Suddenly, the temperature has dropped and it's jumper season.
However, I appear to have been preparing for this for most of the year by challenging myself to make at least one wearable per month. Four jumpers and a summer top later, I have a small collection of handmade clothes, a better understanding of my crochet tension and several reminders that having 'plenty of yarn' is not a guarantee.
I’ve shared each finished project on Instagram - both the wins and the disasters - but I wanted to bring them together here to show the progression. Looking back through the captions, there’s a recurring theme: lovely pattern, enjoyed making it, sizing needs some attention.
There has been progress, though. I’m checking things earlier, making adjustments and getting more confident about changing a pattern to suit me. There have also been occasions when I’ve had to put the whole thing down and have a small tantrum.
In my research for beginner-friendly patterns, I stumbled across Iron Lamb and Off The Chain With Jack and have made a total of four jumpers from their patterns with infinite plans to make plenty more.
I've also discovered The Wool Factory for affordable yarn and occasionally ransack their outlet to replenish my stash. This in itself is risky because my tension and yarn length estimates need a lot of work and I've played far too much yarn chicken, having to make adjustments to colour schemes or garment length. I also didn't want anything too complicated, or that needed blocking (washing and shaping), or that required a lot of sewing together.
Back in May I attempted my first jumper using the Granny Go Round pattern by Iron Lamb and this is a top-down raglan jumper so it grows quickly. Because this pattern was so easy to follow it was a huge success even if I did make it one size too big. In July, and sticking with Iron Lamb, I moved on to the Granny Rocks jumper and whilst I changed my hook and checked my tension, I feel as though this was a little too long in the sleeves but I was too nervous to make any adjustments. I then completed the Lowrider jumper in September and this is a perfect fit.
It was around August or September that Off The Chain With Jack appeared in my TikTok recommended feed and I knew I had to try one of his patterns. The Sunday Brunch sweater was singing out to me so that was completed in October and, as soon as I've finished a cardigan for my granddaughter's 18th birthday present, I'll be diving straight into the Seadog sweater.
These projects take me around three weeks to complete which is an ideal length of project for me.
Both of these designers are very active on social media and whenever I've shared a WIP (work in progress) update or a finished piece, they have both commented on or shared my post, which is wonderful to see. Both are UK-based too and I love to support a local creator.
Jack provides his patterns and tutorials for free and Claudine charges a small, affordable fee for her patterns. I reached out to both of them to understand their very different approaches to social media, pattern creation and how their patterns are made available to the crochet community. Surprisingly, they both agreed to answer some questions for me.
༻❁༺
How did you make the leap from following crochet patterns to designing your own, and what was the first pattern you shared with other people?
Jack : I kept having people tell me that they loved things I had crocheted and asking what pattern I had used, the only problem was, a lot of the time I hadn't used one, I had just freehanded it. So I started writing them down, I look back at my early patterns now and they were not super well written! But they still work and that's the main thing, I think my first pattern was a beanie hat if I'm not mistaken.
Claudine (Iron Lamb) : To be honest, I didn't follow many patterns before I got started. Maybe about eight. I really wanted to make garments and couldn't find any patterns I liked, so I started experimenting with making my own garments from scratch quite early on. I had followed a lot of knitting patterns, so I knew the principles behind pattern writing. What I really wanted to make was a granny stitch jumper, so I first had to figure out how I was going to do the shaping and then I got started. I never intended to get into writing patterns, but once I shared it on Instagram so many people were asking for it that I decided to give it a go. I started teaching myself how to grade and then wrote the pattern which became the Granny Rocks jumper.
When we buy or download a pattern, we see the finished instructions. What work happens behind the scenes to turn your initial idea into something other people can confidently make?
Jack : I imagine it's what you expect, I often have an idea and will just work up a test/sample and make notes on my phone or in a notebook as I go. At this stage it's a lot of frogging and working backwards etc. Then comes writing it up, this can be surprisingly quick actually but for me it's the video tutorials that take the most amount of time.
Claudine : Firstly, there's the design idea, and then a whole lot of swatching to see if it will work. Most of my patterns are made from the top down, so the majority of the work goes on in the yoke. I will swatch it about 10 times or until I get it right. Once I'm happy then I'll make the whole thing and write up the pattern as I go. If I am happy with the finished shape I will grade it, take modelled photos and type it up. Then I will usually make a second sample, while filming video tutorials and photographing each step for the pattern and adding it in as I go. Once it's ready I will advertise for testers. While it's being tested I will photograph the second sample, draft the pattern page on all the platforms I sell on, get my website ready and edit and upload all of the video tutorials to my YouTube in draft form. When the tester feedback is in I will make edits and then write the US crochet version. Then I'll make the video tutorials live, upload the pattern to my website, Etsy, Ravelry and Lovecrafts, and finally, create some social media posts to let everyone know it's live. It's a lot of work, but once it's out there, it's worth it!
Cost can be a barrier to taking up a craft. How do you approach pricing your patterns or offering free tutorials while also making the time and work involved worthwhile for you?
Jack : I don't charge, all my patterns are free, getting patterns professionally tech edited and then organising a proper test with multiple pattern testers is just not something I have the time, money or resources to do and so all my patterns are free for that reason.
Claudine : I don't think cost should be a barrier. I didn't have a lot of money when I started crocheting as I was on maternity leave. I used budget yarn and free tutorials/ patterns. There are so many out there. Personally I don't create a lot of free resources because my patterns are large and take months to create, and I just can't afford to do that. I don't even really design for magazines anymore as the pay does not reflect the hours involved, unfortunately. Crochet design has been my main source of income for the last 8 years (I just recently went back to teaching), so I had to make it cost effective. I feel like I should charge more for my patterns since so much work goes into each one, but I also want to make them accessible to all, so I keep the prices as low as I can.
How does your crochet community influence what you do — whether that’s through questions, feedback or seeing people put their own spin on your designs?
Jack : Community is the best bit of the whole thing! When I started sharing my crochet bits online just over a year ago it was nice to have people commenting and sending me messages but building a little friendly yarny corner of the internet has been just the best!
Claudine : I definitely respond to feedback from the community in terms of improving my patterns and videos. So if I'm getting a lot of questions about a certain technique or lots of people are getting stuck on the same part, I will make a video for it. Last year I received criticism about my crochet technique over on YouTube - people said they couldn't see what I was doing because my hands were in the way. Consequently, I taught myself to crochet again using a different technique so that I could improve my video tutorials. I also had customers constantly asking if my patterns were available in US crochet terms, so I decided to offer that too. I also respond to requests for patterns if possible. For example if I design a jumper and my customers request a cardigan version or vice versa, I try to accommodate it. I try to keep everyone happy as much as possible.
For someone who can crochet but is nervous about making their first jumper, what would you want them to know before they start?
Jack : Just do it, it will probably not fit, you will probably look back on it and think it's awful, but you'll still wear it and love it. My first jumpers were so bad, but it is practice. Use cheaper yarn that frogs easily and get stuck in!
Claudine : Find an easy pattern to follow. Maybe a boxy jumper with little shaping and dropped sleeves. Make a tension swatch and block it. Then once you start, keep measuring the width of your garment against the measurement table in the pattern to make sure your tension isn't wavering. There's nothing worse than thinking your tension is on point because you made a swatch, only to try the garment on at the end and find it's way too big! The second thing is to accurately measure yourself first. So many people pick a size based on the size they buy in shops, or the size they think they are, but haven't checked by actually measuring. This really helps to ensure you select the correct size to begin with. Remember crochet always stretches a bit with wear, so don't be tempted to size up!
༻❁༺
An enormous thank you to Claudine and Jack for taking the time to answer my questions. It’s made me appreciate the work behind the patterns even more, especially when I think about how much I’ve learnt from making them. I’ve still got plenty to learn, but I’m heading into Autumn with four handmade jumpers that I’ll enjoy wearing and a growing list of patterns to try next. Whether I’ll have enough yarn to finish them is another matter.