Designing Patterns: How Do You Do It?

Dear users, dear authors,
this question is for people who design patterns for handicrafts themselves. How do you do it? What’s the process? What do you need to keep in mind?

Let me know.

For me, it’s mostly a matter of learning by doing.

First, I sketch out a pattern—including the colors—of how I want it to look when finished. Then I just start knitting a swatch. Interestingly, this often leads to completely new pattern combinations, and I’m surprised by the results myself. I’d call this intuitive knitting.

It gets a little complicated sometimes when I have to convert it to the correct dimensions for my project. Then it comes down to: How many stitches are in the pattern? What number does it need to be divisible by? And how can I distribute that across the entire project? For example, where do I knit this pattern—all over or just in certain sections? And if I’m using a pattern only in a small section, it has to fit exactly. I have to calculate that precisely beforehand.

Since I already have a gauge swatch, the math becomes much easier.