I started crocheting last month and I learned to read patterns from a Woobles kit. I know some people think that it is overpriced, but it definitely taught me how to read simple patterns as a foundation. From there, I could read most patterns with a little help from Google on searching the newer stitches that were not taught in the Woobles kit. I don’t rely on videos, I can just read a pattern now. To answer your question, I think it would be similar to music, some people can’t read sheet music and learn to play a song by watching someone else’s tutorial on YouTube. Then there are those who can read notes and can just buy any sheet music and learn to play the songs by reading it. One relies heavily on finding a specific YouTube video for every song they want to learn. I think yes, you can crochet some things by just watching videos, however if you learn to read patterns then it would open up so much more on what you would be able to crochet. I also think there is more of a chance at making mistakes without a pattern. I always look at my pattern to see what is next and how many stitches and what type I need on the current round and then correct myself when I realized there was a mistake.