Hello! As a crochet designer, I love nothing more than to see others following my patterns and creating something from them with a touch of their own personality. We're all unique and the choices we make will lead to us creating something different from everyone else, even if we follow the same pattern.
Yarn choice is an obvious example. There are all sorts of reasons for not choosing the same yarn the designer did (eg. stash busting/ budget/ availability) and this is probably one of the biggest ways to crochet your project differently.
Then there are decisions such as sleeve length on a jumper, number of rounds on a hat or how big to make a blanket. There are even more subtle options if we start to think about the number of stripes or how many repeats we do.
I haven't even started on colour choices yet - that throws things wide open!
Can you see how one pattern can be crocheted up in millions of different ways?
If you're looking for guidance to adding your own personality I actually list 4 or 5 options at the end of my designs with ideas for getting you started. As an example, here are the ideas to personalise your Perth Beanie (a free pattern here on my blog):
- Use 4ply yarn and add more increases to create a finer version of the hat.
- Use a second colour for the brim.
- Can you design something else entirely using the Alpine Stitch pattern? (I’ve given you the instructions for working in rows in the Tension section too).
- Gillian, one of my testers, suggested making the brim section extra long and then wearing it doubled over.
- Simply add a pompom!
If personalising in this way is something you're keen to start doing, check out my crochet patterns today and take the first step towards being more creative!
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Until next time, happy crocheting,
Marta xx