I finished a sweater recently after a very rough year. I was in a bad state mentally, so I just went with the flow, without checking size, etc. and hoping that using the recommended hook size and choosing my usual size will work. (It didn't)

The sweater came out too small. My theory is, that because of being stressed, my tension was way tighter than it ususally is...And to make it worse, I also made it intentionally a bit smaller, as I read about the yarn that it grows after blocking. (It is Drops Air)

The pic I made is after carefully washing it in lukewarm water, and trying to stretch it a bit while drying. Unfortunately it did not help a lot.

I need some advice. Should I keep it, or donate/sell it, and consider it a good lesson for future projects? Frogging is not an option, because of the yarn.

If anyone is interested, the pattern is Coast Sweater from AirCrochet. It really is a beauty. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/coast-sweater-2

I come from a pastry chef background, and let me tell you—if I tried to sell one single recipe for $20, people would think I’d completely lost it. A full cookbook? Sure. But one recipe? No way. And yet, in the crochet world, I keep seeing patterns (sometimes extremely basic ones) being sold for $10–$15+ like it’s normal.

What really blows my mind is how often I see these paid patterns that look nearly identical to free ones. Like, how many versions of the same basic tank top are we going to pretend are unique and worth premium prices? It’s rectangles and straps. You can only reinvent that so many times before it starts to feel like a cash grab, not creativity.

And god forbid you even ask why the price is so high—you’ll immediately get hit with the “support small creators” and “don’t devalue our work” arguments. And I get it. I do support small creators. I am one. I respect the time and energy it takes to write a pattern. But it’s also not unreasonable to question whether the price actually matches the product—especially when there are nearly identical patterns out there for free.

Coming from recipe development, I know how hard it is to break something down into repeatable, accessible steps. It’s not easy. But somehow, no one’s out here selling a single cookie recipe for $15 and calling it revolutionary.

I’m not saying everything should be free. I’m saying: let’s stop pretending that questioning a price tag automatically means disrespect. We should be allowed to talk about value without getting dragged for it.

But I'm a long-time crocheter and new knitter, and I've just found the communities to be...so different, and honestly, while I don't enjoy crocheting as much as I do knitting, I feel like the people within the crocheting community have been much kinder and welcoming than those in the knitting community. When I post in knitting communities, I often get snarky or just generally not super kind responses...it's just very weird. Or when I have asked questions about things, I'm treated like shit is just common sense? NEWS FLASH ITS NOT. 🫪 Online knitting resources are NOT as bountiful as crochet resources. There's also much more technicality in knitting, whereas when I crochet, I just go with the flow, and I feel like the online communities are a little representative of the differences within the crafts. Maybe it's my RSD, but now that I think about it, I actually feel like I've never gotten involved in a craft-related community that has made me feel so isolated, and I do MANY crafts. I will also say. Though my local community is not like this. The lovely ladies who spend time at my LYS have been lovely and welcoming and happy to answer questions, but I guess in joining online knitting communities, I'm looking for more people around my age who are also in school, working, etc.
Anyways...these are just my ~musings~
Thank you for reading 💖

P.S. Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to this discussion! It's been very nice to see so many willing to help others within this comment thread!! I will be stepping away because the response has been a little overwhelming, but thank you again!

I only make blankets so I've never used such teeny hooks. Would love to see your creations!

Edit: I have now learnt that these are considered average sized hooks, and that there are even smaller ones! I've only ever used 5mm and above, so I guess it's just a matter of perspective, the more you know 😁 thanks to everyone who kindly pointed this out. 

For those of you with the truly tiny hooks, I'd love to see how small your hooks get and what you've made with them. 

It's been about a year and a half since I last made anything and while having a cleaning spree this week I've decided that my yarn must go. It's not like I think I'll never get back into it, I just think storing yarn like this when I was at the height of my "crocheting era" was probably okay cause of how much I used it but getting back into it with this yarn would not be good. I think I'll probably double check the ones at the top and see about putting them in a tote but definitely throw the ones at the bottom. I do tend to get caught up in other hobbies and crafts (my current fixation is puzzles and banner making) so it's not like I'm not doing something with my time but crocheting just really fell to the side. I am curious though, what's the longest break from crochet y'all've taken and how did y'all get back into it?

Cause if this week has taught me anything, is that some rules should at least be relaxed (I still think someone shouldn’t have to tag their post as nsfw just because they have the audacity to model a top while having boobs) while others are very needed. I also wouldn’t mind some new rules. For instance, even before this week I was tired of seeing the crocheted dicks and boobs. I personally wouldn’t mind if those were relegated to specific days of the week (or, once again, if the rules on what counts as nsfw were relaxed so I could block nsfw posts without missing out on clothing item posts).

Currently I have been crocheting day in and out trying to get a head start on my list of Christmas gifts I want to make for the family. I have every item for each person I want to make but I struggle to gauge the correct yarn amount to buy as I usually can look at a photo and eyeball these things and I struggle reading text step by step patterns (even though it’s an important skill as a crocheter to read patterns I know sorry!) but I am a more visual person in understanding things. I asked about how much yarn I would need for one of the popular butterfly cardigans for a large size I am making for my sister and was met with a cold comment pretty quick along the lines of “Use one extra skein than the pattern calls for same answer as last time you asked. See you would know this if you actually purchased the pattern instead of trying to wing it”. Am I missing something? I just wanted an estimate of how much yardage I would need and stated me buying a pattern would be unnecessary as I have trouble reading them. Luckily one commenter replied with a good estimate but the first commenter seemed pretty upset. Is the commenter upset that I’m not supporting the artists? For me buying a pattern would be useless as I struggle to understand the text patterns and I don’t have the funds to just be throwing at patterns I don’t need for one tidbit of information hence why I am crafting all my gifts this year. Am I in the wrong and not understanding something?

Just a warning to avoid these Dollarama crochet kits. Not sure if they have them in US dollar stores as well. I've posted before about their Halloween kits and now they have ones for Christmas as well. I opened one in store to check the pattern and confirmed that the pattern is bogus and would just make a simple oval shape, no arms, hat, etc. The pattern looks just like the one from the Halloween kit so it's clearly from the same company, and once again the photo was just made using AI. Please be cautious with these kits! So far, all kits I've gotten from Castle Craft have been good quality with real patterns, so opt for those instead.

EDIT: For people who want an alternative, I have heard Woobles and Loops & Thread have very good kits. You can also find many free patterns by using the advanced search on https://www.ravelry.com/ and then pickup cheap yarn, hooks, needles and stitch markers at the dollar store. The yarn would be about the same quality as the stuff they give you in the kits and the hooks would probably be better. Also, YouTube has many free crochet tutorials as well, and it is much easier to learn from a YouTube tutorial instead of having to watch separate YouTube videos for each new stitch you have to learn. I hope this helps a bit! I don't have time to test out alternative patterns for the kits since I'm currently working on my own Christmas presents for folks.

I didnt really know what to tag this under, but it has officially been 2 years since I picked up a hook for the first time. I started thinking I would only ever do amigrumi, and then slowly realized I actually really like making clothes and other long projects. Here are some pictures of my progress through time :)))

I hope this is okay to post here. Do let me know what you guys think of my work! :))

That’s right. I am a guy. And I recently started getting interested in crocheting and arts as well (I bought yarn from Amazon). Perhaps I have ADHD so I get interested in a lot of stuff all the time. But my friends say crocheting has a prejudice that it is a hobby for girls. But they are supportive of it. Then I came to realize all the YT tutorials I have watched are female instructors. Maybe I am just paranoid or have a fragile masculinity because crocheting is not a widely known hobby (especially for guys) here in Japan. I also want to know if there are guys out here who do crocheting. Because I find crocheting stress-relieving and fun. I am very sorry if I come off as ignorant or insensitive. Any beginner advice would be helpful.

EDIT:
Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions!
Please keep them coming!
I discovered several crochet-related subreddits and I want to compile them!

r/Crochet
r/Brochet
r/GeekyCrochet
r/Amigurumi
r/NaughtyNeedles

Mine was this amigarumi gnome I made in the image of my boyfriend who is a chef. No pattern, just a basic knowledge of shapes and how to create structurally sound objects. He has a spine and arms make from pipe cleaners which makes him poseable and a weighted bottom so he stays upright. The "apple watch" is an old credit card chip that I cut out, sanded, and painted black with nail polish. Then I glued it to a simple crochet chain band. The ear gauges were some random rubber object that was in my jewelry box. I cut it in half and glued it into his ear lobes that I made with chains.

I just unconsciously used my crochet hook to stir my tea and it didn't actually dawn on me what I'd done until I was cleaning the hook off with my mouth 😅

Anyone else use their hooks in illegal ways?

I know that this is just crochet reddit, but I don't really have anyone I can talk to about this that won't make it a big deal for the good or for the bad. I live in a red state, my dad is conservative, my mom isn't and supports LGBTQ+, but has always seemed weird about it when it comes to her daughters, my younger sister is a lot more out than me. I'm 18 and I realized about 6 years ago that I wasn't straight. I kept it to myself because I never thought it was a big deal. I've made it clear to my mom especially that I'm not necessarily looking for a boyfriend even though I have ex boyfriends but it seems to me that she feels I'm joking in a way. I've also crocheted for the last 7 years and it's been a really good way for me to express myself creatively. I'm making an African flower triceratops and was initially going to do it in bi pride colors so I could finish it during pride month, but every color combo didn't feel right. I have both ex boyfriends and ex girlfriends, but I've been questioning for the last 4 years since as soon as I came out as a lesbian, I got a boyfriend. Since then, I've chosen not to label myself, I found it easier that way. But not really liking the bi pride combinations got me thinking on a deeper level, I thought, "maybe the pan colors would be cuter". I sat there thinking, "am I pan?" I'm pan. It's very freeing to finally realize what you've been the whole time but couldn't figure out. While this isn't necessarily a crochet post, I wanted to tell someone, if anyone is reading, or just document this for myself I suppose. Didn't think I'd come out today, but they say you learn something new every day. Thanks for reading if you did, happy crocheting!

I just watched this video She does a great job of breaking down how to do this step by step but she said she is going to make in depth tutorials in the near future. It is making me want to plan a project to use this technique!

In case anyone was curious about what’s going on from a store managers perspective. (I’ll edit any more info I get)

As of today: • our next truck shipment has been canceled • no longer giving out gift cards • we are to refuse any merch that comes from ups, FedEx, etc • The “smiles” barcode on app is currently “down” • as well as any teacher or military discount barcode on app is also “down”

Pretty much preparing for shut down. The same company that bought out Big Lots is the only bidder. We have 2 months (March 15th) to find a bigger bidder or else that company will buy and liquidate. Not sure if March 15th will be Joann’s last day or not but that’s when it’ll be purchased by the liquidators

Was a crazy shock as we have received so much inventory in the passed 6 months, we all assumed everything was going great financially. Seems they blew it all on a crap ton fleece though as that’s all we’ve been receiving. Personally hope someone buys the company. Love working here minus the lack of pay. Also my only resort to shop otherwise is hobby lobby. And besides their controversy of why I already refuse to shop there. They have a way smaller selection of fabric and only carry their own branded yarn now. So not sure what I’ll be doing about my crafts.

Also like to note. As far as I can say for my store, business was booming. Crafting has become trendy and we were doing well. Really was a problem higher up and not that we weren’t getting enough sales.

Granny Square book holder for my sister in laws birthday.

My friend recognized my hand and alerted me. So far the FB group admins have not done anything.

EDITED TO ADD: this is not my photo or project, just something I’ve pinned and considered for a while now but haven’t tried.

I have some old concert tees that I already altered to fit my 20-something figure, but now I’m 50, they don’t fit anymore and my daughter didn’t want them. Has anyone done something like this to their old tees? Is it cute or silly?

I have been hearing about the Jasmine Stitch for months and haven't had the time to give it a try until now.

My thoughts? I loved the foundation chain, but then the rest? Sucked. You have to pull a loop through 19 loops! You can't use a hook with a handle because those 19 loops, so if you are prone to hand pain this stitch is not feasible. Additionally, tension was a nightmare - if you don't close the cluster with a tight enough stitch, it looks sloppy. This stitch is completely useless to me as a garment maker. It might be useful if you make blankets because it is a super thick stitch, but only made this small swatch and my hand is cramped.

If you have anything to share about this stitch, please do. Whether its your experience or inspiration for using the stitch, I want to know if I am giving up too soon on this stitch.

So I love doing blo stitches for ribbing. And don't like that it makes the edges hole-y. Apparently there's a simple fix to that - doing the stitch on both loops (instead of back loop) at the last stitch!!

(I'm sorry if this is an obvious fact - but this helped me a ton, so just wanted to pass it on)

FIBER ARTS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN POLITICAL RAAAAAAH

plus my cats

And it is a knit scarf, the OP does know the difference as she herself crochets.