Every day it seems that the coordinated network of fraudulent pattern shops gets bigger and more pervasive. I know a lot of knitters and crocheters are hesitant to even buy patterns anymore because of how hard it can be to spot fake AI-generated patterns. This is hurting a lot of small business owners, folks like me and all the designers that I support.

One of my newsletter subscribers asked me something recently that I think a lot of us are wondering: how do you actually tell if a pattern is the real thing?

Here’s my tried and true check-list:

✔️ How long has the designer been around? Under a year? Beware and vet more rigorously.

✔️ What are their pattern reviews like? This one’s tricky because there’s a network that works together to leave effusivse (fake) reviews. Look for generic writing, no profile pic, and multiple reviews from the same person. Often you’ll see real one-star reviews paired with seller replies that blame the buyer’s lack of skill, etc. If your spidey sense is tingling, trust it – that’s almost certainly unconcious pattern recognition.

✔️ Does the seller have any status? (Etsy Pick or Star Seller, for example) If so, that’s a good sign their designs are good.

✔️ Can you find examples of the pattern being made by someone other than the designer? Check Etsy listing reviews for project photos and Ravelry project pages too.

✔️ Do the stitches look perfectly square or not really knit or crochet? This is a tell-tale sign, a big red flag the pattern is AI-generated.

✔️ Does the designer’s style look inconsistent across their shop? This is also a red flag.

✔️ Does each project look impossibly perfect? AI photos often have this dreamy, almost too-perfect look – soft focus, flawless skin, lighting that’s a little too even. Everything looks beautiful but somehow … off. Again, trust your spidey sense.

Let’s look at an example together:

Based on my checklist, can you see why this is pattern is 100% AI-generated? The stitches look almost plastic – way too uniform, too perfect. The photography is cliché and has that dreamy, soft-focus glow with lighting that doesn’t quite match the real world. And c’mon, no real yarn project ever looks like this – the beak alone is a dead giveaway.

But the picture only conveys half the story. The shop this eagle came from (StudioMarry) is less than three months old, the five-star reviews are suspiciously enthusiastic with no project photos, and the actual pattern is reported to be six pages of vague instructions in multiple languages. Classic signs.

The one-star reviews are written by real people and say things like, “Complete AI-generated scam, no details whatsoever.” Trust the one-star reviews.

Real designers – the ones losing sleep over stitch counts, the ones whose bills depend on their patterns and shops being trusted – need us to shop smart right now. Report the shops selling fake patterns – let’s get the gatekeepers to do something about this! Bookmark this post, share it with a crafty friend, and again, trust your spidey sense. It’s usually right.

Post last updated April 19, 2026. Email me if you have a tip and I’ll add it to this post.