Crochet Cruisers are being asked to present two 12" x 12" squares on board the cruise ship to present to others. Designing can be challenging, but standards make it much easier to understand. Mikey has written the Crochet Design Manual, which focuses on crochet worked row by row or from the middle squares.
Mikey designs using crochet diagrams during the process. He creates the instruction, tests it, makes a decision, and then officially records it on a diagram. Many designs are on graph paper to start with, then recorded in Adobe Illustrator to present as a paid or free pattern.
Mikey is self-taught, using a lot of self-help tutorials on YouTube, and has also hired a mentor to fill in the gaps, as the squares are the hardest to design, or at least they were. While there may be programs to design crochet diagrams, Mikey has run into issues with every one of them due to spacing, symbol sizing, and alignment. Publications for magazines or books using Adobe Illustrator. I explain more below.
It's probably been noticed by a handful of people that Mikey tends to design with the 'odd number' strategy. There are more stitches that can puzzle together using an odd number across a side of a square or row by row.
The purpose of the booklet is to give our guests joining us a leg up at the beginning of the process, so they are less worried and have some basic knowledge to aim for. Of course, like anything, homework for a crochet cruise is always optional, but it means the specific times to discover what people have done are limited to the people who have already completed their homework. People who haven't done their homework can opt to do something else at the same time and still be part of the fun by observing.
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