Crochet Diagram Symbol Template by Mikey
- Michael Sellick
- May 26
- 4 min read
A solid template for making crochet diagrams quickly is the foundation of a grand, commercial-worthy crochet diagram for customers. My template, which I have been building for four years, is now available for purchase.
This template is for Adobe Illustrator. Initially, I was never going to sell or give away this template as I get asked when I do a live presentation with building a diagram, people are requesting it.
The price point of the template is less than I wanted to charge for this, as it's taken years to develop, and as I encounter new symbols, I continuously add them to the template. The time savings to a crochet designer would be significant as careful attention to scaling, shape and angles was precisely made.
As a person, I don't read well as my ADHD kicks but the crochet diagrams keep me interested and able to follow a crochet diagram. For others, the crochet diagrams are not interesting or too complex to follow. I believe you can do most things when the desire is strong enough to learn.
I have drawn over 200 crochet diagrams in my career, most within the last five years. You can see all of them here.
While I typically draw the crochet diagrams on paper with a pencil, the final diagram goes to the consumers in a professional, magazine-worthy format. Teaching myself how to do it like a professional has been a long-term goal, and I have achieved it.
Diagram Drawing Levels
Rows.
Circle.
Squares.
Waves.
Ovals.
Rectangle.
Free form.
Rectangle diagrams are a pain but take longer because the two sides are different lengths. When there's a will, there's a way.
Crochet diagrams have geometry involved. As a boy, I would cry in school on this particular subject.
Visualize A Pie
Diagrams are best visualized like a pie you would eat. The cut pieces are the secret to making the diagrams.
Whether your pie is a square or a circle, understanding circles, squares, and rectangles is always the same. It's about being 360 degrees from a circle.
Squares and rectangles are just four pieces of pie for the four sides. Circles can be six to twenty-four pieces of pie that go around. Most crochet diagrams have a repeating factor. You only need to draw one piece of the piece and then copy it to make it go around. If you have ever watched me do this live, I am forever figuring out how many pieces of pie the copy rotational tool will use. I will say 360 degrees divided by the number of pie pieces I need to make it successful.
The template you can purchase allows each symbol to be manipulated to stretch or change the angles to match your sample. There are some drawbacks, but you have to decide when they're okay and when they're not. It's called the blend tool.
If you notice the double crochet, which is a T shape with a cross in the middle of the post of the symbol, they are not always straight up or down. They tend to lean to fill in the distance as you get closer to a corner.
The Blend Tool is used to make the lean precise and equally spaced. You will see a lesson in the future about this tool and its restrictions.
Learning Curve
Daniel was the first to learn how to create crochet diagram symbols around 2016. He made most of the diagrams for our crochet book. They are okay but lack some finesse, as the learning curve for accuracy and spacing wasn't fully realized. Some diagrams have been altered to fix them to make them look more publish-worthy.
Through practice and understanding the tools of Adobe Illustrator, small information gaps were filled in, and many 'wow' (I didn't know it could do that) moments occurred. As a crochet designer, I am most proud of my ability to make diagrams.
Crochet Diagrams Get Criticized
Crochet diagrams receive a lot of criticism from others about their presentation. Some are legit, but many are just people firing off negativity for the sake of doing so.
Solving issues with written words - The crochet diagrams solve questions or make a lack of visual understanding of how stitches work together.
Span the globe in comprehension - While AI and Google strive towards subtitling and auto-dubbing, crochet diagrams are a secondary way to share a pattern without knowing English. You open your patterns up to more than just the language you speak, as most symbols are universal.
People who may struggle with crochet diagrams are:
People with dyslexia.
Visual issues.
Memory issues.
Lack of desire to learn.
Background of the Template
The template was developed using the basic stitches. It took a week, and I studied three sources of crochet diagrams in pattern books, which I felt was the best approach.
We used precise measurements and developed a scale for the diagrams.
The scale is set in the purchasable template.
The symbols will also match the scaling of the main template. If you are purchasing just a starting template, you can skip the setup and get right to designing.
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