Designing your own crochet patterns (Part 2)

Last time, I wrote about paying attention to patterns and the way many patterns are put together. Today's post is all about inspiration.

Inspiration can come from just about anywhere. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. When someone (or myself) says, "I wonder if I can crochet [x]?" I see that as a challenge to do just that. (Maybe it's too much How I Met Your Mother watching, but that's how I see it.) I might be tempted to see if someone else has made whatever x is already. If not, I get the pleasure of playing scientist to see if I can do it. If they have, I might skim through their pattern and wonder "How would I do that?" or "That seems like a weird way to do this part (or the whole thing). I wonder why they didn't do it this way?" etc.

2. Sometimes I like going to manufacturers websites to look for inspiration. I may look at jewelry, for example, and think "How would you crochet that?" or "How would I get the same effect if it was crocheted?"

3. People in your life. Many people in my life (sorry if you're reading this, but you know it's true!) are a little quirky. I tend to use those quirks to inspire my crochet. For example, one of my friends is a big Star Trek fan. Knowing that, I knew I wanted to make her something related to Star Trek. Thus my Star Trek pillow collection idea was born. (See the patterns link on the top of my blog if you'd like to see them.)

4. Books. This may sound lame, but lately I've been really into books that have "stitch patterns" in them. I like to see how the different combination of stitches work to create different effects. Looking through them, I always find at least a few (okay, typically more than a few) that I really like. I instantly go into "what can I make with that" mode. Something really lacy, for example, wouldn't make a very sturdy purse/bag without a good lining.

5. Yarn colors. Ever look at a yarn and think, that's the perfect color for Kermit the frog or something else? That actually happened to me the other day. I was teaching a student and we were working on the crocodile stitch. She was using her red yarn, and I thought "If I ever make a hand puppet, that color with the crocodile stitch would make a great tongue!"

6. Movies. Yup! If you look closely enough, you'll almost always notice something in movies or television shows that is knitted or crocheted. Ever notice the blanket that's draped over the back of Amy's couch on Big Bang Theory? It looks like it's made entirely of granny squares. You can catch a glimpse of it here.

I'm always surprised where my inspiration comes from. To keep track of my ideas, I try to write them down on whatever paper I have handy. (I know, a better method would be to keep a little notebook with me at all times. I always manage to forget the idea before I dig out the notebook from my purse.) Sometimes it's a note card that I have on my desk, or another pattern that I'm currently working on. Either way, sometimes these notes get "lost" for a bit, but I always manage to find them later. I guess this method makes me feel like my ideas don't overflow and overwhelm me. I can work on or think of one as I stumble across it later.

The next post in this series will be about my thinking during the designing process. (This will likely be next week, as my next blog post will be about and for the National Crochet Month's blog tour organized by the amazing people at Crochetville.)

Designing your own crochet patterns (Part 1)

I designed my first pattern over almost two years ago now. It was a Yoshi scarf for my friends daughter. Looking back on it, I wish I had written down the pattern, as I would have loved to share it. When I first had that thought - the I want to design my own pattern thought - I wondered how most people go about making their designs. I did a Google search hoping to find some help getting started. (I laugh at how silly that sounds now.)

What I managed to find was limited and didn't seem to work for me. Some people suggested drawing out their ideas. Sure, that's great in theory. What if you don't know what you want to make, but you want to make something? That's the boat I was in. I was clearly going about it all backwards. I had, well I guess, the crochet equivalent to writer's block. I didn't think I had any creative ideas at all.

This post is going to be the first in a series of posts about my start into and process of designing my own patterns. I'm hoping that it will help someone out there who was like me and looking for someplace to start.

For today, I'll simply add this bit of information. There are many ways of doing things with crochet, but there are many "patterns" within patterns you find. For example, a flat circle is typically done with a round of single crochets, followed by a round of increases in each stitch. After that the round is a pattern of either (a) an increase, followed by one (or more depending on the round) single crochet stitches, or (b) the inverse (i.e. one or more single crochet stitches followed by an increase.

To find these patterns you have to do a few things.
1. Start looking for the patterns! If you aren't paying attention to the patterns and repetitions within a pattern, you won't see them.
2. Crochet outside of your comfort zone. Try patterns for different things. If you normally crochet one thing, try something else. Like amigurumi, afghans, or apparel, etc.
3. Try to remember some of the patterns you notice when working on new patterns. Eventually you'll see that most circles are made the same way, squares, triangles, etc.
4. Crochet a lot of different patterns! There are many ways to do anything in crochet. Take granny squares for example. How many different granny squares are there? Way too many to count! Working on different patterns will help you figure out the different ways to accomplish different (or the same) results. You'll be able to figure out which way you prefer to do something. (Which is key for when you decide to write your own patterns.)

Next post will be about finding your inspiration for projects.

If you design your own patterns, what else would you add to this list? If you don't design your own, what would you like to know about designing? I'd love to hear what you have to say. Add your comments below!