1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,160 Hello my friends, and welcome to Simply Hooked, a crochet 2 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:06,000 podcast. I'm your host Marcy, a crochet 3 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:08,760 designer, mom of two, and creative entrepreneur. 4 00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:12,560 Here we celebrate the joy of crochet and talk about what it 5 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:15,960 really means to create a life you love through your own unique 6 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:20,160 gifts. Hello my friends, do you 7 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:24,040 remember the very first time you saw a crochet pattern? 8 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:28,200 I sure do. I remember opening 1 and 9 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:30,520 thinking, what in the world is this? 10 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:33,200 It felt overwhelming right from the start. 11 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:36,720 There were abbreviations everywhere. 12 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:41,640 Parentheses, brackets, numbers, it all felt like way too much 13 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:45,320 information at once. One of the very first patterns I 14 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:50,520 ever tried was a pair of baby booties, and I remember sitting 15 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:53,920 there with the pattern in front of me and a separate print out 16 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:57,960 of the abbreviations, and I was constantly looking back and 17 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:01,440 forth trying to figure out what stitch I was supposed to do next 18 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:03,400 and if I was reading it correctly. 19 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:08,400 It was slow, it was frustrating, and it was discouraging. 20 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:14,200 But looking back now, I just hadn't learned the language yet 21 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:16,920 is all it was. And today all of those 22 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:20,680 abbreviations make complete sense and it feels like reading 23 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:24,960 a book like it's nothing. But it took time and repetition 24 00:01:24,960 --> 00:01:28,680 to get there. So I wanted to kind of break 25 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:30,880 some things down about patterns today. 26 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:34,280 So if you are just starting out with crochet, this will be a 27 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:37,480 great episode for you. So here's what it comes down to. 28 00:01:37,960 --> 00:01:42,960 Crochet patterns are simply written in shorthand and that 29 00:01:42,960 --> 00:01:46,800 has evolved over time. So once you understand why they 30 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:50,080 look the way they do and how to approach them, they become far 31 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:53,320 less intimidating. So let's start at the beginning. 32 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:56,360 Why do crochet patterns even look like this in the 1st place? 33 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:00,520 So they were actually originally designed to be printed in books 34 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:04,360 and magazines where space was limited and expensive. 35 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:09,240 So designers had to communicate as much information as possible 36 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:13,560 using as few words as possible. So that's why everything is an 37 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:16,320 abbreviation. So because of that, crochet 38 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:20,320 patterns evolved to become compact, efficient and 39 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:23,160 consistent. So they are less like a friendly 40 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:27,280 blog post and more like a recipe card written by someone who 41 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:29,360 assumes you already know how to cook. 42 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:34,040 So let's talk abbreviations because this is usually where 43 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:36,120 the panic sets in. When you're first starting out, 44 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:45,200 you see things like SCINCDECSTS and it feels like you are 45 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:48,760 staring at another language because I mean, you are really 46 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:53,160 when you first start. But the abbreviations exist for 47 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:55,480 one reason, and that is just efficiency. 48 00:02:56,280 --> 00:03:04,400 So single crochet is SC increase becomes Inc and these short, the 49 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:08,920 shortened terms make patterns faster and easier to read once 50 00:03:08,920 --> 00:03:11,880 you know what they mean. So it really is like a recipe 51 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:16,600 When you're baking, TSP is much faster to read than teaspoon, 52 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:18,920 right? So crochet patterns work the 53 00:03:18,920 --> 00:03:22,200 same way. So when you see MC that is 54 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:25,080 shorthand for start with a magic circle. 55 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:30,400 When you see Inc, it simply means to put two single crochets 56 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:33,760 into one stitch, which is an increase. 57 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:37,000 But you really just have to check that first page of every 58 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:41,480 pattern for the abbreviation section, because every designer 59 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:43,120 does things a little differently. 60 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:48,960 So in my patterns, for example, you'll see s s for slip stitch 61 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:51,720 and other patterns. Slip stitch may be written as 62 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:56,920 SLST, so neither is wrong. It's just a designer's 63 00:03:56,920 --> 00:03:58,840 preference. So it's just something to to 64 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:01,200 keep an eye out for. All right, so now let's talk 65 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:04,400 about the part of patterns that start to look like algebra. 66 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:07,600 Do you remember this? I want to use a real example 67 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:11,400 here because seeing it, or hearing it rather, makes a big 68 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:14,640 difference. So in the body of my most recent 69 00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:24,680 Unicorn pattern, round four says Bracket Inc, comma SC in three 70 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:32,920 bracket times 8 and then ( 40. The brackets are a grouping 71 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:36,080 tool. So anytime you see brackets, 72 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:40,200 that means that everything inside of the brackets is one 73 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:44,120 set of instructions. And the times 8 tells you to 74 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:48,880 repeat that set of instructions inside the brackets 8 times. 75 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:53,400 And the number of stitches that you should end up with at the 76 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:58,200 end of that round is 40. That's the number in 77 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:00,920 parentheses. So that number at the end is 78 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:03,520 really there to help you. It's like a check engine light. 79 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:07,040 You know, if you count that round and you end up with 39 80 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:12,240 stitches or 41 stitches, you've got to pause and figure out what 81 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:14,200 happened. You must have put an extra 82 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:18,880 increase or one less increase, but the earlier you can catch 83 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:22,080 these mistakes, the better. And one of the most important 84 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:27,600 parts of a crochet pattern and often commonly skipped parts is 85 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:29,840 the notes section at the beginning. 86 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:33,880 They don't all have notes, but when they do have notes, pay 87 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:36,840 attention because there's a reason that they're there. 88 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:40,160 I know it's tempting to just jump in around 1 and get 89 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:44,640 started, but the notes section is usually where the designer is 90 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:47,640 explaining something unique in the pattern that you need to 91 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:53,160 keep an eye out for, and if you miss those details, it's just 92 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:56,280 going to make the pattern feel confusing later on. 93 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:02,120 So for example, my cow lovey pattern, I designed the blanket 94 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:06,520 to be a solid granny square and at the top of the pattern I have 95 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:09,440 a technical notes section that is really important. 96 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:12,600 This is the only pattern where I've actually had a handful of 97 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:15,960 people reach out all with the same problem and it ended up 98 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:20,840 being because they all bypassed the technical notes part which 99 00:06:20,840 --> 00:06:23,800 would have saved them a lot of frustration on the blanket. 100 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:27,480 So this is going to be a mouthful, but here we go. 101 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:32,880 So the pattern part of the pattern says the chain 4 that 102 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:39,040 you start each round with serves as one of the four double 103 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:41,440 crochet that go into each corner. 104 00:06:42,280 --> 00:06:46,920 And for the last double crochet of each round, you are going to 105 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:52,360 insert your insert your hook into the corner space from the 106 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:55,360 previous round. Then you're going to do 1 double 107 00:06:55,360 --> 00:07:00,280 crochet and then slip stitch to the second chain in the 108 00:07:00,280 --> 00:07:03,880 beginning of chain 4. Gosh, that sounds so complicated 109 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:07,120 when you read it out loud. Normally you're not reading 110 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:10,440 crochet patterns out loud. That makes a lot more sense on 111 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:13,960 paper, I promise. But Long story short, makers 112 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:18,400 were not counting that chain 4 as one of the double crochet. 113 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:21,880 And so they kept going and realized one corner of the 114 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:25,120 blanket was looking a little wonky. 115 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:27,160 And they're like, why is this happening? 116 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:31,840 It's like you put an extra, you know, one of that chain 4 is 117 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:34,360 supposed to count as one of the double crochet, but they were 118 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:36,400 adding an extra double crochet in there. 119 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:41,040 So if you see any sort of note section from the designer at the 120 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:43,680 top, just read it. There is a reason that it's 121 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:46,080 there. And it could, you know, reading 122 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:50,040 2 minute read could save you from an hour of frustration down 123 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:53,240 the line. Another detail that is almost 124 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:57,760 always found on that first page is going to tell you if the 125 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:01,080 pattern is written in US terms or UK terms. 126 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:04,600 And this is a big one because you may remember that episode I 127 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:09,200 did previously explaining the difference between the two and 128 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:16,040 it's a significant difference. So a single crochet in US terms 129 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:19,640 is what I would call a double crochet in UK terms. 130 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,640 So you can follow a pattern perfectly and do every stitch 131 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:26,880 exactly as it's written and still come up with something 132 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:30,160 that does not look right. I remember going back and forth 133 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:33,880 with a customer a few months ago who was making my giraffe lovey 134 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:37,520 pattern and I couldn't figure out why her blanket was not 135 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:41,080 working out. And about 5 e-mail exchanges 136 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:45,080 later, she actually was the one that figured it out. 137 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:48,160 She, she said this is written in UK terms, right? 138 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:51,640 I thought, Oh no, this is written in US terms. 139 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:54,280 And I had not indicated that on the pattern. 140 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:58,760 So ever since that happened, I've been, I've been adding that 141 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:02,520 to my first page of patterns. So once you know to check for 142 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:06,720 that, you can also avoid a lot of unnecessary frustration. 143 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:11,640 So before you ever pick up your hook on a project, I recommend 144 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:15,520 doing 3 simple things. First, just read through the 145 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:17,960 pattern. First, just read through the 146 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:22,200 materials and the abbreviations so you know what to expect. 147 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:26,080 Second, you're going to want to skim the pattern from start to 148 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:28,320 finish. Not to understand every single 149 00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:30,240 stitch, but just see the structure. 150 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:34,400 And 3rd, mentally breakdown the pattern into sections. 151 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:38,480 So when you look at my Unicorn pattern, it's not one giant 152 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:41,960 project. Its legs and then it's the body 153 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:44,440 and then it's the snout. You know it fine. 154 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:47,640 And then they all worked and then you sew all your pieces 155 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:50,240 together, but you're never doing it all at once. 156 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:54,200 And when you kind of section it out like that, it's a lot more 157 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:56,680 manageable and it doesn't feel so intimidating. 158 00:09:56,840 --> 00:10:00,440 So the more patterns you read, you know, the easier this will 159 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:03,520 become to understand. And here is a simple way to 160 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:09,080 practice without pressure. So pick a pattern, pour yourself 161 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:11,400 a cup of coffee and just read it. 162 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:14,080 No hook required. Just read it like a book. 163 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:18,360 Read the notes, check the terminology, skim the sections 164 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:22,680 and just let your eyes kind of get used to the flow of patterns 165 00:10:22,680 --> 00:10:26,440 and how they're written. And just remember, you are 166 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:31,000 learning a new language and like learning any new language, 167 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:34,440 fluency comes with time. So hang in there. 168 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:37,120 You're doing awesome. That is it for today. 169 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:42,240 I hope that this was helpful. And one quick note also to 170 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:46,400 anyone that has ever purchased a pattern for me on my website 171 00:10:46,560 --> 00:10:51,280 before today. This weekend I updated my 172 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:55,840 digital delivery system, which means all of the previous 173 00:10:55,840 --> 00:11:01,000 download links no longer work and this new app that I 174 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:05,680 installed on my website emailed all of my previous customers 175 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:11,880 with a new link. So the way the e-mail came 176 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:15,080 across it may have looked spammy or weird. 177 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:19,280 I know I had a few people reach out like I didn't buy a pattern 178 00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:20,920 today. Why is this? 179 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:25,040 Why is it sending me this? So that is why if you got an 180 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:29,000 e-mail from me with a link, but you haven't bought a pattern in 181 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:33,520 a year, that is why. So it's just a fresh link so 182 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:36,240 that you don't lose access to the pattern. 183 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:42,720 And I got to tell you, the reason I decided to do this is 184 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:47,080 because I am building out a simply hooked pattern vault. 185 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:51,360 I want to give you access to my entire library of patterns, 186 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:56,440 which is almost 100 designs plus every future pattern that I 187 00:11:56,440 --> 00:12:00,480 release forever, all for one fixed price. 188 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:04,800 So instead of buying patterns 1 by 1, you can make a single 189 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:09,640 investment upfront and save at this point at least 30% compared 190 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:13,280 to purchasing them individually. And then the best part is that 191 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:16,440 the value just keeps growing because the more patterns I add 192 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:20,360 to the vault, your savings increases automatically. 193 00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:26,120 So everything will be neatly organized and stored in your own 194 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:29,200 online portal. So when you go to my website, 195 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:31,120 you look at the go to the homepage. 196 00:12:31,560 --> 00:12:35,040 At the top right corner, you'll see the little shopping cart. 197 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:37,080 And then next to that you see a little person. 198 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:40,960 If you click on that, you can create an account and it's no 199 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:43,200 password. It's just you enter your e-mail 200 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:45,360 and then it'll send a verification code to your 201 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:48,360 e-mail. And that's how you create an 202 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:51,160 account. And so you can see your 203 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:55,880 purchases stored in there and if you get, if you purchased the 204 00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:59,320 pattern vault, which will be available soon, it's not there 205 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:02,520 yet. If you purchased that, you will 206 00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:07,800 be able to log in and see all of the patterns stored organized 207 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:12,240 by, you know, farm animals, ocean animals, cup cozies. 208 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:15,160 I'm going to have that all lined up for you. 209 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:17,440 But also, it's not going to be just patterns. 210 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:20,600 I'm going to be including resources like my new craft 211 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:24,800 market prep bundle and my pattern design template and a 212 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:28,480 few other digital products that I'm working on, which will 213 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:32,920 include an Omagorami accessories bundle and an embroidery guide. 214 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:37,000 Both of those are coming soon, so keep an eye out for that. 215 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:39,760 All right friends, that is it for this week. 216 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:43,640 Please visit marcmade.co to browse my patterns and check the 217 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:47,760 link in my show notes to join my community on school. 218 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:50,560 I hope you all have a wonderful day and I will see you next 219 00:13:50,560 --> 00:13:50,840 week.