I have been, or can be if you click on a link and make a purchase, compensated via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value for writing this post. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.
This is my first post about crafting on my blog. I started a blog about crocheting last year, but realized that I like the actual act of crocheting more than I like writing about it. And, there were only so many things I could say about yarn, crocheting, and patterns. I didn’t think I could keep that up every week. I love yarn and I enjoy looking at patterns, but how much more can I say about that?
Now, I am feeling inspired to write about crocheting because it is getting cooler outside and I am getting excited about it again! I am a three season crocheter. Over the summer, I had no desire to crochet. When it is hot, I hate having yarn on my lap. Our air conditioner doesn’t work very well and I can’t stand sweating under a pile of yarn. Now that it is finally getting a little cooler, I’m pulling my yarn out again, reopening my Etsy shop, and getting ready to finish some projects. I experimented with opening an Etsy shop last year, but didn’t learn about how to market myself on the huge Etsy marketplace. So, I have yet to sell anything and most of the people in my life don’t even realize I have a store. My store YarnKnitDarnIt has just a few crocheted items right now, and I am hoping to make more items before the holiday season. And, no, I don’t knit as the name might imply, but I liked the name and I would like to knit eventually.
When I first started crocheting, I didn’t know the best websites to find patterns. Since I was interested in starting an Etsy store, I began looking at the patterns on Etsy. After buying a couple of patterns, I realized they can get quite pricey and over time they would eat into any profit I would be making. So, I started looking at other options and wondered how I could find free crochet patterns. After some research and using some of these sites, I narrowed it down to my favorite websites for the frugally minded crocheter. And, here they are……
My Favorite Places to Find Free Crochet Patterns
Ravelry: I can get lost in this website looking at all the amazing patterns that independent designers post to this site. You must sign up for an account to browse the patterns, but they have thousands of patterns on here and are constantly being updated. Not all of the patterns are free, but you can easily find enough on this site to keep you busy. You can search by the type of item you want to make and narrow it down by whether you want knitting or crochet. You can also narrow it down by free crochet pattern vs. paid pattern. Not only that, you can also search by yarn type. If you have a ball of yarn that you don’t have a plan for, you can usually find a project or pattern using that type of yarn. One of my favorite features on Ravelry is being able to sort by recently added patterns so I can watch for crochet trends.
Allfreecrochet: This is another website that has hundreds of crochet patterns. This site is easy to browse and is broken down by types of items you might want to make. They also have a “What’s Hot” section so you can find out which patterns are getting the most interest. I also subscribe to their daily email newsletter where they curate patterns revolving around a general theme. This site has a tutorial section which provides several tutorials for the beginner to the advanced crocheter. One of the best features of this website is that all of the crochet patterns are free.
Red Heart: Most people who crochet or knit know about Red Heart yarn. They produce the classic worsted weight yarn I grew up with, but they also have many other kinds of unique yarn. On their website, they have a variety of free patterns for both knitters and crocheters. It is easy to narrow your search further using their menu to explore pattern type, project type, and skill level. They have a scrolling menu toward the top of the page which shows either their most popular or the most recent patterns added to their collection.
LionBrand: Similar to Red Heart, Lion Brand is a yarn company which has been around for several years. On their website, they also have many free crochet patterns. They feature photos of their newest patterns on the listed page in various categories. You can also browse or search by types of items you would like to crochet.
Pinterest: Pinterest is a website you register for to engage in this massive online community. Once you have an account, you can search the word “crochet” and pull up a plethora of pins that people have placed. I have found many patterns, tips, tutorials, and ideas on this website. I have found that it works best to start following boards containing the word “crochet” in the title of the board. Before I started following individual boards, I wasn’t finding as many interesting patterns. Many of the pins are linked to some interesting crochet blogs with additional patterns. It is hit or miss on whether or not the patterns are free when you use a broad search term like “crochet.” However, you can narrow it down to boards that contain the words “free crochet patterns.” For example if you wanted to find a board for free patterns, you would type “free crochet patterns” in the search bar at the top of the page. You will then see many photos or pins with a menu toward the top with the words “All Pins” “Your Pins” “Pinners,” and “Boards.” You would then click the “Boards” pin to see several boards containing the words “free crochet patterns” which individual users have made. And, then you can follow the boards you like the most. I have found countless great free patterns and blogs this way that I might not have found otherwise.
While there are also wonderful blogs out there related to crochet, I wanted to focus my favorites on 5 of the larger sites where you can find free crochet patterns from multiple designers.
If you crochet or knit, do you have any favorite places to find patterns? Do you have an Etsy store? How do you decide what projects you are going to complete? Please comment below.
