Day 4 of the blogging from A to Z challenge. D is for Designing.

I know I’m a little late on this post as it was due on Saturday.

Because of the wonderful site that is Ravelry, more and more knitters and crocheters are getting the chance to design patterns. In a way this is a wonderful thing as it allows so many more ideas and techniques to be shared, but in another way it makes it difficult for anybody to stand out. Obviously there are various well known designers in the knitting and crochet world, but the majority of them aren’t. Then there’s the matter of cost and time. Many hours go into creating a pattern, but many patterns on Ravelry are free which makes it pretty difficult to sell any, especially if there are similar alternatives.

But still, all this aside, I’m giving it a go. I have two sock designs and a shawl on the go at the moment. One sock I’m just finishing writing up the pattern so people can test it. The other I’m just starting on. The shawl I’ve mostly designed but am getting some yarn custom dyed for it so I’m waiting on that. I haven’t decided how much to charge for each pattern yet.

It takes a long time to design something. Obviously I’m new at it so it probably takes me longer than most. From the initial idea to working out stitch patterns and whether those patterns fit into certain row and stitch counts, then the bit I’m finding most difficult at the moment, writing the pattern itself in a way that someone who has no idea what your intentions are can understand.

It’s fun though, and I hope in the next month or so I’ll be able to release my first pattern.