How The Internet Helps Crocheters Enjoy Crocheting

Before the internet’s rapid growth and popularity, people saw crochet as a minority hobby, and an older women's pastime. The internet has galvanized interest in crochet as a hobby and relaxing pastime for anyone, regardless of age or gender. It has done so in many ways and it is a great boon to crocheters. Crocheters wanting advice, help, information, free crochet patterns, or just to connect with other crocheters can turn to the internet.

Communication and connections

There are many crochet internet groups, networks, forums and communities available on the internet. These enable crocheters to connect with one another, providing yarn and thread addicts with support, advice, and help. They are friendly groups, which can provide connections with crocheters and pattern designers across the world. Whether you want help with a difficult pattern or stitch, recommendations, as to where to buy supplies, or advice, on substituting a yarn or thread. You will find this and much more in the numerous internet groups, networks and communities on the internet.

One excellent community is Crochetville, which provides forums on various crochet topics, tutorials, classes, and free patterns contributed by members. You do need to register an e mail address to use these services but Crochetville members are helpful and knowledgeable.

Ravelry is a knitting and Crochet community, which provides forums, groups, a shop and marketplace, as well as a crochet pattern directory with thumbnail photographs, which provides links to patterns all over the internet and free patterns exclusive to Ravelry. Again, you have to register an e mail address to join Ravelry, but it is well worth doing so as you will find things here that you will find nowhere else.

Services and businesses

Crochet services and businesses abound on the internet. As always, when patronizing any internet service or business, use common sense. You should ask other crocheters, who have used a particular business before giving information, placing an order, or parting with money. It is always better to be safe, than sorry. This is one reason why joining an internet crochet group or community is a wonderful idea as it gives you access to other crocheters’ experiences and recommendations.

Information

The internet is, of course an information treasure trove, and this is as true with crochet as it is with anything else. There are crochet bloggers, both crochet designer bloggers and those just nutty about crochet, who inform, educate, and entertain fellow crocheters with wonderful blog posts. There are also the big “real world” crochet guilds and organizations, who also have helpful web sites, where crocheters can find anything from the location of their local crochet group, or crochet class, dates of local crochet shows, to how to volunteer or join the guild and much other crochet information. In the United Kingdom, the national crochet organization is the Knitting and Crochet Guild and in the USA, The Crochet Guild of America. Tapping “National crochet Organization” followed by your country’s name may help you to find the appropriate national crochet organization for you.

Free crochet patterns

The internet is a marvelous place to find free crochet patterns. Patterns are available for anything you might possibly want to crochet. Typing “free crochet patterns” followed by the item or category of item will yield you many results and lead you to free patterns. There are also some wonderful free crochet pattern directories, which save crocheters time by grouping links to free crochet patterns together in one place. One of the largest, most comprehensive, and easily navigable crochet directory sites is Crochet Pattern Central (CPC), which provides a vast free pattern link directory, tutorials and a helpful tips and tricks section with helpful hints provided by crocheters as well as useful links to other crochet related sites.

Crochet and the internet go very well together and the internet has changed crochet for the better. Crocheters connect with other crocheters across the world, over the internet. Crocheters can find so much help, advice, and inspiration from the internet, and, in turn, crocheters spread the word about their enthusiasm and enjoyment of their craft. This feeds back into the craft, refreshing and renewing it. The internet has made crochet exciting, new, fresh, inspiring and modern, reinvigorating the craft, Inspiring crocheters, who have crocheted since forever, and helping new crocheters learn how to crochet. In the United Kingdom now, people actually know that crochet is not knitting, but a separate craft. Crocheters have many reasons to thank the internet, not least the wonderful crochet tool that it provides. The internet is as important to crocheters as their hooks, patterns and yarn or thread.