Determining the difficulty level

What criteria do you use to decide whether a pattern is suitable for beginners, experienced users, or even experts?

I’ve never been 100% sure about that myself.

Hi there,

For me, “easy” means not involving 5 different basic stitches, no pattern repeats spanning multiple rows, no major counting, and a minimum need for concentration.

“Medium” difficulty can include alternating or shifted pattern repeats. Here, slightly more difficult stitches (not just basic ones) can appear, but still not in too great a variety.

I consider really large pattern repeats and an unlimited variety of stitches to be difficult. Here, I think not only skill but also a great deal of concentration is required.

Regardless of the difficulty level, I think it’s essential to get help when you need it. 

Thanks for your detailed explanation, Velana :)

I guess everyone sees it differently.
I always have to rein myself in, since I personally consider even complicated patterns to be easy—or rather, nothing is ever too hard for me. ;-)

To me, “easy” also means there are no complicated stitches that require special knowledge.
“Intermediate” includes the occasional lace pattern, and “challenging” (I don’t use the word “hard” ;-) ) means a slightly different shape combined with patterns that really require your full attention. 

So here’s what I do: I have test crocheters work through almost every pattern. I include complete beginners, intermediate crocheters, and experts… I think they’re the best judges of who the pattern is suitable for. That said, I’d now say that I write almost all my patterns so that they’re doable even for beginners. With explanations of the stitches used, crochet charts, and, of course, plenty of pictures for illustration. It’s often a lot of work, but so far I’ve only received positive feedback, and that’s what matters most to me.

Best regards

Hey there!

For me, a beginner-friendly pattern doesn’t need a particularly simple design, but rather a particularly good and detailed explanation—meaning that every step is described precisely and there are plenty of detailed photos showing everything that COULD be even remotely unclear.
A pattern for “intermediate” users can get by with fewer detailed photos and may certainly be worded a bit more concisely, but it should still list every step.
A pattern for “experts” needs virtually no detailed photos at all and can be written more concisely than the “intermediate version,” no matter how complex the pattern and/or finishing are.
Nevertheless, every step should still be mentioned here as well (even if only in the form of “Repeat step xyz a total of 12345 rounds”).

I like to write my patterns so that even beginners can follow along.

Best regards, Nina

I see that everyone defines these categories differently.

At the moment, I create patterns with varying amounts of illustrations—sometimes with knitting charts or crochet charts as well.

And every customer assesses their own skill level differently.
On top of that, not everyone is comfortable with every writing style. So even a pro might sometimes break a sweat over a simple pattern because the explanation is phrased differently from what they’re used to… for example, “increase every 2nd sc” = (1 sc, inc)....

Hi everyone,

I think so too, that the difficulty level has a lot to do with how detailed the pattern is. Personally, I prefer to include an extra picture and explanation for any potential problem areas. Sure, experienced people don’t need that, and it might “annoy” them a little… but I’d rather do that than have a beginner get frustrated and abandon the project ;)