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18 October 2026

Learning to crochet letters


When you say the word "crochet" to most people, it conjures visions of granny square blankets and cozy woolen jumpers. I would have thought the same when I first discovered crochet. But over the years, my idea of what crochet can be, specifically how it can be used as art, has evolved. Alexandra Masse's Birth control tapestry contributed to that shift. When I find other people's art that I enjoy, part of the wonder is in thinking to myself "how did they do that?" Luckily for me, Alexandra has a YouTube tutorial with all the answers. 

Learning to crochet letters sat in my creative backlog for a few years until I found an opportunity to give it a go. This summer, I was invited to attend (and design a poster for) Here We Are Now Fest, a private music festival hosted by my dear friends to celebrate a milestone in their relationship (and just life in general). When I first heard "poster" I considered going back to my graphic design roots and dusting off my Adobe software. But then I thought, "Why not use this as an opportunity to learn or experiment with a skill I've been wanting to try?"


Getting startedI rewatched Alexandra's tutorial to understand her technique. Alexandra has her own typeface she uses but I decided to try making my own. I distinctly remember the pride of designing a typeface back in my college days and wanted to know if I still "got it." I used grid paper to create my own pixel typeface—each pixel being a crochet stitch. I enjoyed the process of figuring out where each pixel should land to make the A feel like an A, and distinct from an R, for example. 

Once I had a sense of where I was going, I turned to a software called Figma, which is a tool I use in my design job for creating user interface designs and prototypes. Because it's a tool designed for designing pixels, I could quickly mock up and try out different iterations. 

In true zero waste fashion, I picked out some yarns that I had in excess and based the work around these. The poster needed to be A3 so I also did some trials with the yarn to estimate how many pixels/stitches across would give me the right width. 




Design explorations in Figma

Each "pixel" needs to be crocheted one at a time, line by line from left to right. So it was important to keep tabs on which line I was currently working on. I kept my laptop nearby with the Figma file open. I used a red line with some opacity to help me keep track of which line I was currently working on. After finishing a line of stitching, I would bump the red line down to highlight what I was working on next. 




 Highlighting which row I'm currently working on



Ignoring the rare sun of Irish summer and opting to crochet indoors instead—no regrets!
I learned the hard way the importance of turning work when crocheting. However Alexandra's technique requires working on only one side. At the scale she works, it doesn't seem to matter but perhaps because my piece is smaller, it came out a bit wonky. I sought some advice from fellow textile friends, and decided to try wetting and stretching for the first time. I know this is something I should have done in my life up until this point but I just can never be "arsed" as they say. This time, I found the motivation because it was a gift. I pulled out some thick foam boards I'd saved from old packages (I knew they'd come in handy) then I wet the work in the sink, stretched and pinned it to the foam. I left it out in the sun and it was fully dry within 24 hours. I did bring it in during the night in case any local critters got curious. I was amazed to find this process worked, and the piece was actually a nearly perfect rectangle by the time it dried. Magic!

For display, I made crocheted some quick straps that fit the thickness of the dowel I was planning to use. My partner cut the dowel to size and put some nice coating on it, beeswax I believe. In hindsight I wish I added either more straps or put them closer to the edge, so the piece stayed nice and taut. 


The final piece
Reflections
  • This was a really fun and rewarding project to work on. With crochet, when you have a plan that involves repetition, it's so easy to get into a good flow. I worked on this feverishly, and found myself getting up early or staying up late, just to work on it again. Isn't it amazing when that happens?
  • It's also so special to make something for someone else, especially when they are dear friends who have a love and appreciate for design and craftsmanship. They've assured me it will have a special place in their home after the festival. 
  • As an artist, there is a lot of experimentation that happens in my studio, and not always a lot of finished works ready to be displayed. Actually completing something and putting it out into the world is so satisfying. This results in positive energy I can channel into my next project. And also a reminder that it ain't over til it's over—unless it's ready to be hung, it's not actually done. 
  • I realised through this that crocheting letters is a form of "tapestry crochet" and from there, it's opened my eyes to other ways crochet can be used to make imagery. I did a micro experiment where I made a simple design with a few colors and tried following it. I'm not sure where this experiment will lead for now, but it's another skill for my artist toolbox and another experiment to use as source material for future work. 


Tapestry crochet experiment




Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me.