So You Want to Sell Your Knitting/Crochet Patterns

You’ve made this awesome thing, and it’s an original, and you want to share your design with the yarn world. How do you do it?

If the idea of writing up your own pattern scares you, you might be overthinking things. Take a deep breath and take it one step at a time.

For other people to follow your pattern it needs just a few items:

• A Name

• A Photo (or 2 or 3 or 10)

• A List of Materials Needed

• A List of Abbreviations Used

• The Gauge (Standard is Stitches & Rows per 4”)

• The Finished Size of the Item

• Row-by-Row (or Round-by-Round) Instructions

Give your beauty a descriptive, fun name, and take some beautiful photos. If you’re not an ace behind the camera, find someone who is. Your pictures will sell the item for you. Poorly lit, unappealing photos will get a pass, sadly.

Keep track of everything you need to make the item: What yarn (fiber content & yardage)? What size hook or needles? Do you need a yarn needle for sewing up seams? Buttons? Ribbon?

Scour your pattern for abbreviations used. Check an online list of standard abbreviations for knitting & crochet. (For example, “knit” is typically abbreviated “k” and “purl” is designated with “p”.)

Measure your piece and figure up the gauge (typically how many stitches and rows make a 4” square in the pattern you used) as well as the size of the finished product.

Then write down your instructions, one row or round at a time. Be specific. The number one complaint about patterns is that they’re too vague or confusing. Instead of writing, “Knit half way across the row then purl a quarter of the way, then knit the rest of the way” write it like this: “Row 7: k20, p10, k10.”

Finally, make a PDF with all of the information organized in a visually pleasing way. If you’ve never made a PDF and you have MS Word, try one of its brochure or flier templates. Or look at patterns you already own and see how the designer laid them out. You can't copy someone's pattern but you can mimic their style. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, after all.

Now ask someone you know to test the pattern for you. You send the tester your PDF and see how they do following it. Testers will help you find weaknesses and/or errors in your instructions.

Last step? Upload to Ravelry or Etsy or Ribblr or your website and set the price (or make it free). The first time you get an email letting you know that someone bought your pattern you'll feel like a million bucks , even if you only made three bucks.

And guess what else? Now you’re a designer.

If you've already put out a pattern (or a bunch of patterns!) feel free to drop a link in the comments below so we can take a look! Happy yarning!