What I Learned When I Started Designing My Own Mosaic Overlay Crochet Patterns

Several months ago, I was convinced mosaic overlay crochet was far too complicated for me.

Then I made two large but straight forward projects, discovered that the technique was much easier than it looked, and promptly fell down the mosaic crochet rabbit hole.

Before I had even finished my first blanket, I was already looking at patterns differently.

Instead of simply following the chart, I found myself wondering:

How would I have done this?

Maybe I would have placed something a little differently. Maybe I would have changed an angle, shifted part of the design slightly, or left something out altogether.

I started imagining what I would change—and eventually, what I would create myself.

Not long after learning mosaic overlay crochet, I decided to find out.

From Following Patterns to Imagining My Own

My first two mosaic overlay crochet projects were an owl and a deer, both designed by someone else.

They taught me how mosaic crochet actually works: how the single crochets and double crochets interact, how a chart translates into stitches, and how an image slowly emerges one row at a time.

But following someone else’s pattern also taught me something unexpected about designing.

As I worked, I started paying attention not only to what the designer had done, but to the choices behind it.

Why was this line placed here?

What would happen if that section was angled differently?

Could this part be simpler?

Looking at patterns that way—and going back over their charts—helped me begin to imagine the choices I might make in my own designs.

Eventually, imagining wasn’t enough.

I wanted to try it.

My First Experiment: Sudoku

Naturally, my first original design had to be a little geeky.

I chose Sudoku.

And not just any Sudoku puzzle.

The puzzle in my blanket is one I generated using my own Python code that I wrote to create Sudoku puzzles.

Apparently, that particular little grid wasn’t finished inspiring projects.

Initially, it became the basis for my first original mosaic crochet design. Now I’m using that same puzzle grid as I work on a cozy guide to solving XV Sudoku puzzles.

I love that something that began as numbers generated by a piece of Python code somehow found its way into yarn—and then wandered right back into puzzles again.

As a first crochet design, Sudoku also seemed like a relatively safe place to start. The grid is mostly straight lines and boxes of different thicknesses, which felt much less intimidating than trying to chart an animal or another complicated image.

Originally, I wasn’t even going to put numbers in the grid.

That plan didn’t last long.

After crocheting a few rows of empty boxes, I realized that a completely blank Sudoku grid was going to be really boring to crochet.

Unfortunately, by then I was committed to the design and didn’t have unlimited room to change it.

So I added the numbers I could make work with the space I had: 1, 4, and 7.

It wasn’t what I’d originally planned, but that became one of my first lessons in designing:

The design can change while you’re making it.

Something that looks perfectly reasonable on a chart doesn’t necessarily feel the same after you’ve crocheted fifty rows of it.

And sometimes the project itself tells you what needs to change.

Stitch Fiddle Became My Buddy

I’ve used Stitch Fiddle to help create my mosaic crochet charts, and it has become one of my favorite tools for experimenting with designs.

But I’ve also learned that creating a chart on a screen and seeing that chart as an actual blanket are two very different things.

Sometimes I need to step away from the computer.

I’ll print a chart, hang it on the wall, and look at it from a distance.

Then I’ll tweak it.

And tweak it again.

And possibly decide that I liked it better three versions ago.

Which brings me to another lesson:

Save copies before you start making major changes.

There is a special kind of frustration involved in “improving” a design for an hour only to realize the earlier version was better.

Ask me how I know.

Designing Takes Longer Than I Expect

I’ve also learned that I need to allow far more time for the design process than I initially think I’ll need.

My current rule of thumb?

Plan on it taking about three times longer than you expect.

Creating the first version is only part of the process.

There’s looking at it. Changing it. Walking away from it. Looking at it again. Crocheting enough of it to discover that something that looked great on the chart doesn’t work quite as well in yarn.

Then there are the little decisions.

Move this over one square?

Make that branch thicker?

Remove something entirely?

Put it back?

At some point, designing starts to feel less like drawing a picture and more like having a very long conversation with it.

My Designs Have Changed as I’ve Gained Confidence

One of the most interesting things I’ve discovered is that learning to design hasn’t just taught me how to make patterns.

It’s helped me figure out what I actually like.

When I first started, I had just finished projects like the owl, with lots of intricate details. I think part of me assumed that my own designs needed to have that same level of detail to be interesting.

I’ve gradually realized they don’t.

I’m much more comfortable now with the idea that bold and minimalist can be beautiful too.

My Woodland Ravens design is a good example.

Instead of filling every available space with detail, I let the silhouettes, branches, and sunset colors do the work.

And it feels much more like me.

That’s probably one of my favorite things I’ve learned through this whole experiment.

Learning someone else’s technique doesn’t mean you have to create things that look like theirs.

You can learn the rules and then gradually discover your own flavor.

What I Wish I’d Known Before I Started Designing

If I could go back and give myself a few pieces of advice before opening that first blank chart, they’d be pretty simple:

• Expect designing to take longer than you think. Probably much longer.
• Print your chart and look at it from a distance. Things become obvious on the wall that aren’t nearly as obvious on a computer screen.
• Save different versions. Before making major changes, keep a copy of the version you already like.
• Don’t be afraid to change the design while you’re crocheting it. The chart isn’t sacred.
• Simple isn’t the same as boring. A design doesn’t need enormous amounts of detail to be striking.

Most importantly, I’d tell myself not to worry so much about whether I was doing it the “right” way.

My Advice for Anyone Who Wants to Try Designing

Give it a try.

Really.

Your first design doesn’t have to be elaborate. In fact, starting with something simple may be one of the best ways to learn.

Experiment.

Move things around.

Crochet part of it and discover that you hate it.

Change your mind.

Save the version you just changed in case you change your mind again.

Have fun with it.

I’m still learning too, and I’m sure the way I design will continue to change as I make more patterns. That’s part of what makes it interesting.

A few months ago, I was looking at mosaic overlay crochet and thinking it was something made by people with far more crochet talent than I had.

Then I tried it.

Before I’d even finished my first project, I was imagining my own patterns.

And now I’m looking at blankets like my Woodland Ravens and realizing something I didn’t expect when I picked up that first mosaic crochet pattern:

Sometimes learning how someone else created something is exactly what you need to start imagining what you might create yourself.