Blog

I was asked the other day, how do you design a crochet pattern?

If you have ever thought of designing your own crochet patterns, it all starts with an idea of what you would like to make. Then I sit down with my yarn, crochet hooks, a book for writing, and a pencil.

I can spend hours, days, or even weeks trying to execute my idea. Sometimes I try writing out the pattern in advance, and sometimes I just start crocheting and write the pattern as I go. Either way, there is always a lot of frogging and crossed-out pages in my book, but when I am all done, I have a crochet pattern.

If you want to write crochet patterns, it takes a lot of trial and error before you get it right, so don't get frustrated; it is all part of the process. The one thing that really surprised me when I started designing and writing crochet patterns is that it also takes a lot of math, especially when you are trying to figure out a decrease section.

Sometimes you end up with something totally different from the idea you started with, and that is ok. I designed a pattern recently and did not write it down as I went. Once I was all done and tried to recreate what I had done, I forgot how to do it, so my advice to you is to write everything down as you go, even the steps you might end up crossing out in the end.

We have white plastic Ikea shoe boxes all over our home that we discovered make great storage bins for small spaces. I quickly discovered that these are the perfect place to stash my yarn, out of sight, out of mind. Move over kid toys; those bins are mine! 

I also have a new big crochet bag that I like to call my Magic crochet bag.  How does the yarn go into the bag in a nice neat ball and come out in a big tangled mess?  Now that's magic!

I have lots of perfectly good yarn, but despite that, I still make excuses to pop over to Michaels. I find myself wandering the aisles, touching the yarn, looking for what's new, and imagining what I could make. There is something exciting about getting a new ball of yarn. It's like buying a new shirt or pair of shoes, but just like those new shoes, the thrill wears off, and into the stash it goes.

I keep telling myself that one day I will go through my stash and either donate it or make something with it. The problem is that before I do that, I'll need to untangle the knots. So the question I ask you is: What do I do with all my yarn? Has anyone out there successfully gotten rid of their stash? I would love to hear how you finally cleaned shop!  Let me know in the comments below.