Your pattern is plain text. Change a line and the toy beside it follows.

Read a pattern

This is the Field Mouse, one of the patterns you can start from. A pattern has three pieces: a few lines at the top, the parts, and the assembly.

Field Mousethe title
Gauge: 22.65 sts x 24.57 rounds in 10 cmyour swatch, for the toy's size
Colours: A #A88F7A, B #F3E6CF, C #D99A9Ba short code for each colour
Body:a part: its name and a colon
Start: magic ringhow it begins
Colour: Bthe colour it starts in
Stuffing: firm
End: gatheredhow its last round is finished
Line B: halfway rounda line to place ears and eyes from
R1: sc 6 (6)one round, one line
R2: inc 6 (12)the stitch count, in brackets
R3: sc 12 (12)
R4: in A, sc 12 (12)a new colour from here on
R5: [sc, inc] 6 times (18)a repeat
R6–R8: sc 18 (18)the same round, three times
R9: [sc 2, inc] 6 times (24)
R10–R14: sc 24 (24)
R15: [sc 2, invdec] 6 times (18)
R16: [sc, invdec] 6 times (12)
R17: invdec 6 (6)
Ears (make 2):two the same
Start: magic ring
Colour: C
Stuffing: none
End: open
R1: sc 6 (6)
R2: inc 6 (12)
R3: [sc 3, inc] 3 times (15)
Tail:
Start: ch 15, in the 2nd ch from the hook, back bumpsstarts from a chain
Colour: C
Worked in: rowsrows instead of rounds
Stuffing: none
End: open
R1: sl st 14 (14)
Assembly:where each part goes
Ears (2) — sew to Body R8, B-1 to B-3, mirroreda part, and the rounds and stitches it is sewn to
Tail — sew to Body R16, B
nose — embroider satin, from ring, 6 mm, in #141414 on Body: R1 stitch 1; R2 stitch 1embroidery
Eyes (2) — 6 mm safety eyes, Body R6, between stitches 7 and 8, mirrored about stitch 10safety eyes

You rarely type assembly lines by hand. Move a part on the toy and the editor writes its line for you: see Edit in 3D.

Write a round

Write the round's number, a colon, then the stitches.

R1: sc 6
R2: inc 6
R3: sc 5, inc, sc 5, inc

  • sc 6 is six single crochet. Put a comma between different stitches.
  • inc works two stitches into one. dec and invdec work two together.

The editor counts every round and shows the total at the end of its line.

Check your count

Add the count you expect in brackets after the round. When the stitches make a different number, the editor marks the line and lists the mistake under Findings.

R1: sc 6 (6)
R2: inc 6 (13)

R2 says 13 stitches but makes 12. The line is marked in red and Findings says what is wrong.

Repeat stitches and rounds

R5: [sc, inc] 6 times
R6: [sc 2, inc] around
R7-R9: sc 24

  • Square brackets hold the stitches to repeat. 6 times says how often. around repeats them to the end of the round.
  • R7-R9 works the same round three times.

To change one round of a range, put the cursor on its line and click Split. Each round gets its own line.

Split at the end of the line R6–R8.

Add a round

Put the cursor on a round and click + Round, or press Ctrl + Enter (⌘ + Enter on a Mac). The new round goes under it. The rounds below are renumbered, and so is every assembly line that points at them.

If you type round numbers by hand and they fall out of order, the editor offers Renumber at the end of the line.

Add a part

Click + Part. Give the part a name, say how many to make and how it starts. The editor writes its first lines.

A part is its name with a colon, then lines that describe it:

Line What it says
Ears (make 2): The name. (make 2) for two the same.
Start: magic ring How the part begins. A chain is Start: ch 15.
Colour: B The colour it starts in.
Stuffing: firm firm, medium, light or none.
End: gathered gathered, open or sewn.
Worked in: rows Rows instead of rounds.

You can also set the stuffing and the end on the toy itself, in Edit.

Change colour

Give each colour a short code on the Colours line. A part starts in its Colour. Write in A, at the start of a round to change colour from there on.

Field Mouse
Colours: A #A88F7A, B #F3E6CF

Body:
Colour: B
R1: sc 6
R2: inc 6
R3: sc 12
R4: in A, sc 12

The colour button above the text edits a colour or adds a new one.

Insert stitches with a click

The buttons above the text put a stitch where your cursor is. More holds the rest of the stitches. Repeat wraps the stitches you have selected in a repeat.

While you type, the editor suggests what fits next. The ? button lists every stitch it reads.

Choose your crochet terms

The Terms menu at the top tells the editor which terms your rounds are written in: US, UK, DE, FR, ES, NL or UA.

If the pattern already has rounds, the menu asks what to do with them:

  • Rewrite the rounds changes their stitch words to the new terms: from US to UK, sc becomes dc. A round the editor does not read stays as it is.
  • Leave the rounds as written only changes how the editor reads them. Choose it when you pasted a pattern that is already in those terms.

Undo brings the old text back.

Leave a note

Any line that is not a round or a part line is kept as a note.

R16: [sc, invdec] 6 times
Stuff the body firmly before you close it.
R17: invdec 6

More ways to write a round

You write It means
[sc, (sc, dc, sc) in next st] 6 times Several stitches into one.
3 sc in next Three stitches into one.
sc3tog Three stitches worked together.
[ch, skip, sc] 6 times Skip a stitch.
sc 12 (back loops) Back loops only. Front loops: (front loops).
sc 6, sc 6 in B Change colour part-way through a round.
sc 12 in the unused back loops of R2 Work into loops left free in an earlier round.
sc 6, (ch 4, in the 2nd ch from hook: sl st, sc, hdc), sc 6 A chain worked back along itself: a fin, a picot.

Popcorn, bobble and puff stitches are drawn on the toy. Post stitches and loop stitch are counted, and drawn as plain stitches.