the notes section or do you have that within the pattern itself?

Krista: 35:50
I usually put it in the pattern itself. So let’s say I’m on the first row. I’ll say “in the second chain from the hook”—like, you have to say exactly where you want it to be.

So I don’t want them to—if I just say “single crochet”—they’re like, where am I supposed to put this? Yeah. So I definitely like to include that in my patterns.

Brittany: 36:11
Yes. I would agree. I would say if you feel like you’re being too descriptive, you’re probably good. Yes. Especially for the first pattern.

Now, the gray area is when you get into writing a lot of patterns and you’re trying to be as descriptive and helpful as possible, but still follow the standards for writing crochet patterns. Yes. Yes. But you’re not quite there yet.

Krista: 36:38
Yeah. And that definitely goes back to that PDF or that guideline that I had mentioned before. Because I believe those were just updated recently. Yeah. Within the past few months.

Brittany: 36:50
Yeah. I’ll have to link to that in the show notes.

Krista: 36:53
Yeah. So definitely, especially if you are really serious about writing patterns, you’re going to want to make sure you follow those guidelines. If you ever want to write for, say, a magazine or a yarn company, you’re going to want to make sure that you follow those guidelines. Just get familiar with all the terms and the abbreviations and et cetera.

Brittany: 37:14
Exactly. And it’s something that you can do in your free time too. I mean, it’s not something that you have to—or you learn on a case-by-case basis, I feel like is a good approach. Because if you look at those resources, it’ll be like you’re drinking from a fire hose because there’s a lot of information there.

So just take it one step at a time. Like what you need for the pattern you’re writing now, learn that and try to commit it to memory. You probably won’t remember everything, but then you just sort of refresh your memory. And that’s how you can get really comfortable with writing more patterns—so you’re sort of out of that beginner designer phase.

Krista: 37:54
Yes. And I’m still—that’s why I still—I have that with me because to this day, I’m like, what is that supposed to be again? Like, you always just—it’s always good just to have that to go back to because you’re not going to remember everything. You’re not going to always know everything. You’re always learning.

Brittany: 38:08
Exactly. And that’s perfectly okay.

Unknown: 38:12
Mm-hmm.

Brittany: 38:12
Now, I have one last question for you. I’m really curious to hear—if you were able to tell yourself, you know, your previous self from 2013—a tip about writing your first pattern, what would it be?

Krista: 38:29
Oh, my goodness. That’s a hard one.

Brittany: 38:32
I know. I kind of put you on the spot.

Krista: 38:37
Oh, man. I guess don’t stress about it too much. I mean, you’re not going to be perfect the first time. It’s kind of what we talked about before. You’re going to learn as you go. Take it slow. It’ll be fine.

Brittany: 38:52
Yeah. I think that’s a really great tip. I wish I knew that. And I think if I could go back and talk to myself in 2013 when I started writing patterns for the first time, I would tell myself that you’re the creator.

That tripped me up a lot. I was so fixated on, well, what’s the right way to do this particular shape? And as the designer, you’re sort of creating that roadmap. So I wish I would have known that sooner.

Krista: 39:21
Definitely. It’s a learning process. I think for the first year and a half, I called every stitch a stitch. So I wouldn’t even call it a chain. I would call everything a stitch. Everything was a stitch. So I had a lot of editing to do. I’d get people like, what are you talking about? Like, oh.

Brittany: 39:42
Yeah. And those are things that people will always present to you too—especially if you’re publishing on a blog or a website. As long as you have the comment section enabled, somebody will tell you if there is something off or if something looks weird.

And you can always go back and edit that. I always just say, you know what? I’m human. I’m a one-woman show. I do everything I can to make sure that things are error-free. But, you know, it happens. And you can correct it and move forward.

Yes, that’s true. Well, this has been a really fun conversation. I’m so glad that you were able to share so much on what you go through as a beginner designer, because that isn’t something we’ve really covered here before.

So before we wrap things up, I want to give people a chance to connect with you after they’ve listened to this episode. So where’s the best place for them to go?

Krista: 40:40
You can find me on Instagram. I’m at rescuepawdesigns. On Pinterest—I spend a lot of time on Pinterest. Yes. Rescue Paw. And Facebook, Rescue Paw Designs.

Brittany: 40:52
Wonderful. And you also have another sort of side gig that you do that I also want to mention, because we all need some swag in our life when it comes to knitting and crochet. So what is that?

Krista: 41:06
I have a little shop called Yarn Mamas, and it’s a shop that I created for makers in 2016. I was searching the internet and realized there was not any fun, yarny maker goodies that I would want to buy for myself.

So I have a friend who lives nearby, and she actually has a blog too. She’s a designer—like a Cricut. She kind of likes to do hand-drawn stuff. I had her help me out with that, and she designs most—I’d say 95%—of my designs online and puts them on coats, t-shirts, sweatshirts—stuff that I myself would want to buy—and just put it out there in the world.

Brittany: 41:49
Awesome. And I know there are some really, really good ones out there. So where is that? Is that an Etsy shop or is it a separate website?

Krista: 41:58
It’s a separate website. It’s at yourmamas.com. But it’s all part of Rescue Paw Designs. I actually sell my PDF patterns there too.

Brittany: 42:07
Gotcha. Okay. So I will link to that one as well in the show notes. So if you are needing a crochet or knit shirt—tops, I’ve even seen like sweatshirts, I think…

Krista: 42:18
Yes, they’re sweatshirts.

Brittany: 42:20
Yes. So we need that in our life. We’ll check that out.

Krista: 42:23
I also wanted to mention that I donate a portion of all my profits from Rescue Paw Designs and Yarn Mamas to animal shelters or rescues.

Brittany: 42:32
Oh, that’s awesome.

Krista: 42:33
Just an extra bonus.

Brittany: 42:34
Well, yeah, and it’s a great incentive to buy from somebody who’s doing something like that. That’s really amazing. It’s a way that you can give back and sort of get some really cool stuff in the process.

Wonderful. Well, it has been so much fun. I will have links to all the great stuff that we talked about in the show notes page. And Krista, thank you so much. It’s been a pleasure.

Thank you for having me. All right. There you have it. I hope you enjoyed that episode with Krista from Rescued Paw Designs.

Just a reminder, you can find her website over on the show notes page, as well as some of those patterns that she talked about. You can find that at bhooked.com/118.

Now, if you are a first-time pattern writer, I hope you found some inspiration in this, and I hope it sort of pushes you into writing that first pattern if you were just a little unsure about how to do it.

Well, now you have the basics. Go write your first pattern, my friend. It’s not as scary as it looks. And like we said, you can always make improvements as you go along.

Now that wraps up another episode of the BHooked Podcast. Thank you so much for joining me. I know you could spend your time with so many other podcasts, and today—right now—you chose to listen to this one. And I’m really grateful for that. So thank you.

Now I promise to serve you with another amazing episode next week. So stay tuned for that. Subscribe to the show so you don’t miss it. And I’ll see you there, my friend. Bye for now.