Guest Post: Creating your own Patterns by Eileen Troemel

A Bag of Yarn

“Mom will you make me….”  Over the years, my daughters, nieces and occasionally my nephews ask me to make them something.  Often this is accompanied by a picture or a pattern.  There were times I spent money on patterns only to buy yarn and follow the pattern to discover it was not well written. This has happened to me so many times.  I hate wasting money on patterns only to discover they aren’t well written or tested.  

I started crocheting when I was twelve.  I was an infrequent crocheter until my late teens.  More than once I’ve made enough afghans for my nieces and nephews for Christmas.  I love to take yarn – fiber of some sort – and turn it from a long strand to something I know someone will use. 

            During one visit with my daughter, she showed me a pattern for a trivet.  She asked and wanted.  I was okay – I’ll try.  I was so frustrated.  It looked simple.  It should have been simple.  But it wasn’t.  I asked her if she had to have that specific pattern.  She said no.  Okay then – I made my own pattern. 

            This may seem daunting – where do I start?  How do I even consider creating my own pattern?  I’ve made patterns all along.  I’d pick up a crochet hook and start crocheting.  I just never wrote them down.  This meant when I created an item, I couldn’t duplicate it. 

            Writing down a pattern isn’t hard.  If you use patterns, you know the basics – Intro information, rows, finishing details.

            Introduction information is made up of the materials you’ll need, the gauge of the project, the abbreviations used in the pattern, the measurements and any notes.  If I were looking at a recipe – it would be like looking at the ingredients list.  The rows tell you how to make the item.  The finishing tells how to put the final touches on the project.

            So I started writing my patterns down.  I had a notebook where I wrote my patterns out.  The problem with this – I could never find the thing when I wanted it or the pattern wasn’t written down in the pad. 

            In April 2014, I published my first book. This was a big scary step for me but I learned all the steps of how to publish my fiction and non-fiction writing.  At one point in 2014, Vicki asked me – mom, why don’t you publish your crochet patterns? 

            Huh.  Why don’t I?  I thought it was ridiculous.  Who would buy them?  Why would anyone want my crochet patterns?  But the idea intrigued me enough that I started writing my patterns down, taking pictures of my projects, and figuring out the best way to publish my patterns. 

            I didn’t do any research.  I created and published.  My covers are mediocre.  I’m not a great photographer and my early covers are… passable.  I realized if I was going to make scarves, I need a neck to hang it on.  I bought a mannequin to show off my work.  I considered lighting, colors, and so many other things but I took my homemade patterns and turned them into published products. 

            With each pattern, I’m learning more about how to create patterns, double check them, and publish them.  I won’t lie.  It’s not a simple process – no matter what anyone says.  Last year, I found a bag of lovely yarn.  Lots of one skeins of different colors.  I decided to make scarves.  The more I made the more I realized, I wanted to turn this bag of yarn into a book. 

            The lovely part – I made all these amazing scarves and gave them away.  Nieces, nephews, student workers, friends, and strangers ended up with all the scarves.  My one niece took pity on me and took photos of all the ones her family got.  I ended up with a lot of scarf patterns which I’m in the process of publishing.  All from a random bag of yarn I found while cleaning my craft room.  So I’ve combined my love of writing (and publishing) and my love of crocheting.   

 

https://eileentroemel.com/crochet-patterns/

 

https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00JL4OXLS

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