A Beginner's Guide to Pattern Design (INTRODUCTION)

Hi friends!

Do you really want to crochet something, but haven’t found a pattern for it that you love? Have you ever wanted to make up your own pattern, but gotten overwhelmed when thinking about where to start? Yes? Then this series of blog posts is for you!

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had a few crocheters DM me on Instagram about pattern design and asking for tips on how to begin. I quickly realized that my advice of, “Just give it a try! You can do it!” was wildly unhelpful, haha! I hope that this series breaks the design & writing process down into a manageable chunks. After reading each “chapter,” I hope you’ll feel comfortable enough to undertake your very own pattern!

For this series, I will be chronicling my design of Galarian Slowpoke from start to finish! Come join me as we move through the planning, frogging and fastening of it all! 

While this is still a work in progress, here are some of the “chapters” I’ve planned for this series:

1. Break it Down!
2. Scaling & Working in the round
3. The importance of frogging
4. Using increases / decreases
5. Strategic stuffing (thinking aloud)


I’m really excited about this series because it’s a return to the roots of this blog. I started Frog and Fasten because I wanted to give back to the yarn community. I learned nearly everything I know from online tutorials and free patterns. There are so many artists that inspired my style of crochet and desire to keep hooking (lol), and it’s such neat feeling to think that I might be able to do the same for others! It's also a place where I like to share my mistakes with others to show that not everything out there on the internet is perfect (or comes that easy, like it may appear).

This little project will also challenge me to actively think about my own process. I've never documented a project from start to finish (unless my #wip photos count, hehe), so I'm excited to see it all unfold too!!

Before we begin with the first post of the series, here are two things that I want to emphasize:

1. This guide is just a glimpse into the way I think about and approach pattern design. Please don’t take this guide as a suggestion that this is the “right” way to do it! What works for me may not work for you and vice versa. Everyone has their own style and method, so don’t be afraid to do your own thing.

2. Patterning takes time. Despite planning, you might find that a lot of the design process is trial and error. Expect to spend lots of time frogging and expect to get frustrated at times. Each time I design something, frogging is always a huge chunk of the process. That’s why my blog name is frog and fasten; the frogging (and lots of it) always comes first!

3. Sharing is caring! I am not an expert and I don't pretend to be one. I am still learning a lot from others and I'd love to learn from you! If you have a suggestion or a tip that you use, please share it in the comments or over on my IG. Talking to you guys is one of my favourite parts of keeping this whole thing going!

Alright, grab your hooks, grab some yarn and let's do this thing! I can’t wait to see what sorts of awesome things you all pattern!

Cindy.

P.S., I recently created a ko-fi page! If you enjoy my work and you’d like to support me, feel free to buy me a coffee!