Following a crochet pattern can be quite difficult even if you’ve been crocheting for years. The reason for this is because often times designers write patterns differently. Some designers might consider a certain stitch as double crochet, while another designer might consider it as single crochet; it’s all a matter of interpretation. There are plenty of YouTube videos out there, but again, they might teach the same stitch, differently. More importantly, when learning to crochet or how to read crochet patterns you really need to know what punctuation means. Regardless of how a stitch is done, the punctuation is very important to know as it can make or break your project.
Punctuation is in the pattern to tell you how to work the stitch and when; it’s there to either separate or group the stitches. When grouping stitches you usually see brackets [], parentheses () or asterisks *. When separating stitches you’ll usually see commas, semi-colons or dashes. Now you might be wondering why stitches are grouped. This is because it might be indicating that multiple stitches should be worked in the same stitch before moving on to the next stitch in the row.
For Example: If you see (2 sc, 1 dc) in 2nd ch from hook, it means you will work two single crochets then one double crochet in the same stitch (in the second chain from the hook). After that is done you will move on to whatever the next stitch tells you to do.
Many times you will see an asterisk * throughout a pattern; this means repeat. You are going to repeat the directions between the asterisk until you reach the end of the chain or are told to stop repeating.
For Example: *(2 sc, 1 dc) in next ch, skip next 2 ch. Rep from * to last ch. Your pattern will look like this: (2 sc, 1 dc) in next ch, skip next 2 ch, (2 sc, 1 dc) in next ch, skip next 2 ch, (2 sc, 1 dc) in next ch, skip next 2 ch and so on until you get to that last chain.
When learning how to read crochet patterns these things are crucial to know as it can completely change the look of the design if you misinterpret it.
What punctuation do you have a difficult time understanding?
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