How to read a crochet pattern

It’s time to face the music. You’ve avoided it for so long, creating fun and funky things by the seat of your pants, one wild double crochet at a time. While some of your off-the-cuff designs are great, they aren’t always wearable (ask me how I know), and there are so many stitch patterns, designs, and toys out there! It’s also really nice to have something written down to refer back to so you don’t have to keep going back to the Youtube video and suffering through ads for the 300th time.

It’s daunting at first, but with some patience, you’ll open yourself to a brand new world where you don’t have to work out all the kinks like you do for free-form projects! Learning to read and follow patterns is also one of the best ways to level up your crochet skills, giving you the ability to create better patternless pieces that look like the idea you have in your head. Even though I enjoy the challenge of making a garment without a pattern, the skills I’ve picked up from completing written patterns has been a very valuable asset for making high quality garments I wear over and over.

Before you pick up a hook, read through the pattern

I’ll be referring to the Bergen Bottle Cozy from Lion Brand Yarn’s website. You’ll need to create an account to download it, but it’s completely free and a good pattern to learn from. It’s small and easy to finish and you’ll find techniques like crocheting in the round and simple open-work (a stitch pattern with holes in it), making it a challenging but accessible pattern for those with a little crochet experience, since the project is made up of single crochet, double crochet, and slip stitches.

The Craft Yarn Council has a page to help you determine how complex a pattern is. This will help you choose projects that you can finish with confidence.

Basic/Beginner: uses simple stitches like single and double crochet and has minimal increase or decreases
Easy/advanced beginner/confident beginner: Has simple stitch patterns, color work, and shaping
Intermediate: More involved stitch patterns, color work, and shaping
Complex /Advanced: Complex stitch patterns, color work, and shaping using multiple techniques

What makes a good pattern?

Clear photographs of the finished project.
Skill level
A comprehensive list of supplies
How much yarn was used,
- Gauge
- Measurements of the finished project,
- It uses standard crochet abbreviations
Notes for confusing or complex parts of the pattern
Instructions for any complex or unusual stitches

Clothing usually comes with multiple sizes in the pattern, and dimensions for each size should be listed as well. Typically it will look like “ Small (Medium, Large, Extra Large) and the stitch counts will correlate within the pattern. It’ll look something like “18 (20, 24, 26)” in the pattern itself. You will follow the stitch count for the size you want.

Fortunately, good patterns are pretty easy to find both online and offline. There’s a wealth of websites like Ravelry, Hobbii, Yarnspirations, and google to find individual designers. You can also search print magazines, your local library, craft stores, and sometimes on the back of your skein label.

When you fall in love with a paid pattern, show the designer some love and purchase it from them! They deserve to be compensated for the work and revisions it took to get the pattern to you. Check out their reviews, because it’ll give you an idea how other crocheters liked (or disliked) the instructions.

Get your supplies together and find the right hook, yarn and gauge

It’s time to decide if you’re going to use the same yarn that the pattern uses, or if you are going to use something different. If you go for a different yarn, make sure that they’re similar, or else it will affect the size of your finished project.

This pattern uses a 5 mm/ 8-H hook. This is your starting point. Everyone crochets differently, and you may have a tighter or looser stitch than the designer. This is why it’s good to do a little 5 inch square test swatch to see if you’re close to theirs. You’ll find the gauge at the top of the pattern. For the Bergen Bottle Cozy pattern, it says

“16 sc= about 4 in (10 cm)”

Translation: Sixteen single crochet stitches should measure about 4 inches

If you have too many stitches, go up a hook size
If you have too few, go down.
If you’re a maverick who wants to get right down to the project, gauge be damned, godspeed.

The notes on this pattern tell us that we’re working in the round, which means we will be forming a tube with no seams. It also tells us that the strap is to be worked separately in rows (going back and forth to create a flat piece of fabric) and joined to the project.

Note 2 says “when instructed to “sc in next ch- 7 sp 2 rnds below”, insert your hook in the space that is under the 2 ch 7’s of the previous 2 rnds and work a sc crocheting the 2 ch-7’s together”

Translation: insert your hook into the chain-7 space from two rounds prior, capturing both chained rows, and then work a single crochet stitch.

Reading the pattern

The pattern is read left to right.

Each stitch is separated with a comma. If you’re using the same stitch several times in a row, it will tell you how many of that type of stitch is needed. In the Bergen Bottle Cozy pattern, round 17 says “ ch 5, sk next 5 sts, sc in last 4 sts”, meaning you will do 5 chain stitches, skip (don’t crochet into) 5 stitches, and place one single crochet in each of the last 4 stitches in the round.

There is no industry standard for whether or not the number should fall before or after the stitch, so “5 ch” and “ch 5” mean “five chain stitches.”

For lefties (hi, me too), there is no difference when reading a pattern, but your work will go in the opposite direction to the process photos. If the pattern has clear instructions, it’s not a big deal because you will still end up with a finished project that looks like what the right-handed designer made.

Stitch Count

This number usually appears in parentheses after the final stitch, although this can also vary by designer.

If the row or round does not list a specific number of stitches at the end, it’s implied that the next rows or rounds will have the same number of stitches. In the Bergen Bottle Cozy pattern, Round 17 lists “18 sc and 6 ch-5 sps”, which means once you finish round 17, you should have a total of 18 single crochet stitches and 6 chain 5 spaces. Row 18 does not have these instructions, because it will look exactly the same: 18 single crochet stitches and 6 chain 5 spaces.

It’s good practice to stop and count your stitches from time to time, especially when working on a written pattern. I like to put a stitch marker in my first stitch so I know where to start the count, and if I’m working on a flat piece, I place a stitch marker in the final stitch, since that one can be hard to see. When I’ve got a ton of stitches to count, I break them up with stitch markers into groups of 10, 25, or 50. It makes counting much easier! I still can’t count, but I find my mistakes faster.

Decoding abbreviations

The Bergen Bottle Cozy uses these abbreviations:

RS (Right Side): The side of the work that will face out.
- RND (Round): The terminology for rows when you’re working in the round.
- CH (Chain): With one loop on your hook, yarn over, pull yarn through the loop on the hook
- ST (Stitch)
SC (Single Crochet): Insert your hook in to the stitch, yarn over, pull up a loop (there are two loops on the hook), yarn over, pull through 2 loops, leaving you with 1 loop on your hook
- SL ST (Slip Stitch): insert your hook into the stitch, yarn over, pull up a loop, and pull the new loop through the first stitch on your hook. This is used to join rounds together in this pattern.
- SK (Skip): Don’t crochet into these stitches
- DC (Double Crochet) Yarn over, insert your hook, yarn over, and pull up a loop. There should be 3 on your hook. Yarn over, pull loop through 2 stitches. This will leave two loops on your hook yarn over, pull loop through the 2 on your hook, leaving one on your hook. The stitch is taller than a single crochet.
- REP (repeat): You will be doing the exact same stitches you did earlier in the pattern. Refer to that section when you get there in the pattern.

If you’re ever unsure about what an abbreviation means, many designers include some or all of the abbreviations and definitions of the stitches used in the pattern. If you don’t see it there, the Craft Yarn Council has a page dedicated to standard abbreviations. I usually find this at the very beginning of a pattern, but this pattern has them listed at the very end. This is why it’s a good idea to read the entire pattern first so you can find where to refer back to if you forget what something means or how to do a special stitch.

Repeats

When the pattern maker wants you to repeat stitches in a row or round, you will see it listed two ways in the pattern: asterisks and in parentheses. They both mean the same thing: You will repeat the stitches a certain number of times in the pattern..

Let’s look at some examples in the pattern.

For the bottom of the cozy, repeated stitches start at the asterisk and end at the semicolon:

RND 4: ch 1, *2 sc in next st, sc in next 2 sts; rep from *around; join with a sl st in first sc- 18 sc

Translation: Chain one, put two single crochets in the next stitch. Place one single crochet in the next two stitches, then put another two single crochets in the next stitch. Repeat the 2 single crochet in a single stitch followed by two single crochets until you reach the end. (not said but implied: you will end your round on the 2nd single crochet.) Slip stitch into the first stitch. You will have 18 single crochets this round.

Round 20 uses parentheses to separate out the repeated stitches. This is more common when there is a repeated stitch pattern, as seen below. Whatever number is next to the parentheses is the number of times you’ll repeat those stitches.

“Rnd 20: Ch 1, sc in first 3 sts, (ch 7, sk next ch-7 sp, sc in next st) twice…”

Translation: chain one, single crochet in the first three stitches of the round. Chain 7, skip 7 stitches (the chain from the previous round), single crochet in the next stitch (the single crochet from the previous round), and repeat that once more.

Mama’s little helpers: stitch markers.

Stitch markers will keep you on track. When I first started amigurumi, I would put stitch markers at every increase as a visual reminder of what I was going to do, since going back and forth from the pattern to my piece is an excellent way for me to lose my place. When you’re just starting out crocheting or reading patterns for the first time, these will help keep you on track until the overall pattern becomes clear. Place your stitch markers where they make sense for you! I like to color code specific stitches or landmarks, like a green for the beginning of my round, orange for increases, and purple to mark the end of a repeat section.

It can be daunting at first, but with practice, you will master patterns and open up a whole world of new techniques, stitch patterns, and create reliable garments that fit the first time with ease.

What’s your first pattern piece? Are you working on something and need a little help deciphering it? I’d love to help, so comment below!

Choosing the Right Yarn for Crochet Projects

It costs how much per skein?! How to make yarn substitutions for your new project for a happier wallet (and/or spouse)

Turns out, the designer’s suggested yarn and hook actually matters if you’re looking to crochet a wearable item that actually fits. Don’t ask me how I know… it’s still lurking in the UFO pile of shame.

Maybe it’s the ADHD or that I have a limited budget, but I don’t often grab the same yarn that the designer used for their projects. Maybe one day I’ll be able to afford the hand dyed yarn made from angel tears and pampered goats who eat better than I do. Until then, if I’m not picking up a project made from the cheap and cheerful stuff, I need to get creative and use what I have before my yarn stash takes over my living room more than it already does.

When you’re taking a moderately hinged, or in my case, a completely unhinged, deviation from your pattern, it’s good to do a gauge swatch to make sure that you will have the same stitch count. Your finished project won’t look like the designer’s photo. Depending on if you’re using the same or different recommended fiber, your project will have a different drape, feel, and overall look. Your gauge swatch will give you a good idea of what your project will look like, as well as help you dial in your hook size to nail your stitches and/or rows per inch.

Choosing the right substitution

Yarn weight

If you’re wanting a project that is roughly the same size outlined in your pattern, the weight of your yarn is the most important thing to consider. Weight, in this case, refers to the relative thickness of the yarn. The Craft Yarn Council lists eight weights:

0: Lace (sometimes also called Thread)

1: Super Fine (often called Fingering, Sock, or Baby)

2: Fine (often called Sport or Baby)

3: Light (often called DK or Light Worsted)

4: Medium (often called Worsted, Afghan, or Aran)

5: Bulky (often called Chunky, Craft, or Rug)

6: Super Bulky (often called Super Chunky or Roving)

7: Jumbo (often called Arm Knitting Yarn)

This will get you into the ballpark of where you need to be, although there is a bit of wiggle room between the weights. “Baby” can be slightly thick and labeled as a fine (#2) yarn, or it can be very thin and light like a super fine (#1) yarn. If you choose a yarn of a different weight than the pattern suggests, it changes the final size and feel. For example, using a thicker yarn will result in a larger, denser fabric compared to the original design, even if you follow the pattern exactly. I’ve also seen that some yarns listed as a #4 medium weight yarn are nearly identical to a yarn with a Fine (#2) weight. This is where swatching will save you from frogging hours of work.

If you’re digging through the random balls of yarn that have been in your stash since skinny jeans were ubiquitous and the label has long since wandered off, you can get an idea of your yarn’s weight by counting the wraps per inch. Simply grab a ruler and wrap the yarn around for an inch or so snugly but not tightly and count the number of loops. This is more of a rough estimate as to your yarn’s weight, but it’s enough to get an idea as to whether or not it will be appropriate for your project.

Approximate WPI for each weight:

Wraps per inch	Yarn weight
30-40	0- Lace
14-30	1- Super Fine
12-18	2- Fine
11-15	3- Light
9-12	4- Medium
6-9	5- Bulky
5-6	6- Super Bulky
1-4	7- Jumbo

If you want a more precise substitution for your yarn, you can find suggestions on yarnsub.com. Simply enter in what the pattern calls for and it will give you similar yarns in a variety of price points and fibers to find your perfect match.

Once you know the weight of the yarn you need to use for your project, you can then start to look at the fiber of the yarn.

Yarn fibers

There is a big caveat here: the type of fiber you use will make a drastic difference in how the fabric looks and feels. Sometimes this is necessary, especially if you’re allergic to a type of fiber, hate the way a specific fiber feels against your skin, do not wish to use animal products, or just want to treat yourself. Matching the designer’s choice of fiber will keep your finished project looking and behaving more like how the pattern was envisioned.

The three big categories here are animal, plant, and synthetic. Within each of those you will find a variety of fibers to suit your needs and budget.

Animal

Wool is the most common animal fiber for yarn, and it’s thick, warm, and easy to find, even at craft stores. You can find it in a ton of colors, weights, quality, and price.

Cashmere is yarn made from goats, and is soft and luxurious. It’s ideal for lightweight but warm garments like sweaters and cardigans.

Mohair is also made from goats, but due to its fine, fuzzy nature, it’s not great to crochet with by itself and benefits from another, less fussy yarn carried alongside it in a project.

Alpaca is warm and delightfully silky. It’s one of my favorites, even though I live in Texas, where it’s not appropriate for 10 ½ out of 12 months. I usually opt for a fine or super fine weight and an open, lacy pattern.

Silk is expensive but has unparalleled sheen and softness. You’ll usually find this in a blend, where its luxurious sheen and drape can enhance other fibers. It’s a great fiber as it will keep you both warm and cool, depending on the weather and stitch.

Plant

Cotton is the most common plant-based yarn you can find. Unfortunately, the cotton yarn I find in my local craft and big box stores is, frankly, awful. It’s thick, scratchy, and good for nothing but dishcloths, but don’t let that turn you off of cotton! I’m a huge fan of mercerized cotton, which is softer, shinier, and smoother than unmercerized cotton.

Linen is a fantastic yarn for summer projects! It’s lightweight, well-known for its moisture-wicking properties, and doesn’t stretch out like other fibers do. It can, however, be stiff and is notorious for splitting.

Bamboo is relatively new, and despite it being more expensive than cotton, is a fantastic, soft yarn that is great for a variety of projects. You’ll sometimes see this listed as viscose or rayon, which are synthetic techniques for turning cellulose into fiber.

Synthetic

Acrylic is by far the most common synthetic yarn you can find. While it has a bad rap from some yarn snobs, it’s the perfect choice for people new to any fiber art due to its availability and affordability. While there are some low-quality, crunchy acrylic yarns out there (IYKYK), there are also some delightfully soft and high quality brands that are a dream to work with.

Nylon is seldom used on its own, but is often found in blends to help make yarns stronger and more durable.

Rayon/viscose is a soft, silky yarn that is made from regenerated cellulose. It’s also a common blend to help increase softness and luster in yarns.

One of the things I love about crochet is that I can make a garment that’s exactly the right shape and fiber for me, regardless of the pattern’s suggestion. If you love the way a particular pattern looks, you can follow the pattern down to the yarn and hooks. If you embrace the notion of “happy accidents”, use the pattern as a guide instead of a bible. If you want a similar garment, opt for a yarn that has a similar fiber content and size. If you hate the fiber, change it out for something you like more, or that’s more affordable to you!

Even though your finished garment won’t look exactly like the designer’s, it will be a garment as unique as you. There is nothing like wearing a handmade garment out and about so when someone comments on your clothes, you can casually say, “Oh, this? I made it myself.”