How to Design Your Own Crochet Pattern

Dear users, dear authors,
would you like to share something on the topic of "How to design your own crochet pattern"? It’s sure to be interesting. 

My patterns often come together as I’m crocheting.

I just know what I want the end result to be.

So I often have to figure out, row by row or round by round, which stitches to use and how to arrange them.
That involves counting and doing some math.
Sometimes (often?) I have to scrap my initial idea or tweak it to make it work.

That’s how my large tablecloth came to be.
At the beginning, I didn’t know what it would ultimately look like.