Jump to content
  • 0

motif help


karens007

Question

There is a lady at "Crochet a little" website who makes amazing motifs. All her work is free. Big problem for me is I need help reading a graph. I can understand what all the symbols mean but i don't know where to start and move to next. Is there anyone who can help or that has maybe written out some of these wonderful motifs? Thank you

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 answers to this question

Recommended Posts

Sorry, wish I could help but I have the same problem. I've been crocheting for over 30 years and still cannot follow a graph, which frustrates me. If you check there are some tutorials on this and sites that explain what all the symbols are for. I'm sure someone here will be able to help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are black and white triangles that function as arrows. The white triangle indicates the starting point, and the black one is the stopping point. If the order of work isn't intuitive, there should be arrows to guide you (there were on at least one of the motifs I looked at).

 

If you have never worked with symbols, these aren't the easiest patterns to begin with--you might want to practice with a few simpler charted patterns before tackling some of those. (Unless you were looking at something simple--I was looking at dinosaurs, and they looked rather tricky.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

the link works, thank you for posting it. i never would have found it on my own. and on the first page, I'm already saying, "wow, amazing motifs!" I will say, that some of these look quite complex. Charts are a very visual way of showing a pattern, and with lacework, I find them easier to follow than having it all written out.

If you can get a copy of "Crochet Stitch Bible", that book has charts and written instructions, and seeing both together might help you to be able to follow charts.

HTH

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you, Karen. I ran it through Babelfish. This one is the page you posted to. You will see that Babelfish has its limitations, LOL.

 

Once I see your page I suggest you start on a different project for your first charts. Charts are really wonderful but although I've done them for a while I would have to work with this one a little bit before catching it all to get this little mermaid as per this chart the first time through. I am wondering if I would end up winging it for part of it? It is very nice to have such a clear picture of the finished mermaid.

 

There are several places on the web which give help in reading charts. MyPicot is one of them. Dummies.com has very clear pictures. Granny's Garret looks pretty good, too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can find help on these by searching the phrase "Japanese stitch diagrams." I know that a lot of crocheters use the word "graph" to refer to the stitch diagrams, but a graph is the same whether it's used for cross-stitch, needlepoint, knitting, or crochet.

 

These stitch diagrams are unique to crochet and are a peculiar and particular form of torment. Some of the magazines are starting to transition over to them to "save space." :angry I think those magazines might start to "lose readers," myself.

 

DCM

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Karen, how on earth did you find that site? Do you read Japanese? I can't figure out how to navigate the blog at all, all i can see is the mermaid:lol

 

to learn to use the symbol diagrams, in addition to Crochet Stitch bible, Complete Photo guide to Crochet, Crocheting in Plain English, and Blueprint Crochet are books you might want to look at. Crochet Today magazine uses symbols for many patterns, and they have free patterns on their site http://www.crochettoday.com/taxonomy/term/4 Julie cuff is a good example. By using a pattern that is both written and diagrammed, you can teach yourself to use the diagrams alone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is the site's Home page. Once Babelfish translated for me I found you could get to Home by clicking "Crochet a little" on the upper left. Still, Babelfish doesn't read idioms and will very literally translate every word it can. It makes for some very confused reading in English! :lol

 

Knitting has international symbols, too. I know some of you obviously find symbols aggravating but once you learn them you truly can get by without learning another language if the pattern has charts. I do think magazines ought to provide BOTH written directions and charts, though. Occasionally one direction style will explain the other. It's very nice if they are used side-by-side. Too, just like in written directions, sometimes the charts are not as well-executed as they ought to be, though in general they are more self-explanatory than written directions, at least to me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i don't know where to start and move to next.

 

you start at the head.

when doing her projects i usually start with chain 2,

then work the stitches for the head into the first chain.

you can also use the magic circle or make a 3 or 4 chain circle.

you have to be careful when you get to the arm;

make sure you work the arm on the correct row.

i print out the chart then use colored ink pens,

pencils or crayons for each row so i know where

i'm at and where i'm going.

so far i've made every design with no problems.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've tried working from charts and just can't seem to master the reading of them. Even though the ones I've seen had very clear symbols in place for each stitch used. Still can't read them. I prefer written directions myself!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

if you scroll down the site karen was looking at, way down on the right, there is a box of "translate this to [english]"...my scroll-page indicator was about 1/2 way down the screen, if that helps anyone. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...