Thoughts About Reading Crochet Patterns

Lately, Mom will say to me, "To bad that I don't read crochet patterns."  Which seems very strange to me, as my Mom is where I get my 'can do' attitude, and were I learned to crochet.

There is the fact that I taught myself to read patterns back in the early 2000's, so I guess. And, does this mean that she freeform crocheted all that she ever made? Yes, yes she did. 

Wow, Mom! She made so many crochet things! Even made her own Christmas Tree, and repeated her design. One Christmas she even me a barbie sweater that was my favorite gift that year, and a huge King size zigzag blanket another year. Thinking back, it is true, all the items that we had crocheted or knitted together, not one of them was from reading a pattern.  

Mom was always more into fabric. In 2001, I was starting to get hooked on yarn. I had found a fantastic book at a local thrift store that was a crochet, knitting, and tatting dictionary, and when I found the crochet section in the book, I was fascinated. I had never seen so many crochet stitches!  I began to learn crochet stitches, one by one, both by written instruction, as well as the diagrams in the book, that are exceptionally drawn. I attribute these diagrams to the ease that I later had figuring out how to read crochet graphs, which are actually much easier than even written patterns. I think that my Grandmother read the square crochet graphs.

At the yarn store, I would pick up a free pattern here or there, and would figure out what it was saying, even if I did not make the item, it was good practice reading the patterns.

Fearlessly crocheting with my trusty book, I added to my stitch knowledge, and began to write my own patterns. Knowing stitches was great, but I wanted things that I could not find patterns for, like a bikini, so I created my own, like my Mom 💜. 

Now we have the internet, so there is way less excuses, and way more resources. 

'I don't read patterns.'    I say, Mhhh, 'If you want to, you probably can, it really isn't that difficult.' Having a hook and yarn on hand would be the biggest hurdle for most.

With crochet, there are not as many hard and fast rules that you must follow to create something, so you have more freedom to freeform crochet, and it still turn out beautiful. This is one reason that I've preferred crochet to knitting from the beginning of my hooked on yarn journey. Silly me, I like to color outside the lines, sometimes. If you know basic crochet stitches, you can usually make something simple.

With all of the many resources available in this technology age, there really isn't much excuse, except maybe you just really don't want to, and that is okay, maybe later. You can still grab a hook and crochet away, like Mom, with her can do attitude.

For those that Do want to read crochet patterns, there are many great resources. Searching for specific stitches and tutorials, patterns free and paid, all a breeze with so many great crocheters having shared a treasure trove of information on Youtube, they're blogs, and more. A yarn lovers dream. Though that is another story, i didn't always like yarn. The 70's had to pass for that to happen ;) .

Check the list of links here on Doily Designs to find some of my favorite crocheters to draw inspiration from. One of these fantastic crocheters sharing on Youtube is Naztazia. Donna has great stitch tutorials for beginners and advanced crocheters.

My Mom is also my inspiration for making my patterns readable for all, and she inspired the addition of lots of photos, graphs, and videos coming soon.

Thank you for stopping by.

Best wishes, and happy crocheting!

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