Becoming A Crochet Designer-How to Shape Crochet

Crochet is an amazing art. There are an infinite number of stich patterns to use and create when working on a design. Depending on the combination of stitches you use you will end up with a very different fabric. Choosing to be a designer means that you will always be learning new things to make your designs better. One of the ways to continue learning is through stitch dictionaries, and this one is like no other that I have seen.

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Designing in Crochet:

Dora Ohrenstein, the author of Crochet Every Way Stitch Dictionary, is a typical designer in the sense that she taught herself how to design by reading other patterns, stitch dictionaries and books. With the exception of the American Crochet Association there aren’t many curriculums around crochet. Dora saw this as she was learning and has taken what she has learned over the years and put it together in a book to help you speed up your learning curve.

Designing can be something that you fall into or it might be something that you choose to do. As a designer you will likely be spending a lot of time swatching. Swatching can tell you SO much about a yarn, a stitch pattern, and how it will all come together as a final piece. Changing up just one of the pieces can change the final result.

Not to mention that when you swatch you are able to play around and learn about increasing and decreasing. Most stitch dictionaries will only give you the instructions for a square but not in this book.

Crochet Every Way Stitch Dictionary:

Inside the covers of Crochet Every Way Stitch Dictionary you will find instructions for three ways to increase/decrease your swatch.

1. Without shaping
2. Shaping at the edges
3. Internal shaping

Why does this matter as a designer? Inside this book you will not just learn how to increase and decrease you will learn how to do it without distorting the stitch pattern. It is a sign of a true professional when you can’t see where they have increased or decreased their pattern.

Crochet stitch dictionaries are a great resource to get inspiration when looking to start your next project. Because it is a stitch pattern anyone can use it and alter it to make their own creation.

What you Will Learn:

Dora does not disappoint with her inclusion of the basics that you need to know. Yes, she has in the general abbreviations and symbols that we mostly know. Yes, she has instructions for basic stitches like a single crochet, double crochet, half double and treble crochet.

What makes her book so different is that she takes the time to explain the basics of designing. She walks you through using the books so that it can truly be a tool in jump starting your designing career.

Rather than having to do all of the discovery about each stitch pattern Dora gives you the cliff notes. You will still need to swatch to see how your yarn and hook work together with the stitch pattern but the following items will be addressed for you.

1. Number of stitches in pattern repeat
2. Number of rows in pattern repeat
3. Stitch Multiples
4. Reversible or Not reversible
5. Edge Shaping
6. Increasing/Decreasing
7. Internal Shaping

Look Inside Crochet Every Way Stitch Dictionary:

Crochet Every Way Stitch Dictionary is broken down into six chapters. Check out what stitches you can find in the book as well as an example of one of the stitch patterns.

Crochet Every Way Stitch Dictionary Chapters:

1. Closed Stitches
2. Mesh, Filet, and Easy Laces
3. Popping Out: Textured Stitches
4. Exploding Shells
5. Classic Laces
6. Undulating Stitches: Ripples and Waves

Book Excerpt:

Purchase the Book:

2 Crochet Designer Resources:

1. Step-by-step guide to 200 stitches
2. Crochet Blocks