10 Reasons Not to be a Crochet Designer
Have you ever wanted to be a crochet designer? I recently took a survey and you (my readers) wanted some more info on the design process. I decided to have some blog posts focused on just that, but before I get into how to be a designer, I thought I would go over some reasons why you might not want to be.
Please note: I have received a lot of negative comments about this post recently. I am not a negative person by nature – quite the opposite. I was trying to come up with a catchy title while giving some true and practical reasons why you may not want to be a designer.
10 Reasons
Not to be a Crochet Designer
- No desire – Not everyone has an interest and that’s a good thing!
- You don’t like math – Sometimes there’s a lot of math involved because of sizing.
- Time – It takes a lot of time to make something pattern worthy.
- Customer service – If you write a pattern you should be available if anyone has questions or needs help. It’s not required, but this is my personal soap box. I can’t tell you how many emails I get because someone needs help and the designer of the pattern they bought won’t get back to them.
- Too many other designs out there you want to make – There are tons of great designs already out there! Some people just want to sit and crochet as a way to relax. Sometimes I love nothing more than to follow a pattern because they’ve already done all the work for me.
- Lack of patience – You will need lots of it!
- Not enough experience – There is so much to learn about crochet. Take your time and get good at crocheting. Practice! There will come a time when you’re ready to design something.
- You don’t feel like you’re creative enough – If you don’t have any ideas, don’t try to force a pattern to come to life.
- Fear – You’re afraid no one will like/buy your patterns. I had to overcome this. Some of my greatest patterns were ones that sat here unfinished because I hesitated and wondered if anyone would really like them.
- Passion – If a passion for design is missing you will come to resent it and not finish what you start. You need that passion.
Being a designer is more than just publishing a pattern. You have to design it and make it (and keep frogging util you get it just right). Then you write the pattern, have it tested, make corrections, have it edited, etc. It can be a very long process at times. I can’t tell you how many times I have to frog a project because it’s not perfect. And when you’re writing a pattern, it needs to be perfect.
If you think you’re ready to design something, take the next step and read these 2 articles I wrote:
The Truth about Pattern Design
3 Simple Steps to Writing Your Own Pattern
***Word of caution*** If it’s not your passion, don’t do it. You will just end up burned out and not loving what you’re doing. Stick with what fuels you and makes you excited to crochet. There are so many great designers out there. We need to support each other.
Happy Crocheting!
Hi I recently read your article there is nothing to comment negative on it what have said true and very practical thank you for sharing…..
Thank you, Mary!
Hi! this indeed is helpful. Now I know why I’m still not there (designer) and what I need for that. Looong way to go though :). If looked at in a different perspective this whole reading is an eye opener. Big thank for this!!
I’m glad it was helpful! It can be great, but it isn’t without it’s difficulties as well.