How to pick a good free pattern

by Meg Dedolph

We all know the cliches - “you get what you pay for,” or “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” But there’s something about free knitting or crochet patterns that can make us throw caution out the window.

We like freebies as much as anyone else, but not if it’s going to be a frustrating project, or if we’re going to have to rewrite the pattern ourselves to correct mistakes.

Here are some of our favorite tips for making sure the free pattern you want to use is also going to be fun to make. 

Green lights - go for it!

• If the free pattern is by a designer who also has paid patterns. Most designers won’t risk their reputation and their business by putting out sloppy, error-riddled freebies. Examples include Joji Locatelli and Isabell Kraemer.
• If the pattern was written by Tin Can Knits. They have a series of free patterns, all designed to teach you something.
• If a free pattern was written by the String Theory team. 😉
• If you read through the pattern, and every step and abbreviation makes sense to you, or is explained in a glossary, or has pictures or videos.
• If the pattern has lots of photos, showing the finished item from many different sides.
• If a trusted fiber friend recommended the pattern to you because they successfully made one. Bonus: You have someone to ask for help if you get stuck.

Yellow lights - proceed with caution if:

• The pattern was originally written in a different language. Sometimes things do really get lost in translation, or terms that mean one thing in one country mean something different elsewhere. Doublecheck terminology before proceeding. Since the pattern is free, they don't always have the resources to check themselves.
• There is only one photo. Good patterns have multiple photos featuring the project at different angles. One photo of a model posing in a sweater might be hiding a fit issue.
• It’s a fitted item such as a sweater, and there is no schematic showing finished measurements.
• The pattern is laid out in a way that makes it hard to read.

Red lights - think about finding a different pattern.

• If you look the pattern up on Ravelry and no one else has made it, it could be the pattern isn’t popular, or the pattern is too new to be popular – or it could be the pattern has a lot of mistakes and isn’t easy to understand. If people have made it, read their comments to see what they said about the pattern quality. 
• If the pattern has misspellings and typos, beware - careless mistakes in spelling might also mean careless mistakes in the measurements or the stitch counts. 
• If there is no yarn, needle or gauge specifications for a fitted or sized item.
• If there is no photo of the finished item.
• If the pattern has shaping or cables, but doesn’t include a glossary of knitting terms used.
• For Liz, free sweater patterns are a “no.” For her, free patterns need to be for small and simple projects. A sweater is a big project, and for the most part, she prefers not to risk that kind of time and materials on a freebie pattern.
  
  Which free patterns are your favorites? Let us know in the comments.