Your favourite crochet magazine?

[jillybean]

DH and I are big savers and so around this time we set our budget for Christmas presents and trade lists with family. I'd like to add a subscription to a crochet magazine to my list but figure I'll ask the experts first. So far I've seen Crochet Today, Crochet Magazine, Interweave Crochet...my head is spinning!

 

Please help! What is your favourite crochet magazine and why?

[magiccrochetfan]

My favorite is Interweave Crochet. the reason is that I think they have the most stylish patterns, and the best articles. In the past they have had articles on foundation sttiches (which was the best way to learn that I have found), on join-as-you-go with different shaped pieces, on working with different fibers; those are a few i can think of right now. they present different things to add to our crochet repertoire. they have excellent schematics, yarn info, and give symbol diagrams for many patterns (they could still improve in this area a bit, and give us a few MORE diagrams imo:lol) Most patterns are for women's garments, with occasional kids' garments and home decor/afghans. In my opinion, most of the patterns are a bit on the challenging side. Also I like to see the ads for different yarn companies and suppliers, which IC has more diverse ads than other US mags.

 

My second favorite is Crochet Today, because I like some of the patterns they have, and they use diagrams extensively. Sometimes they present "retro" patterns which i think are neat. I think they have a lot of beginner or quick patterns, and tend to have more home dec and kids' things incl. toys. CT is affiliated w/ Coats and Clark so mainly Coats yarns are used, but they do give good info for subbing.

 

I wouldn't subscribe to anything without getting a feel for the mag; you can find back issue info at the websites. Also, Crochet! and Inside Crochet (from the UK) offer digital subs.

[Craftonite]

Each one has a bit of a different focus, so it's hard to say what you might enjoy. In my opinion...

 

Interweave Crochet has a lot of gorgeous things, but it's definitely more clothing patterns than anything else. Interweave also does some nice articles on different techniques - the fall issue has an interesting article about slip stitch patterns, which I had not seen before.

 

I think Crochet World, Crochet Today and Crochet! all have a wide variety of patterns, but each has a different flavor. It really depends on what kind of projects you like, how complicated you want them to be, and how much variety you like. If you can't get samples of each magazine to compare, I think the websites give a fairly good idea of the style of each magazine.

 

Interweave Crochet is my "someday I'll try that" magazine, but I subscribe to Crochet World and (recently) Crochet Today.

[rired41]

I like Crochet World the best.

[jillybean]

Thanks very much for the advice, I'll check out the websites.

[blue_soda025]

I recently got the digital subscription to Crochet! magazine. It was a very, very good deal, as you get access to 2 years worth of back issues for only $15. Plus, I have no space in my house for more magazines, haha! What I didn't realize was that the patterns for the clothing in that magazine seem more geared towards maybe women in their 30-40s and up.

I'm only 23, and I can't imagine wearing most of the clothing in that magazine to be honest. I was hoping for clothing patterns that looked a bit more young. But I guess since I only paid $15 and have access to so many patterns, it was worth it, even if I only use the non-clothing patterns.

Does anyone know how the clothing patterns in the other magazines compare to Crochet! magazine?

[magiccrochetfan]

I recently got the digital subscription to Crochet! magazine. It was a very, very good deal, as you get access to 2 years worth of back issues for only $15. Plus, I have no space in my house for more magazines, haha! What I didn't realize was that the patterns for the clothing in that magazine seem more geared towards maybe women in their 30-40s and up.

I'm only 23, and I can't imagine wearing most of the clothing in that magazine to be honest. I was hoping for clothing patterns that looked a bit more young. But I guess since I only paid $15 and have access to so many patterns, it was worth it, even if I only use the non-clothing patterns.

Does anyone know how the clothing patterns in the other magazines compare to Crochet! magazine?

 

I think the patterns in Crochet Today are the "youngest". Next would be INterweave Crochet. Crochet! seems to me to have dated styling.

 

Inside Crochet also has young designs i think.

[yarnhookncandle]

I just renewed Crochet World which is my favorite. Next I like Crochet Today and will renew it when it is due. I chose not to renew Crochet! Looked through all my past issues and found very little I would make. Way too many jackets, vests and sweaters in every issue in my opinion.

[wendyb532]

I have 3 I subscribe to: Crochet Today, Crochet and Crochet World. If I had to choose a favorite of those three it would be Crochet Today. Yarns used are available almost anywhere and reasonably priced and it offers a variety of patterns for women, men, babies and home.

 

crochetcook

[Belsa]

I most often buy Crochet Today. I don't do a lot of taylored wearables...mostly I make scarves and shawls. I do love lots of little things, like ornaments, dishcloths...quicker projects. so for me, crochet today and sometimes crochet world are what I like. You can get the downloadable version of Crochet World as soon as it is out at http://www.e-patternscentral.com/ so I usually take a look at what is in it and decide then. but if someone were giving me a gift subscription, I would ask for crochet today since it is not available as an electronic download.

[papersmiles]

For just looking through I like Interweave. I'm pretty sure there is not much I will ever make so I did not renew that magazine.

 

For patterns I will actually try, I like Crochet Today and Crochet World.

[Bailey4]

I may lots of toys, so I would choose Crochet World first and then Crochet Today. I have looked at some of the others, but I don't make many clothing items.

 

I have been buying lots of the vintage Annie's Attic magazines.

[tnkycrochetnut]

I love Crochet World and have subscribed to it for quite a few years. Other magazines from the past that I love/loved and have a nice collection of is the Annie's Attic Crochet and Annie's Attic Pattern Club. I stopped getting these magazines at the end of the 90s as they began to have patterns that I was not interested in. I loved them when they first came out in the late 70s/early 80s.

[HomekeepingGran]

The out-of-print Magic Crochet. Does this count?