My Crochet Creative Process and Recent Experiments

The past few days I've realized that my creative process is probably not one many people share. When I first started to crochet, I thought about how great it would be to write my own patterns. Of course, I felt that I never knew enough to write any. The more I crochet, the more comfortable I get with experimenting with it. It's that experimenting that leads me to create some of the things I do.

A few years ago and after working with many different patterns, I started noticing a pattern among the patterns I was working. A scarf for example could be worked going horizontally or vertically, or a pattern or repetition of stitches within a pattern could be recalculated to be used in something else. Knowing this, it then becomes about being brave enough to try it. I tell many of my students that with crochet nothing is ever permanent until you've finished it off. With yarn, you can always start a project, do a few rows, experiment a little and rip it all out and start over. (This is a little harder when working with wire.)  If something doesn't work you can try recalculating your pattern or changing your stitch pattern/combination until you find one that works.

Recently, I've been playing with wire crochet and beads. With wire, this process is a little more complicated. The wire might bend making it difficult to take stitches out. If you do manage to take stitches out, you can only work with a section of wire so many times before the integrity of the wire weakens and eventually causes the wire to break. At some point you just have to decide if continuing is worth it, or if you can salvage what you can and start over to try again.

I usually find it easier if I try to draw it out before starting. My husband actually found one of my charts (for a pair of earrings that didn't work out so well) and asked me if I was planning on playing football. It was a bunch of x's for the single crochet stitches and an upside down J at the top to simulate the hook. I also wanted to add beads, so I had some of the x's with squares around them to mark where I wanted the beads. Nonetheless, I thought it was funny that he asked me that. :)

Here are just a few of the things that I've created. In the past few days.

A bracelet using love knots. I'll post the pattern for it soon.

Another version of a bracelet with love knots. I'll post this pattern soon as well.

 Some granny squares that will be earrings when I add them to the earring hooks. I got the idea to try it from a pattern on Ravelry. I added the beads.

Flower earrings, again from a pattern I found from Ravelry.

Wire crochet flower rings. I have yet to actually write this pattern down yet, but it's pretty easy.

Everyone has their own way of doing things. This way has worked for me so far.