How did you find Crazypatterns?

Hi friends,

I’m just curious to know how you found Crazypatterns. What do you need to keep in mind if you want to sell your own patterns? I’m looking forward to your stories.

Best regards
Bambie

I found CP through the sewing forum I’ve been a part of for years. People there were—and still are—always looking for new sewing, knitting, and other patterns, and I was looking for one or two myself. Someone posted a link to CP, and after browsing around a few times, I thought, “I should sign up.” Everything seemed really exciting and interesting, especially since I’ve never been particularly good at knitting. Just reading one or two posts there has made me a lot smarter in this area. My main focus in crafts is sewing; I only knit on the side, like my cardigan right now :-)

Best regards, Inge

It’s simple—through the free patterns. I signed up and stuck around.

Best wishes, Gabi

Found a New Hobby (or:A Hobby for All Seasons) In the summer of 2016, Ms. Pohl took a trip to Werder Island
and hoped to find inspiration for her book “The Adventures of Moppel and Mücke in and around Werder,” which
she was currently writing. There she stood in front of the open door of a
shop that had the words “Crazy Shoes” on the window.
Curious, she looked inside and saw
checked, striped, and polka-dotted shoes with round, triangular, and
even crooked-looking heels. They were displayed on old fruit crates,
milk cans, and even on a huge cat tree.
Everything here really did look a little crazy. Then she discovered
the ceiling lights, made up of many green glass bottles, and
at the sight of them an idea for the book came to her. The clumsy Mücke
would unfortunately burn her wing on one of these original lamps
during her outing. After a brief chat with the
saleswoman, she went on her way. A few weeks later she was back in the shop with printed books in her hands and asked her,
as agreed, to offer them for sale. On the Internet (crazypatterns) there would be a pattern for crocheting the main characters, Mücke and Moppel, who
is a frog. Perhaps she knew someone who enjoys this
craft. The shop owner, my sister
Verena, called me and asked whether I could crochet. She wanted to put
Moppel in the shop window as advertising. My answer was an
absolute no. I like crafting, knit a little, paint by
numbers, do puzzles now and then, but crochet? No way. While shopping at the discount store, I came across a book called “Crochet for Beginners”—coincidence or fate? It was
very inexpensive, piqued my curiosity, so I took it with me. I bought
crochet hooks, yarn, and after a few days of learning, also this
crochet pattern. My sister was thrilled; I still wasn’t. With
the help of the reading material and videos, which you can find in abundance
online, I taught myself to crochet. In between, I had to
undo my work, read up first, and start again. Despite
everything, I enjoyed it, because at first you can’t even tell what
it will become. Anyone who thinks it’s no big deal to
forget a stitch now and then is very much mistaken. A horse can very quickly turn into a unicorn, or vice versa. About three weeks later, the green frog with a thick white belly, red
overalls, and an impressive height of 54 cm came into the
world. Mücke was added later too. Of course, she got a place
on the bottle lamp in the shop. The author, Ms. Pohl,
was so delighted that she presented me with a signed copy of the book.
Today, after three years, I realize: These
two crochet patterns are the most difficult ones I have ever held in my
hands. That interest turned into a hobby, yes, almost an addiction; I have made countless amigurumi—that is what
crocheted figures or animals are called. The side effect: I’m more balanced, I don’t brood as much, and my husband has
peace and quiet, because counting stitches and chatting don’t go together. The brain gets
a workout, because I’m constantly confronted with the multiplication tables (
for example, increase every 8th stitch or decrease every 2nd). I have a big imagination, so I have already designed my own figures too. For
stuffing handmade projects there is special fiberfill or batting.
Pet owners whose dogs or
cats regularly
tear plush toys to shreds know what I’m talking about. When my nephew had gotten his diving certification, I had the idea to crochet a golden treasure chest
with a diver sitting on it, of course. In the chest there was
some spending money for his hobby. For his buddy’s wedding I got to
design and of course also make a bridal couple. He then
placed them on a cake he had made himself. For
Christmas I make snowmen, Santas, or
penguins, and for Easter, of course, eggs, bunnies, nests, little baskets,
little carrots, and much more. Pittiplatsch and Co. are standing on our
wall unit. My head is practically smoking with ideas. Right now, a
baby doll has been requested and an Easter train is in progress. A locomotive
driven by a bunny, with two wagons
loaded with goodies and decorated with little flowers and carrots.
My love of crafting comes in handy here, because a little
wire and cardboard have to give the yarn its proper shape. I also
accepted the challenge of crocheting a flamingo—oh dear,
what unusually thin legs it has. In summer on the balcony, on
vacation in a beach chair, on a park bench, in
bad weather at home
in the armchair or on the
couch—almost everywhere and at
any time of year I can indulge in my hobby. I also do my part for (the issue of climate change?) climate action
when I go shopping with my crocheted bag, because
plastic bags are
out. Jars, cans,
butter tubs, the cardboard tubes
from toilet paper or kitchen rolls are
crocheted around
and transformed into figures or
containers in such a way that
you can hide a small gift inside
them. The current hit is the sack full of mice. When I go to the theater, I wear my crocheted rings, bracelet,
necklace, and the
handmade handbag. From
the leftover yarn
you could make a knotted rug. But I don’t have the patience for that
, and
I will never make
clothing either. Being able to do everything
is boring.
During fall cleaning, my sister found “Moppel and Mücke” again in the basement, because the shop
“Crazy Shoes” on the island in Werder no longer exists.
“Would you like to have them as a keepsake?” she asked. “Hand them over; I’ll
sell them at the flea market,” I replied. Then, when I was packing flea-market stuff at the
weekend, I pressed the frog tightly to
me and said: “Give you away for peanuts—
never. You are my lucky charm; through you I discovered a wonderful
hobby.” (leave out the following sentence??? Unfortunately, our apartment is very small, but I had an idea that
my husband immediately put into action. Now Moppel and
Mücke are on a pants hanger turned into a seat. It hangs
from our bedroom lamp.

....that was a long time ago....
My grandma, a needlework teacher at a village school, passed on her love of crafts to me.
In 2009, after a long break, I started knitting and crocheting again. It was a form of therapy for me, a way to find peace.... to keep my hands “busy” with something meaningful and not let my mind constantly dwell on this and that....
So I scoured the internet for patterns and very quickly discovered CP....
At first, I just bought patterns here, and it wasn’t until later that I “fell in love” with the forum....

I discovered crazypatterns in 2016 after I’d published my first pattern on another platform, and I’ve been an author here ever since. Buying patterns or even working from free ones isn’t really my thing, since after a short time I tend to stop following the pattern and end up with something that looks completely different. That’s why I create my own designs.

  At first, I read a lot of posts here in the forum, especially in the authors’ forum. You get a lot of help if you ask for it—both as a CP author and as a customer when you ask a question here in the forum. Everyone tries to help; someone is bound to have a solution or a suggestion.

  I enjoy spending time here because, in the evenings, I like to relax by looking at beautiful pictures of models and/or patterns—and I find them here in the pattern section, in various forum posts, and in the gallery. 

 

My “career” as an author began with knitting patterns on another platform. 
I then googled what other platforms were out there and came across Crazypatterns. 
So I published my knitting patterns here. 
After a while, I realized that crochet patterns were more in demand here, so I started creating patterns for crochet shawls. 
I now have a wide range of patterns, both for crochet and knitting. 

I think Crazypatterns is a great platform with a wonderful team that always responds to authors’ requests. 
I’m very happy that I’m allowed to sell my patterns here. :) 

I was searching online for unique patterns, specifically a gift for a little boy. That’s when I stumbled upon the “Auf der Landstraße” jacket by ursula-petra. That was my introduction to CP, and I’ve already made lots of great things using the patterns I bought here. They always make special gifts.
The free patterns are great, too. They let you see how they’re structured and whether you’re comfortable with that type of pattern. That’s how I ended up buying quite a few patterns.
Best regards, Marlies

On another forum, someone had bought one of those ready-made craft kits for crocheted animals, but it didn’t really work out. Goodness gracious, I hadn’t crocheted since I was in school—and that was a very long time ago—but I thought I’d see whether I could still do it.
I said I’d do it—and I did, and it worked. And even worse, it was somehow addictive! Then Corona came along, and I suddenly had sooo much time at home because everything was shut down.
So I searched the web for patterns and quickly found crazypatterns. Great!

I was browsing Pinterest and diligently saving pictures of crocheted or knitted items to my boards. Often there were no patterns included, so I tried to recreate them on my own. While searching for an asymmetrical vest, I found a picture I liked, and lo and behold, there was a pattern for it on crazypatterns. I clicked on it and bought my first pattern here from Leomaxi-chrochet. Then came nicje, mi-li, kreativ-mit-taeschwerk, and many more.
At first, I thought it was expensive, because if you bought a magazine with patterns, you paid about €6 and got LOTS of patterns. But let’s be honest—most of the time, I’d only work on one pattern from each magazine. So the magazines just piled up; you’d sign up for subscriptions and end up with more and more clutter. Here, I can specifically choose what interests me, have it digitally archived, and don’t have to spend ages rummaging through boxes and shelves. AND I always have the patterns with me (on my phone). The interaction with the designers is SO great, too! Sometimes you can help them correct mistakes, or they help you understand the patterns. I once bought a book by S.R. and didn’t understand the patterns. I never received a reply and was never able to knit the piece. Since then, I haven’t bought any more knitting books.

  I haven’t worked on all the patterns I’ve bought. Sometimes you’re excited about a project and buy the pattern on a whim, only to find that you don’t like it anymore after a while. That’s why I only buy patterns now if I want to start on them RIGHT AWAY.

And last but not least, this is a great community, precisely because of the friendly interaction with the designers. I’m just saying, “craft group.” :-)

AND because admin asks for suggestions on how to improve the site, it feels good to help make it even more user-friendly for everyone.

AND because moderator Josefa keeps the conversation going here and is always coming up with new ideas!

I was looking for something specific online and that’s how I stumbled upon CP. I liked it right away, partly because the patterns are simple and easy to follow. I also have tons of craft magazines, but I’ve hardly ever followed any of the projects because some of them are written in a way that’s too complicated for me. That just takes the fun out of it. I also really enjoy browsing the gallery—I’ve already discovered a few things there that I liked and ended up buying the patterns for. 

Thanks for the kind words, Anja.

It’s important to me that people feel at home here, that they always find interesting things to read, and that they feel comfortable speaking up. And it’s important to me that this is a close-knit community—a place for friendly interaction, especially during the pandemic—so that no one has to feel lonely, and so that anyone who wants to can receive birthday wishes and find someone to talk to, get feedback, motivation, encouragement, and more.

One more thing I wanted to mention is that I think it’s a shame to see the kind of comments people sometimes leave on patterns. It’s all a matter of taste, and I don’t have to look at it or buy it. Someone sat down and put a lot of thought and hard work into writing a pattern. Sure, everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but it’s still not nice to read some of the things people say. We’re here to have fun, after all

I’m bumping this up again.