The Snail Ponders Patterns...

“And thirdly, The pattern is more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules.”



I have a confession to make and it is a serious one in the world of all things craft. I hate patterns. Well, that’s sort of a lie because anyone who has ever seen my bookshelf knows that I own too many craft magazines and pattern books and if I really hated them I wouldn’t spend all that money on them. Well, sadly, I buy them mostly for the pictures. I very rarely open to the pages with the actual patterns, only in my most overdramatic moments (like when I throw knitting projects on the floor and call the Owl to tell her I’m a talent-less hack) do I open to those pages with jumbled letters and numbers.



Maybe it was because of the way I learned to crochet; with no books or instructions in sight, my mother just kept moving the hook and yarn from her hands to mine guiding me through every move. Or maybe it’s because I don’t like being told exactly how I am supposed to create things, but when I buy pattern books or magazines I just look at the pictures and start. If I truly can’t figure things out, to the point of wanting to put down the hook and never crochet again, then I’ll open a book or read a pattern but only for the smallest bit of help. Then I just pick up the hook and yarn and let my hands and my eyes figure out what comes next. I love watching the yarn take form into new shapes and designs and never really knowing exactly how, it makes it so I can never truly make two things exactly the same and I like that, I like the adventure of it all.


“Patterns!? We don’t need no stinkin’ patterns!”

Through my eccentric style of crocheting Lefty – the awesome dino – came to be. He was made out of scrap yarn after a strange message from the Owl about dreaming of a world filled with crochet dinosaurs. He’s not perfect and he can’t stand up on his own but he’s the first dino I’ve ever made. I used the single crochet stitch for his entire body and I made each part of his body separately and then pieced them together. I didn’t initially mean for him to be pink and green but that is what happens when you begin running out of yarn faster than you thought you would. Of course my craft life would be much easier if I would just follow the patterns but really, what fun would that be?

Well, I'm off to work on lovebirds, gauntlets, and a felted handbag,
The Snail