My mother asked me a couple of weeks ago if I wrote down any of my patterns. Sometimes, not really. “You should write them down to remember when you are using the same yarn.” I have thought about getting a nice notebook and writing information for myself, the closest I’ve come to is has been random notecards or scraps of paper/receipts. Some hats and scarves basic stitches but I do make some adjustments or have tips that I use for myself – such as using a larger sized hook when making the foundation chain for a horizontal scarf.  A recent hat that I made was designed on the fly with single crochet, and front and back posts and changes in hook size. “Did you write it down,” she asked. No, I made it up as a I went along. “Write it down.”

I had to look at the hat and make notes about what I did. Then I had to figure out what the scarf would look like, to keep it from being too wide, since I already knew that I wanted to make the scarf horizontally. I used the notes that I made for the hat to tentatively make notes for the scarf. One section I wanted a little wider, so I added another row of postwork. I showed my mother the notes and she said this makes no sense, she also doesn’t crochet. She showed them to my father and he said this is something you could use. He always teases us about measurements when we are cooking. Baking requires precise measurements, cooking does not, especially when it comes to spices.

With a sketch for a hat and scarf pattern in a notebook I made the hat and scarf again in a different yarn that was a little loftier in weight though still a worsted weight #4 yarn. Using the notes, I was able to follow the pattern without too much editing. For someone else to use this pattern, I need to write more specific language about the rounds for the crown but this gives me a good start and I won’t have to wrack my brain tying to figure out what I did. My notes remind me of handwritten recipes that I have from my grandmother and a late friend  – the ingredients are all there, it’s just assumed you know the mechanics.

The next time I make this hat it will be in a different yarn but more of a standard worsted weight. The original that I made was in a lighter weight worsted, the second iteration in the heavier worsted (green fleck) was fine but it gave a bulkier look and the scarf was wider. For the next try with the edited notes there’s another color changing yarn I want to use and will likely make more revisions or at least have notes for specific yarns used.

Happy crocheting!