Writing a Pattern Other Makers Can Follow

A pattern is a set of directions written for someone you will never meet, working in a chair you cannot see, possibly at eleven at night with a toddler asleep upstairs. They cannot ask you what you meant. Everything they need has to be on the page, in the order they will need it, said once and said clearly.

That sounds strict, and it is meant to. A pretty sweater in the photo will get people to start your pattern; a well-written pattern is what gets them to finish it. Below is how we would approach writing one, whether it is a dishcloth or a cardigan with set-in sleeves. Knitting is the example throughout, but almost all of it carries over to crochet, sewing and embroidery.

Put everything needed before the first stitch at the top

Before a maker reads a single row, they want to know whether they can make this thing at all, and what to buy. Gather that information into one block at the top, in roughly this order:

• What it is: one or two sentences on the finished object, how it is constructed (top-down, in pieces, in the round) and how it is meant to fit.
• Sizes and finished measurements: the actual measurements of the finished piece, not only the size labels. Say how much ease the sample was worn with.
• Yarn: the yarn you used, its weight, fibre content and length per skein, and how many skeins or how many metres each size needs. The metres matter more than the brand, because they let people substitute.
• Tools and notions: needle or hook sizes, stitch markers, buttons, a tapestry needle, anything else.
• Gauge: more on this below.
• Skills used: a short list, so a beginner knows to look up a provisional cast-on before they start rather than halfway through.

None of this is decoration. Someone standing in a yarn shop with your pattern on their phone should be able to buy the right amount of the right thing without scrolling past a single row of instructions.

State the gauge and mean it

Gauge is the number of stitches and rows in a set width, usually 10 cm or 4 inches. It is the single number that decides whether the finished piece comes out the size you promised. Write it precisely: which stitch pattern it was measured over, on which needle size, and whether it was measured before or after blocking.

A line like 22 sts and 30 rows = 10 cm in stockinette, after blocking tells the reader everything. Adding a sentence on what happens if their gauge differs helps too, especially for fitted garments: more stitches per 10 cm means a smaller piece, fewer means a larger one, and they should change needle size until they match.

If gauge genuinely does not matter, as with many scarves and blankets, say that as well, and tell them it will change how much yarn they use.

Keep the numbers in one consistent order

Multi-size patterns usually list the numbers for every size in one line, with the smallest first and the rest in parentheses: cast on 88 (96, 104, 112) sts. Whatever convention you choose, keep it identical from the first line to the last. A reader who has circled their size in the first instruction will trust that the third number is always theirs.

When a step does not apply to some sizes, write a dash or a zero in that size's place and say what it means once, near the top. Never quietly drop a size from a line.

Stitch counts help more than almost anything else. Put the expected count at the end of any row where it changes, in brackets: [92 (100, 108, 116) sts]. A maker who counts and gets a different number knows straight away that something went wrong in the last few rows, not three hours later.

Spell out abbreviations, and use the common ones

Most crafts have a common shorthand: k2tog, ssk, pm, sl1 in knitting, sc and dc in crochet. Use the widely accepted forms rather than inventing your own, and list every abbreviation the pattern uses, with a one-line definition, before the instructions begin. Crochet terms differ between the US and the UK, so say which you are using; the same abbreviation means a different stitch on each side of the Atlantic.

For any unusual stitch or technique, write it out in full the first time, or give it its own short section. Do not assume that a reader who knows a basic decrease also knows the one you learned from a friend.

Write rows a reader can check

Good instructions are not just correct; they are checkable. A few habits make a big difference:

• Break long sections with headings that match the pieces of the object: yoke, body, sleeves, finishing. Readers lose their place, and a heading is somewhere to land.
• Say what the work should look like at milestones: the piece now measures about 18 cm from the cast-on edge, or you will have four markers, one at each raglan line.
• Write repeats plainly. Repeat rows 3 and 4 until the piece measures 30 cm, ending with a row 4 is clearer than a nest of asterisks and brackets.
• Give charts a written version, or written instructions a chart, where you can. Some people read one easily and the other not at all. If you include only a chart, include its key and say which direction each row is read.

Finishing deserves the same care as the rest. Weave in ends and block is a sentence that hides an afternoon of work. Say how you blocked the sample, wet or steamed, pinned or flat, and to what measurements.

Have someone else make it before you publish

You cannot proofread your own pattern properly, because you already know what it is supposed to say. The most useful step before publishing is having one or two other makers work through it from the page, ideally in a size you did not make yourself. Ask them to mark every place they paused, reread, or guessed. Those are the lines to rewrite, even if the instruction was technically correct.

Check the arithmetic separately as well. A spreadsheet with one column per size, recalculating each stitch count from the line before, catches errors that a test maker might simply fix without telling you.

And when someone does find a mistake after publishing, which happens to everyone, fix the post and add a short dated note at the top saying what changed. People who printed the old version will be glad of it.

Then publish it as a post

On WoolMap a pattern lives as an ordinary post on your blog, so it can carry a cover photo, tags and as many process photos as you need. On a long pattern the post gets a table of contents, which helps readers jump straight to the sleeves. The features page lists what every blog includes.

If your pattern is an adaptation of someone else's, the rules change; we cover that in writing up your changes to someone else's pattern. And if your readers are brand new to the craft, start with something smaller, along the lines of a first tutorial for total beginners, and link to it from the skills list at the top.