How to Read and Understand Free Crochet Pattern for Babies

Dress patterns do seem to cost a lot these days and sales assistants often do not have the time to advice you over the counter. Thankfully, patterns are now available for free, in more ranges, to suit every figure type that is based on figure development, built and height. This is, indeed, a welcome gift especially for mothers who have just given birth, had too many expenses, and could not simply afford to buy newer clothes as the baby grows. Hence, for mothers who know how to sew their own baby’s clothes, it is better to find a free crochet pattern for optimum guide.

Free crochet patterns for babies are specially made to fit and suit the taste of every mother who is into crocheting. Moreover, the best thing about it is that the sizes that were included in the pattern have their won sizes for proper identification on what kind of pattern that will best work for you and your baby.

In addition, there is more than just choosing the design or the kind of design that you will use in order to make a crochet of the baby’s clothing. Any of these factors may affect the total outcome of the product; hence, it is important to choose the pattern meticulously, even if it is free. So before grabbing the opportunity of getting a free crochet pattern for your baby’s clothes, it is worth getting to know a little about pattern sizes and figure types. This avoids having to alter a pattern drastically before it will fit your baby.

Here’s a list:

1. Try to learn the standard crochet abbreviations
If it is your first time to obtain a free crochet patter for your baby, you might wonder whether the reason why they were given free is that, they do not have the budget for fully defined patterns with full text and meaning. Maybe you have thought that they have constricted the words into 3 to 4 letters just so they could cut back prices on the catalogs so that they could it to you for free.  Funny as it may sound, it is not simply the way you thought it is. Crochet patterns really make use of abbreviations. Hence, it would be better to learn the words so that you would understand what the instruction is all about.

2. Be careful on the asterisk

If you think that there are just too many asterisks in the pattern, it is not. Asterisks are included in the patterns not for the sole purpose of placing it there but because it has its reason.  Asterisk is utilized to indicate the starting line of the instructions, which will be employed more than one time. For instance, if the pattern instruction says “rep between ** three times” this means that you have to work on the instructions for another three times after you have worked on it once. That would be 4 repetitions overall.

3. Be wary on the brackets
Brackets are not used in pattern instructions just for the sake of having them. They are used to elucidate the instructions. Usually, they are combined with the parentheses.

4. Parentheses
These are generally used to put in instructions that should be toiled within the correct number or instances that the instructions are carried out. The number should be stated right after the parentheses. Moreover, parentheses are used to record the size of the pattern to be used as well as the size of the clothing. It is also used to spell out the directions further.

5. Learn to read “yarn labels”

Reading a crochet pattern would also require you to learn how to read yard labels. Before you buy the yarns that are specified in the pattern, it is necessary that you should know the kind of yarn that is required for a particular pattern, the measurement, “yardage of the skein,” and the fiber substance and the proper care for each material.

6. Choose the hooks wisely
Hooks may vary depending on the size that is being required by a particular pattern. This goes to show that not all crochet hooks can work well with all kinds of patterns.  Crochet hooks have different sizes, which may affect the kinds of loops that will be produced.

Indeed, obtaining a free crochet pattern for you baby is not as easy as it may sound. Nevertheless, if you already know how to read patterns and are familiar with the kind of materials that are being required, it would be easier for you to identify the benefits that you can derive from it.