Crochet Magazines from Around the World

Do you crochet? If so then you are probably always looking for new patterns, news about crochet and inspiration for your own designs. There are many resources for that but one of the ones that is sometimes overlooked is crochet magazines. Crochet magazines provide fresh information with up-to-date styles that reflect the latest trends and happenings in the fiber arts industry. And you’re not limited to just what’s going on in the United States because there are crochet magazines printed all around the world.

Why choose crochet magazines?

Crochet magazines are a great supplement to crochet books and online crochet patterns for many reasons including the following:

o Crochet magazines are super current. They are seasonal and cater to the types of information you will be looking for right now. Of course you can find that on crochet blogs as well but there’s a much greater mixture of current and past designs and ideas online whereas magazines are truly up-to-date.

o The newness of the format can trigger new ideas.If you are someone who always gets your crochet information online or from books then you may find that just the experience of getting ideas in a different way (by looking through crochet magazines) can really help you think of totally new things to do.

Pros and cons of foreign crochet magazines

The most popular crochet magazines in the United States are the ones that are published here and are designed for an American audience. However a lot of crocheters will also look at crochet magazines from other countries. There are pros and cons to doing this but ultimately it can be one more tool in your crochet inspiration toolbox.

Here are some of the pros and cons to think about when it comes to foreign crochet magazines:

o They tend to be more expensive than American magazines. Getting a crochet magazine subscription from a foreign country is usually expensive due to shipping costs.

o They may be in a foreign language. You will find, however, that many of them include stitch diagrams for their patterns. These transcend language so you will be able to complete the patterns despite the language barrier.

o They offer fresh inspiration and ideas. You will see things in these crochet magazines that you just don’t see anywhere else and that can be very inspiring for your crochet work.

o The yarn discussed in these magazines may be hard to get. You may be able to shop online to get the yarn from the country of origin but it may be difficult to find or too pricey to ship. Also many other countries sell yarn by weight so if you’re used to the American method of buying yarn by yards then that can be a little confusing. That said, you can always play around with yarn substitutions to create designs based on foreign crochet magazines using what is available to you in the United States.

U.S. Crochet Magazines

If you are ready to start getting crochet magazines then you may want to start with the ones that are designed for an American audience. Some of the top U.S. crochet magazines include:

o Interweave Crochet Magazine. This quarterly magazine is always one that U.S. crocheters name as a favorite because it is filled with news, articles, patterns and more.

o Crochet Today! This crochet magazine is published every other month in the United States and provides great how-to instructions for completing many different types of cool crochet projects.

o Crochet! This is another one of the crochet magazines that is published every other month. It is photo-rich and also has easy-to-understand patterns.

o Crochet World. Yet another crochet magazine that is published every other month, this one is notable because of the great articles related to crochet that are published alongside the patterns.

o Quick & Easy Crochet. This crochet magazine is published every other month and is ranked as a bestselling magazine in both crocheting and fashion according to Amazon.

Foreign Crochet Magazines

If you want to take a chance on getting inspired by foreign crochet magazines then some of the top ones to try include:

o Inside Crochet. This crochet magazine from the UK is one of the easiest foreign crochet magazines to find in the U.S. It’s a highly popular English language crochet magazine that should really impress you if you check it out.

o The Art of Crochet Magazine. This is another UK magazine. It’s unique because it’s a weekly magazine so each issue is small and very focused but you get a lot of issues throughout the year.

o Ewa Crochet. This is a French crochet magazine. The instructions are difficult to follow since they aren’t in English but the photos and fashions are super inspiring!

o Keito Dama. This is a Japanese crochet magazine that I have seen mentioned a few times online. I haven’t checked it out myself but rumor has it that it has photo-rich instructions that make it easy to follow the patterns even though they are in a foreign language.

o Yarn Magazine. This is a fiber arts magazine out of Australia that is designed for crocheters as well as knitters so it’s a nice choice for people seeking foreign crochet magazines that transcend just crochet. It’s a quarterly magazine.

o Duplet. This is a Ukranian crochet magazine that is similar to "Yarn Magazine" in that it includes knitting (and sometimes macrame) with its crochet information. However it tends to be heavily focused on crochet fashions.

Also there was a British crochet magazine called Magic Crochet that was published for a long time but was discontinued a few years ago. It became Crochet Monthly for awhile although I don’t think that’s around anymore either. In any case, that’s a good option if you’re looking for older / vintage crochet magazines online.

Do you have a favorite crochet magazine? I would love to hear about it in the comments below!