How to translate a crochet pattern?
15 min read
Translating a crochet pattern follows precise steps: choosing target languages, gathering the right resources, producing and integrating the translations, and finally checking them. Each step is time-consuming and prone to errors: expect 2 to 8 hours per language for a manual translation. Tools such as Woolmoot now let you automatically generate reliable PDF crochet patterns in 8 languages in under a minute.
When creating a crochet pattern, once the design of your plush toy or accessory is finalised, comes the crucial step of laying it out as a PDF, with instructions as clear as possible so that others can recreate your design in turn.
Beyond the look and feel of the PDF (a matter of personal taste: neutral and to the point, or on the contrary full of details to immerse the reader in your world), you also have to decide which language your pattern will be offered in, so as to reach a narrower or wider audience. And naturally, as a designer, you tend to want to reach as many people as possible.
Unless you restrict yourself to your favourite language or to US English (the default language of crochet patterns, though not everyone reads it), you have to adapt each pattern manually. And that is no small task: choosing which languages to target, finding resources that allow you to translate terms and abbreviations correctly (because automatic translators are not necessarily familiar with stitches like single crochet or double crochet), then integrating it all into as many PDFs as there are languages. A huge amount of work, into which small errors can creep at every stage despite all the care taken: after all, we remain human.
Step 0
Why translate your patterns?
The spark that gives meaning to each of the following steps.
- Break through the language barrier and reach every crochet community.
- Broaden your customer base and professionalise your activity.
- See your designs made up in every corner of the world.
Before translating one of your patterns, you need to know why you are doing it. And there is no shortage of good reasons.
Even when writing your pattern in US English or in your mother tongue, you already reach a good number of crocheters, but you inevitably miss many other communities that are less comfortable with your language. And for a buyer, there is nothing more frustrating and off-putting than to doubt their ability to follow the instructions because of the language barrier. Making your patterns accessible to as many people as possible should be at the heart of your priorities.
From a professionalisation standpoint, if you want to earn a living from selling your crochet patterns, going international directly broadens your pool of potential customers, and therefore your income.
And what a joy it is to see your designs recreated all over the world, and to discover the colour choices that vary according to each maker's cultural habits!
Once the pattern is created (the heart of the product, of your work, of your imagination, of your skills), the translation is nothing more than a vehicle for visibility. A shame to stop so close to the finish line: once the bulk of the work is done, only one last brushstroke remains to share your creation with the widest audience.
Faced with the scale of the task, many designers skip this step and stick to a single language, unsure how to get reliable translations. This article gives you all the keys to translate your patterns yourself, step by step, and demystify this essential undertaking.
Step 1
Choosing your target languages wisely
A strategic trade-off that many overlook.
- Prioritise your languages according to the number of potential speakers.
- US English ≠ UK English: two non-interchangeable pattern conventions.
- Knowing a language and being able to translate it with nuance are not the same thing.
- The real question to ask yourself: "Am I able to proofread the result?"
You now know why it is important to translate your pattern. But there are currently 20 to 25 major world languages, about 200 international languages and thousands of local or less-spoken languages: a choice is unavoidable. Which languages should you target, then? Because even by focusing on the most widely spoken ones, you still have to choose between dozens of candidates.
Manual translation work being time-consuming, it is important to establish a priority order amongst your target languages, based on the number of potential speakers per language.
You also need to be honest about your own skills: even though Chinese is one of the most spoken languages in the world, are you able to produce a fluent translation because you know the language? Or will you have to rely on a word-for-word translation for abbreviations, and on an automatic translator for sentences? Every language has its exceptions and turns of phrase that these methods do not always render correctly.
Another point before launching into your Chinese version, if you really want to go for it: will you be able to proofread what you have written? Or do you know the right people, who understand both your source language and Chinese and who crochet, to give you real feedback on your translation? As it happens, asking for feedback on your patterns is precisely step 4, which this article covers a little further on.
To help you in your choice, here is a table estimating the potential audiences by language (note, these are approximations, meant only to guide you):
| Language | Estimated speakers | % world | Main countries | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mandarin | ~1.2 billion | ~14.6% | China, Taiwan, Singapore | |
| English (UK) | ~875 million | ~11% | United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Europe (EFL) | |
| English (US) | ~625 million | ~8% | United States, Canada, Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Latin America (EFL) | |
| Hindi | ~610 million | ~7.5% | India (north and centre) | |
| Spanish | ~560 million | ~6.9% | Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Chile and 15 other Latin American countries, United States (~41M) | |
| Arabic | ~400 million | ~4.9% | Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Sudan and 13 other countries | |
| French | ~310 million | ~3.9% | France, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada (Quebec), 21 French-speaking African countries, Haiti, Lebanon | |
| Malay / Indonesian | ~290 million | ~3.6% | Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore | |
| Bengali | ~285 million | ~3.5% | Bangladesh, India (West Bengal) | |
| Portuguese | ~265 million | ~3.3% | Brazil, Portugal, Angola, Mozambique | |
| Russian | ~255 million | ~3.1% | Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, former USSR countries, Israel, Germany | |
| Urdu | ~245 million | ~3.0% | Pakistan, India | |
| German | ~135 million | ~1.7% | Germany, Austria, Switzerland | |
| Japanese | ~125 million | ~1.6% | Japan | |
| Punjabi | ~125 million | ~1.5% | Pakistan, India (Punjab) | |
| Marathi | ~100 million | ~1.2% | India (Maharashtra) | |
| Vietnamese | ~97 million | ~1.2% | Vietnam | |
| Telugu | ~96 million | ~1.2% | India (Andhra Pradesh, Telangana) | |
| Hausa | ~94 million | ~1.2% | Nigeria (north), Niger | |
| Turkish | ~91 million | ~1.1% | Turkey | |
| Tamil | ~87 million | ~1.1% | India (Tamil Nadu), Sri Lanka | |
| Swahili | ~87 million | ~1.1% | Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda | |
| Persian / Farsi | ~83 million | ~1.0% | Iran, Afghanistan | |
| Korean | ~82 million | ~1.0% | South Korea, North Korea | |
| Javanese | ~69 million | ~0.9% | Indonesia (Java) | |
| Italian | ~66 million | ~0.8% | Italy, Switzerland (Ticino) | |
| Norwegian | ~5 million | ~0.07% | Norway (+ understood by ~20M Scandinavians) |
This table has its limits: it counts fluent speakers of a language, but not how many can read a crochet pattern, nor the proportion of crocheters amongst them. It remains useful for estimating the potential of a language, without neglecting the smaller ones: often easier to reach because of the lack of existing content. This is why Woolmoot offers a wide range of languages, from the smallest (Norwegian) to the largest (US, UK).
Step 2
Gathering the right resources
A groundwork stage where much is already decided.
- Rely on specialised crochet glossaries, freely available.
- Cross-check several sources: typos and inconsistencies are common.
- Study existing patterns in the target language: the most reliable route.
- Handle the many variants of terms and abbreviations for the same stitch.
Your mind is made up. Your source pattern is written in US English and, short of going straight to Chinese, you at least want to translate it into French (a typical example to illustrate our point). Even if you know a few words (yes yes, baguette and cheese), lean on glossaries specialised in crochet to be sure of the most common terms. Many resources are available for free online:
The official industry reference. The body that standardised US abbreviations and the US/UK/Canada differences. To be cited as the English-language "source of truth".
Interactive glossary in 8 languages (FR, EN US, EN UK, ES, IT, DE, RU, NO) with source and target language selectors.
Multilingual table covering more than 20 languages, designed collaboratively with the international community.
Glossary in 13 languages (Italian, US/UK English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Turkish, Russian, Dutch, Finnish, Swedish, Czech). Particularly detailed on stitch variations, supported by tutorial videos.
Translation of terms into 9 languages (EN US/UK, German, Polish, Spanish, Italian, French, Russian, Dutch). Community comments correct the errors.
British reference resource, useful for fully understanding UK conventions and their translations.
These sites are amongst the most reliable, but bear in mind that many others are written by people like you, and are sometimes copied from one source to another without being checked. To err is human, so small typos can slip in. This is why it is strongly recommended to cross-check as much information as possible amongst several reliable sources.
Glossaries are a good starting point. But, especially if you want to translate your patterns into a specific language on a regular basis, another reliable source is available: quite simply… other designers' patterns. Many are freely accessible on hobbii.com or Ravelry. By comparing different language versions of the same pattern, you pick up the keys: which abbreviations and turns of phrase to use in your own content.
It is probably the most reliable method, but also the most tedious: some terms and abbreviations may not appear in a given pattern, so you will need to consult several, search, and cross-reference data. And as there are often several variants to describe the same stitch, finding your way around is no small feat! The most serious crochet glossaries have already done this research and cross-checking work; it is exactly what we maintain in-house for the Woolmoot glossary.
Step 3
Producing and integrating the translation in the PDF
The heavy lifting: painstaking and time-consuming.
- Duplicate your pattern, then translate sentence by sentence, row by row.
- AI tools help with free text, but go off the rails on technical terms.
- "Find and replace" saves time, to be handled with care.
- Each language has its own word lengths: your layout will shift.
- Plan time to reposition elements for a harmonious look in each version.
- Keep visual consistency across all language variations.
You are now fairly confident in your glossary and your knowledge (unless you are fully bilingual, some doubt may linger until you have done step 4). It is time to lay it all out in your PDF. And there, the more languages you have, the more the exercise can become long and tedious.
The simplest method is to duplicate your source pattern (remembering to save it under a different name so as not to overwrite your original pattern!), then edit row by row, sentence by sentence, term by term, without missing anything. An operation to be repeated for each language you want to offer.
For terms and abbreviations, glossaries remain the best source, as we have seen. But a pattern also contains descriptive text: an introduction, the materials list, a usage note, additional information throughout the rows. For these passages, online tools (DeepL, Reverso, Google Translate, ChatGPT) can help you move forward.
Be warned, some crochet-specific turns of phrase are poorly translated: word-for-word translators sometimes insist on rendering « patron » (in French) as « boss » (in English), for lack of context. DeepL, Reverso and Google Translate do not contextualise: translations are hit and miss, especially sentence by sentence, because the tool does not know you are in the crochet world. AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, if you are not opposed to using them, can produce better sentence translations, especially when you specify the crochet context. Still, for abbreviations and technical terms, they are not necessarily familiar with the glossaries and often slip in mistakes. These tools are therefore not magic and do not guarantee a 100% reliable translation: you cannot fully trust them without fine-tuning them carefully.
Small tip: in many layout applications (such as Adobe or Affinity), the "find and replace" function lets you change stitch abbreviations across your whole pattern in one go, in a slightly more efficient way. But stay alert: the search works character by character, and your software may happily replace sequences of characters inside words, making your pattern completely unreadable! Always keep an eye on what is being done automatically.
As you translate your patterns, you will quickly notice one thing: every language has shorter or longer words, and sentences that can take up more space than others. You can spend ages designing a layout to the pixel in one language, only to see it turned upside down when you switch to another! In that case, you once again need to take the time to reposition each element to recover a harmonious look. For one language, it is manageable. But if you keep turning out patterns, or if you add more languages, it quickly becomes a very time-consuming nightmare.
Step 4
Checking the translations
Easily skipped, always regretted.
- Organise a tester call with native crocheters.
- Plan for at least one tester per language, not just for the original.
- A sloppy translation is costly: negative reviews and damaged reputation.
Your PDF is now available in all the targeted languages. You could put it up in your shop or on Etsy as is, but do not forget: to err is human. Even after reading each of your files several times, your eye may have grown used to certain typos, making them invisible by dint of repetition.
This is why, in the crochet world (and also in knitting), designers have set up a wonderful concept: tester calls.
Thanks to this principle, you can send your pattern free of charge to other crocheters you have selected. Usually, an Instagram post announcing the tester call and its terms is enough: you will quickly see who is available to take part. Bonus: it creates engagement on your post, can give your account a small boost, and may even win you a few followers.
The testers can then follow your pattern and pass on valuable feedback: remaining typos, spelling mistakes, stitch-count errors, and even suggestions for making some parts of your instructions clearer.
During a tester call, remember to announce all the languages available for your pattern and to recruit at least one or two testers per language. Your English PDF may be spotless, while the Spanish version contains a few translation errors that slipped in along the way.
A piece of advice: do not apply each change as it comes in. Wait until you have gathered feedback from all your testers, noting the changes to make in a to-do list. Some people may have conflicting opinions on the instructions; it will then be up to you to discuss with them, understand each point of view, and decide.
Once all the feedback is integrated, you can release your product on the various platforms (Etsy, Ravelry, your own site, etc.). The testing step can be a little frustrating: as soon as a pattern is finished, you want to put it online straight away. But it is important to take that time. Without checking, making sales on a pattern riddled with mistakes, or worse with poor translations, can cost you dearly: a negative review on Etsy lowers your seller rating, your products are less prominently featured, information travels fast online, and people do not hesitate to openly flag a designer's flaws. Conversely, when all is well, feedback is much rarer, which can actually be slightly frustrating too.
Step 5
Managing updates
The invisible trap that catches up with you over time.
- A pattern evolves: a fix, an added size, an adjusted instruction.
- Every change must be carried over into every version.
- Keep a "master" pattern to track the changes to be made.
- Keep a to-do list, otherwise the files drift apart and become unmanageable.
Rest assured, this step is not mandatory for every one of your patterns. But it is sometimes necessary. Despite all the checks in the previous steps, an error can always be hiding somewhere. For a garment, you may also want to rework your design to add extra sizes; for a plush toy, to evolve your methods by moving from a sewn model to a no-sew model, while keeping the same visual result.
In those cases, no need to start from scratch! You just have to adjust your PDF so that it matches your new version. Except that this means redoing the operation for each of the translations. And when the languages pile up, you are in for several hours. This can be frustrating, because during that time, you can neither work on a new pattern nor bring a new design to your universe.
When updating, start with the source language. Duplicate your file to keep a source document (the "master" pattern): you will easily spot what you have changed before carrying the updates across to the other versions.
Do not hesitate to keep a to-do list of the changes. Because the more files you have to process, the harder it will be to carry out the smallest update cleanly.
By the way, did you know that this step is vastly simplified in Woolmoot? Since you only write your pattern in a single language, the update is automatically propagated to every language. All that is left to do is download the PDFs again and put these new versions online.
Alternative: hiring a professional translator
Professional quality at the end of the line, but not without trade-offs.
- Guaranteed professional quality and full delegation of the work.
- Significant budget, often limited to a few languages per provider.
- Turnaround times that can rival (or exceed) those of a tester call.
Aside from a tester call (which still requires a community on a social network to get a minimum of participation), you can hire a professional translator specialised in crochet.
But unless you are a company able to have one translator per language like Hobbii, you will almost certainly be limited to a handful of translations per professional contacted, with a budget to match.
It remains a premium alternative: professional quality at the output and full delegation, without having to worry about the accuracy of the translations. You will nevertheless have to factor in a turnaround that can be as long (if not longer) than a tester call.
The real cost of translating a crochet pattern
Here is a table that sums up everything we have seen, to compare each translation method and its characteristics:
| Method | Time per language | Quality | Cost | Reliability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilingual + good process (manual) | ~2h | High | £0 | Good |
| Bilingual, no process (manual) | ~4h | Medium | £0 | Medium |
| Without command of the language (manual) | ~8h | Low | £0 | Risky |
| Professional translator (delegated) | 1 to 5 days | High | £50-150 per language | High |
| Woolmoot (automatic) | < 1 second | High | £0 to £5.99/month (all languages, unlimited) | High |