Finding your crochet inspiration
A crochet directory to help you get inspired.
Whether you’re a brand new crocheter looking for beginner level patterns or you’re an advanced crochet pattern designer looking for design inspiration, everyone can use some yarny crochet inspiration at times.
Here you’ll find an extensive directory of different crochet resources and places (online and offline) I recommend checking out for some serious crochet inspo.
While I originally wrote this blog post back in 2020, I’ve since given it an overhaul and thoroughly updated it as I’m aware there are a lot more tools and websites that have popped up and gained popularity over the past three years. As a result, this blog post has also gotten a lot longer, but I hope you find this directly useful. If you have, I’d love you to leave me a comment below letting me know what your favourite resource or place to go to find crochet inspiration is.
Where to look for crochet inspiration
There is honestly a plethora of places and resources (online and offline) for you to explore that will help give you some crochet inspiration. Now, every crocheter is different. Some crocheters will want to find a new exciting crochet pattern to use, whereas others will be looking for crochet pattern design inspiration. While one is more broad than the other, I’ve attemped to provide a range of helpful resources that all crocheters will appreciate and find useful. I really hope I’ve brought this directory to justice, but if you do see anything missing at all, please do let me know by emailing me or commenting at the bottom of this blog post.
To make it easier to look through the directory, I’ve separated it into key sections. You’ll find these sections listed below - simply scroll to the section you wish to explore.
Craft fairs, markets and exhibitions (offline)
Crochet blogs (online)
Crochet classes and courses (online and offline)
Crochet magazines (online and offline)
Crochet pattern books (offline)
Crochet pattern online marketplaces (online)
Yarn and craft shops (online and offline)
Social media
Craft fairs, markets and exhibitions
Visiting a physical craft fair, market or exhibition is often a great place to find crochet inspiration, especially if there’s a crochet stand! You may find sellers selling their own handmade crochet items or stalls selling yarn and crochet goodies. Either way, it’s great to see different kinds of crochet creations, products, and resources - all of which offer a unique insight and often gives us ideas of new crochet items we want to make or techniques we’d like to try.
While there are too many craft fairs, markets, and exhibitions to list them all - I have tried my best to capture a mixed selection of online and offline craft fairs, markets and exhibitions from around the world.
United Kingdom Craft Shows
The Knitting & Stitching Show, UK
With workshops, shopping stalls, galleries and more, The Knitting & Stitching Show looks like a great way to spark up some crochet inspo.
The Creative Craft Show, UK
The Creative Craft Show is a haven for crafting and stitching enthusiasts, offering a wide range of the very latest supplies, ideas and innovations in the hobby world!
Unravel Festival, UK
This festival for yarn lovers is the largest independent yarn show in the south east of England.
United States of America Craft Shows
Virginia Beach Neptune Festival Art & Craft Show, VA, USA
Neptune Festival itself has been named one of the 100 top festivals in the USA, and is recognised in the top 25 of Fine Art & Design Shows. The Neptune Festival Art & Craft Show features more than 225 artists. While I can’t guarantee any of these will be crochet, I’m sure there would at least be some yarn and stitch lovers in show!
Haddonfield Fine Art and Crafts Festival, NJ, USA
The Haddonfield Fine Art and Crafts Festival in New Jersey looks like such a buzzing atmosphere with loads of stalls offering crafty and arty inspiration.
Guilford Craft Expo, CT, USA
The Guilford Art Center’s annual CRAFT EXPO is one of the longest running and most successful craft shows in the United States. Expect over 170 makers from the USA exhibiting and selling their craft, including… you guessed it… fiber arts!
DFW Fiber Fest, TX, USA
DFW Fiber Fest started in 2005 with the aim of supporting the knitting, crochet and spinning craft community in the region. Expect an educational venue with a well-curated vendor hall for fiber enthusiasts of all skill levels. If it’s fiber related, expect it to be there - think knitting, crochet, spinning, weaving, dyeing and more!
Canada Craft Shows
Creativ Festival WEST
Creativ Festival WEST happens in various cities across Western Canada and claims to be the number one sewing and crafting event in the region - woohoo! It includes something for everyone, covering sewing, scrapbooking, knitting, quilting, needlework, fibre arts, beading, paper crafting, and more! It’s not just a market of course, there are classes and educational seminars you can join too.
Fibres West, BC, Canada
Fibres West is for anyone interested in fibre crafts whether that’s spinning, weaving, felting, knitting, rug hooking, lace making, or more! They promote local, Canadian fibre producers, sellers, independent artists, and more.
Knit City
Taking place in Vancouver, BC, Knit City is a two-day event featuring a world-class marketplace featuring indie yarn dyers, local yarn shops, fibre farmers, knitwear designers, notions makers and more. There is also a programme of workshops, events, and even a knitters lounge. Talk about inspiration galore!
More Craft Shows Being Added
While I realise the list above only offers a few specific craft shows as examples in specific countries, I will endeavor to keep adding to this list over time. As such, if you’ve been to a craft show or fair that you think was out of this world, please do comment below to let me know.
Crochet bloggers
The fantastic thing about getting crochet inspo from bloggers is that it is super accessible since they’re online! Whether you’re looking for a new crochet pattern or you’re simply looking for some inspiration on crochet techniques and creation ideas, there’s no better place to look. Ranging from crochet designers to yarn dyers and avid makers, bloggers are great for offering some of the freshest ideas for modern crocheters. While I couldn’t possibly list all crochet bloggers out there (the list is far too long) here are some of my personal favourites.
The Nicole Chase
Since Nicole is one of my crochet pals, I thought I’d better put her blog first! But also… it is really good! Widely known for her dinosaur crochet patterns that went viral, you can pick up a multitude of free crochet patterns and resources from Nicole’s blog. I warn you, it’s a rabbit hole of yarny inspiration.
Crochet 365 Knit Too
I first came across Cheryl’s blog when I was looking for inspiration on monetising my crocheting blog. Cheryl publishes some of her income reports which are super helpful. However, if crochet business isn’t your thing, there is a plethora of crochet patterns, tutorials and resources for you to explore.
Garnknuten
Veronica’s blog is one of the few crochet blogs that doesn’t have pop-up website ads. It is also full of a mix of colourful crochet amigurumi patterns, resources and behind the scenes crochet business updates for you to explore.
Janie Crow
Jane Crawford is one of those amazingly talented crochet designers that inspires me so much. Jane is predominantly known for her crochet blanket designs and is a regular feature in some big name UK magazines. I’m always so in awe of her work, it is beautiful. Simply scrolling through her blog and reading her updates gives me crochet inspo for days.
Repeat Crafter Me
Popular crochet pattern designer and author, Sarah Zimmerman’s website is packed full of inspiration and free crochet patterns! With a mixture of amigurumi, granny squares, and homewares, there is definitely a pattern there waiting for you to explore. A lot of Sarah’s patterns are also really great for beginners. I actually made my first ever amigurumi using her crochet pattern book, Crochet Cute Critters.
More crochet bloggers coming soon
While this current list of crochet bloggers isn’t extensive, I will continue to keep adding to it over time. If there are any amazing crochet bloggers you follow that you’d like me to feature, simply let me know in the comments at the end of this post and I’ll check them out.
Crochet Classes & Courses
When you think you know it all, you’ll never improve… that’s just one reason why it’s awesome to do a crochet class or course! It’ll not only keep you motivated, but you’ll most likely learn something new (even if it’s just a different way of doing a stitch!). The other thing classes and courses are great for is inspiration. I know when I signed up to an amigurumi design course when I was feeling a bit stuck back in 2021, it was so ridiculously good for my confidence and creativity!
While I’ll touch on some suggestions on how to find crochet classes and courses in person, I’ll mainly focus on the online courses that are available to anyone with internet access (some are free, some are paid).
Crochet Classes & Courses In Person
Often the best place to look for in-person crochet classes and/or courses is at your local yarn stores. Most yarn and craft shops will hold some form of crochet class or meet-up as long as you’re in a large enough city or town. Alternatively, if you’re lucky like me, you also may live in a city that has art and craft schools. Simply google crochet classes in your city to find one near you. But of course, if there isn’t one that’s accessible to you… there’s always online!
Online Crochet Classes & Courses
There are honestly so many online crochet courses available offering supporting on a range of topics. Below I’ve listed a few general course websites that I know crochet classes and courses are available on, and I share how to access these. I’ve also thrown in some specific online courses I know of that are run by experienced crochet designers independently (like the amigurumi design course I did back in 2021).
Skillshare
Skillshare is a learning community for creatives and you can get a free 7-day trial before committing to making any payments. If you search for crochet under the ‘craft' course section on the platform, you’ll find a few different options available.
Craftsy
Craftsy is a video and resource bank for creatives offering over 2000 easy-to-follow classes across more than 20 categories. And of course, crochet is one of those categories. While this platform does cost, it is a relative cheap sign-up free.
The Creative Fabrica Crochet Courses
There are a plethora of online crochet courses available on The Creative Fabrica website.
Conquer Crochet on YouTube
Now while I know YouTube belongs in the ‘social media’ section of this blog post, Karen from Conquer Crochet has a brilliant YouTube channel with loads of free mini crochet tutorials. In particular if you check out her playlists, you’ll find some organised mini courses all for free.
Amigurumi Design Lab
This is the course I keep going on about! It’s by Veronica at Garnknuten and I found it so extremely motivating and inspirational. If you’re interested in designing amigurumi, I highly recommend it.
Magazines that offer crochet inspiration
Crochet magazines are a great source of inspiration - I’m personally a big fan, not only for the free patterns, but for the interviews and resources shared. Here are some of my personal favourite crochet magazines for you to explore. I hope they inspire you as much as they do for me!
Pattern books for crochet inspo
Pattern books are fantastic for giving you a good dose of crochet inspiration! Whether it’s a beginner pattern book with a range of different types of creations, or a specific type of pattern book (like for amigurumi, clothing, or homewares) - they are great for a browse. You can also just pop down to a local library instead of buying them! Here are a couple of my favourites, be warned… they’re all amigurumi books.
Animal Friends of Pica Paul 1, 2 & 3 by Yan Schenkel
Amigurumi Treasures 1 & 2 by Erina Lee
Edward’s Menagerie by Kerry Lord (Toft)
Crochet Iconic Women by Carla Mitriani
Crochet pattern online marketplaces
There are loads of online marketplaces where you can search for and browse through hundreds of crochet patterns for inspiration. Here are a few I’m aware of and use regularly.
Yarn Shops for Crochet Inspiration
Whether your looking online or in person, yarn and craft stores are a great place to find inspiration. Many online shops have loads of digital crochet patterns and online shopping too! However, maybe you feel like exploring some physical stores in your local area.
Local yarn stores
These days it’s so easy to buy yarn online, but there is something super special about going into a real-life yarn or craft store. Why not google yarn/craft stores near you, and spend a morning exploring one? It’s a great way to get inspiration and you may even walk away with a couple of yarny treats.
Online yarn shops
There are so many online yarn shops, but here are a few of my personal favourites I go to when I’m looking for inspiration.
Using social media to find crochet inspiration
Last but not least, social media is a fantastic free way to find crochet inspiration. Below I’ve listed the key social platforms I use to find inspiration along with some tips on finding some great content.
Instagram - All you need to do is search through the various crochet hashtags. To get you started, a few of my favourites are #CrochetersOfInstagram #CrochetCommunity #CrochetLovers.
Pinterest - Search for crochet and you'll be inundated with options including free patterns, great tutorial videos, as well as general design and make ideas.
Facebook - Join crochet groups on Facebook to get a regular dose of crochet inspo. My favourite is Amigurumi Addicts.
TikTok - There are so many crochet videos on TikTok and be warned, it’s super addictive! Simply search for crochet.
YouTube - Similarly to TikTok, there are so many videos to be found on YouTube. Just do a search for crochet (or I recommend being even more specific e.g. ‘best crochet amigurumi patterns’ for example.
X - Now called X (it’s still Twitter to me), you can get involved with conversations about crochet by searching for ‘crochet’.
Anyway, this brings me to the end of my directory of crochet inspiration. I hope it helps inspire you to pick up the hook and to keep crocheting!
I’d also absolutely love to hear what inspires you the most when it comes to crochet. Let me know in the comments below, or get in touch with me here. I’d love to hear from you!
Until next time, happy crocheting,
Cilla x
