Last year when I decided to try tapestry crochet, I was surprised at how easy a starter project could be.  I couldn’t believe I hadn’t tried it before! (hint… it’s all single crochet!) After getting the basics down on forming the stitches, and carrying the yarn, I thought I’d work on learning how to make a pattern/chart.  

I’m so glad I did, and the process gave me lots of ideas!  

What is tapestry crochet you ask? It’s a crochet color-work technique in which you carry the unused color with your active stitches, which makes it easy to switch colors in the middle of a row without breaking and knotting or creating extra ends to weave in. Here is a good article that I found when beginning my research on tapestry crochet.

https://www.crochet365knittoo.com/what-is-tapestry-crochet/

I thought I would share my process for making my first tapestry crochet pattern.  If you haven’t tried it, but have thought about it… you should totally do it! I tell my kids all the time that “you gotta start somewhere” when learning new things.  I just have to keep reminding myself of that as well.

I wanted an easy, straightforward design, so I started with a simple heart.  I needed something like graph paper, but I didn’t like the graph paper we had at home.  The squares were bigger than I wanted, and my design wouldn’t have fit on a single page.  So, I turned to my computer. I opened a blank workbook in Microsoft Excel. I resized the cells until I had squares the size I liked, added cell & column numbers, and printed out my ‘graph paper’.  

I knew I wanted to make something about the size of a kitchen washcloth.  Based on other washcloths I’ve made using single crochet, I decided on the overall size of 33 x 33 (rows/columns).  

I marked the outer edge of my design on my graph paper and used colored pencils to shade the squares that would create my design.  I’m including a picture of my used pattern. As you will see, I made notes and stitch counts as I went along. I don’t always use a printed version of a pattern as I crochet. Often I have the pdf open on my phone or tablet to refer to as I work. But, with tapestry crochet projects I’ve done, I’ve found it helpful to have a printed chart that I can make notes on as I go.

After I started this process, I came across posts on Meghanmakesdo.com with a good tapestry crochet tutorial, and info on creating your own graph! Check them out at the following links:

https://meghanmakesdo.com/blog/how-to-tapestry-crochet?rq=tapestry

https://meghanmakesdo.com/blog/how-to-design-your-own-tapestry-crochet?rq=tapestry

Sometime after I made my first DIY graph, I discovered Stitch Fiddle.  This is a really cool website you can use to create patterns!   And, it’s not just for crochet. There are options for knitting, cross stitch, and other.  Under crochet, there are multiple options like Corner 2 Corner, Tunisian, and more! It has lots of built-in options too when designing.  Check it out…it’s cool!

Even though I already created my own chart manually, I created one in Stitch Fiddle – so you can see what it looks like.  You can download here, if you’d like to take a look.

Want to make your own Tapestry Crochet Washcloth? I’ll share my pattern details next week!