Can AI write craft patterns? Practical uses of AI in knitting and crochet.

Can AI write craft patterns? Is it possible to have Chat GPT create a knitting or crochet pattern for you to follow? The short answer is: No! Don’t waste your time. It’s not worth it. The results are bad, and besides, there are significant ethical implications.

That said, AI can be very useful for knitters, crocheters, and designers. In this blog post, I will explore the various ways AI can assist with your knitting, crochet, or crafting projects.

For more tips on writing effective prompts for AI, download our free guide here.

AI as a Tool for knitting, crochet and crafting

The overall conclusion I draw is that AI is a tool. As such, it is as good as the use it is put to. A hammer is neither good nor bad. Bashing a person’s head in is clearly bad, while hanging a picture or building a chicken coop with a hammer are far more positive uses.

That said, there are tools that we limit the use of due to the danger they may pose. Guns, cars, medications—I’m sure you can think of others. The user of these things has to hold a license, pass a test, or visit a doctor for a prescription. While guns, cars, and chemotherapy drugs provide benefits, their accidental or intentional misuse can be disastrous. Thus, there is an obligation on society to ensure they are used responsibly. The question is, should society be developing ideas on how we can regulate AI?

Exploring AI’s Capabilities

In this post, I will examine what happens when I:

– Ask AI to write a pattern
– Ask AI to find a pattern

I will also compare these tasks with more traditional methods, such as using a Google search, while assessing the ethical, environmental, and cultural implications of using AI in this way.

The Knitting Patterns

The patterns I used throughout were sock knitting patterns for dolls. Any other type of crochet or knitting pattern would be just as relevant. I chose to look at socks, and doll socks in particular, because they are tiny, allowing me to knit samples quickly. Additionally, I am working on my own sock pattern, so I have a designer-created pattern to compare it to.

Can AI Write a Knitting Pattern for a Doll’s Sock?

Here is the result:

I asked Chat GPT to create a knitting pattern for an 18 inch doll, and to generate an image of what it looks like when knitted. The image is above. It also gave me the pattern itself. Most notably, the ‘pattern’ in the image above, and the full pattern generated had almost nothing to do with each other.

I succeeded in knitting a sock from the pattern, but I had to use my own knowledge of how to create a heel turn, as there was a fundamental error in that section of the instructions.

The resulting sock was far too small for the doll it was supposed to fit and could never actually be worn.

Finding Patterns with AI

Next, I asked ChatGPT to direct me to a free pattern on Ravelry for a sock for an 18-inch doll. Less than a second later, ChatGPT offered three suggestions. I went with the first, which was the ‘Basic Doll Socks’ by Jacquelyn Fitzgerald.

This pattern knitted up quickly and easily and fits the doll. There was one small error in the pattern, but nothing like the catastrophic problem with the ChatGPT-written pattern.

Most notably, there was a marked similarity between the patterns. I have no doubt that, when writing the pattern for me, ChatGPT took some parts from this pattern and some parts from another, creating a Frankenstein pattern where each part made sense, but the whole thing did not work well together.

Traditional Search Methods

I then conducted my own search. I went into Ravelry myself and searched for a pattern for a pair of socks for an 18-inch doll. What I found was that ChatGPT had indeed directed me to the top three patterns for what I was looking for. The top hit, the pattern by Jacquelyn Fitzgerald, showed up fifth in search results for doll socks but was the first one aimed at the size of doll I was looking for.

After that, I tried Google, which led me to the same pattern. Etsy did not interpret the search well; its suggestions started with socks for big people, and then socks for dolls that could be bought as ready made dolls clothes. Its best offer was a Pixie Faire pattern. So I left Etsy, and went directly to Pixie Faire. If you are not a hobbyist who loves to make dolls clothes, you may not know this site, but it is a great database of dolls clothes sewing, knitting and crochet patterns. Pixie Faire itself offered me two options for a nice little sock pattern, both paid patterns but at a perfectly reasonable price.

For thorough research, I bought the top Pixie Faire pattern and knit a sock to assess the pattern. One day, probably in a hurry some night because my niece is visiting in the morning, it will get its match. I hope she still has the 18-inch doll I gave her. Knowing her, it may have been used in science experiments and had a haircut by now. But she will likely still enjoy all these socks. I hope.

Assessing the Patterns

By now, we have looked at:

– Asking AI to create a pattern: It didn’t fit and included fundamental errors in the heel shaping, so it could really only be used if you already knew how to knit a sock and ironically didn’t really need a pattern.
– Searching for free patterns by asking AI to do the search for us: This presented one clear winner of a pattern by Jacquelyn Fitzgerald, a free pattern available on Ravelry. It had a tiny error at one point and didn’t have the look or feel of a professionally tech-edited pattern produced by a professional designer. That said, it worked up well and produced a lovely pair of socks that fit the doll perfectly.
– Searching for free patterns myself and repeating the search on Ravelry and Google: Both searches brought me straight to the same pattern by Jacquelyn Fitzgerald that I had already accessed and knit.
– Using Pinterest, Etsy, and Pixie Faire as search tools for patterns I was willing to pay for: These three tools were harder to use. They didn’t understand my search intent as well, and the right results were hidden behind sock patterns for people, socks for sale that were finished items, not patterns, etc. Yet all three platforms led me eventually to the same pattern, the ‘Cosy Feet’ by Pixie Dust Designs.

Which Pattern Was Best?

The clear winner was ‘Cosy Feet’ by Pixie Dust Designs. As a paid pattern, costing just under €5, it was a professionally written and presented pattern that was very well thought through for the purpose, not just a cut-down replica of a person’s sock pattern. The shaping showed clearly that the designer had shaped the gusset in a unique way to adapt to a doll’s foot.

The free pattern by Jacquelyn Fitzgerald was a very close second. I think €5 is perfectly reasonable for a professionally written pattern. It’s less than I would spend on a bottle of Coke and a chocolate bar for a snack, while giving me something I could use over and over. But then, I’m a designer, so I would say that.

The slightly less technically perfect design offered for free by the hobbyist in this case is also a great choice. It works and makes a really cute doll sock. And its free

The one that was not worth trying at all was the one generated by AI.

Ethical Implications of Using AI to write craft patterns

AI is heavy on resources and therefore potentially not sustainable. It uses huge amounts of power and water. Every AI query you make could be slowly chipping away at an already damaged ecosystem.

But what are the alternatives? Google? Google has also embraced AI and uses it to power your search queries. It is possible (for now, but maybe not for long) to instruct Google not to use AI in your searches. Two ways to do this: The sensible way is to type ‘-AI’ at the end of your search. A slightly more fun way, depending on your mood, is to include a ‘bad word’ in your search term. Type ‘knitting pattern for hat,’ and you will get AI-generated answers. Type ‘knitting pattern for a f**king hat,’ and you will get the identical answers without the AI-generated summaries. Why? Who knows. But it works.

But unless you specifically exclude AI summaries, the environmental benefits of using a Google search over an AI search are negligible. And even if you do exclude them, the benefits are small.

We need to do better. But perhaps the path to doing better is not just refusing one technology while continuing to use others that are just as harmful. To my mind, a deeper answer lies in developing a less consumerist lifestyle, taking care in our choices, searching with intent, finding just the right flexible pattern, and using it over and over instead of searching for new patterns for every project.

Search less overall, rather than searching constantly but only on certain platforms.

Social Implications

When AI ‘wrote’ a pattern for me, it did so based on the work of real designers and artists. This is a big problem. AI can’t create; it can only reword what someone else has created. If we embrace an AI world with no acknowledgment of the artist or creator, we will end up with a world without creators, designers, or artists. That’s not a world I want to live in.

Meanwhile, there are issues of community. Being honest, there was a time in my life when I made a lot of doll clothes. At the time, I was very unwell and isolated. Like most specialist hobbies, doll collecting and doll clothes making have their own little community. I hadn’t made any doll clothes in about two years, and making these few pairs of socks often brought a smile to my face as I reconnected with my memories of something bigger than myself—a whole community, people, friends with similar interests.

Using AI isolates even as it mimics human connection. My ChatGPT tells me daily that my ideas are original, creative, and well-crafted. Sometimes we have fun together. But they are just words and can’t replicate the connections that can form in a Ravelry group or a Facebook group for Pixie Faire fans.

Final Conclusion – can AI write craft patterns?

Is there a final conclusion? AI is a tool. It offers lots of potential. Don’t blame the tool if it’s misused. But for goodness’ sake, don’t ask AI to write your pattern. Ask it to find a pattern for you instead. It will be just as quick, but you will end up with the pattern you want, created by a person, that will work as intended.

Not sure how to write prompts to ask Chat GPT or other AI how to find a pattern for you? Download my free guide. It’s only a click away.

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