Today I’m sharing a few of my “unpopular” crochet opinions. We crocheters can be an opinionated bunch, and though I do tend to be pretty laid back about a lot of craft-related things, there are a few things that pop to mind when I think of unpopular opinions. See mine below, and I’d love to hear your own takes – share in the comments about your own unpopular opinions!
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All of these opinions are – just that – opinions! I will not judge you at all if you disagree with these, but I do think it’s fun to hear how different people think about different topics! Check out the video here, or scroll down to read my unpopular crochet opinions!
#1 – Invest in Your Hooks – It Doesn’t Have to Cost a Lot!!
I don’t mean you have to spend a lot of money on crochet hooks, like buying a full set of Furls Alphas (so expensive, I haven’t even tried one yet!). What I do mean is that it is worth your time (and maybe a little extra cash) to find hooks that work for you! If you’re using a hook that is comfortable, you are going to crochet better, faster, and with less pain. I can’t tell you what a huge difference it has made to level up my crochet hooks (particularly those swivel cables on my Tunisian hooks – game changers, and only like $5 each!).
If you have friends that you can borrow hooks from to try out, this can really be pretty cheap, but very effective for reducing injuries and fatigue. My favorite inexpensive hooks are definitely the Clover Soft Touch or Clover Amour, for example – the shorter handles really work for me!
#2 – Triangle Scarf Bib Things – Just No
Triangle Shawls/Scarves can be beautiful, and they’re kind of fun to make, I’ll admit. However, when people wear them like bibs…. that’s a no for me. I’m totally over this style and am happy to see it slowly fading (or maybe it’s just that it’s spring-time so I’m not seeing it as much right now). Unless you’re going to a lobster feast or something, leave the bib at home.
#3 – Once You Gift It, You Have No Say
This is a big one for me. I often hear or read about complaints about how someone gifted x item to so-and-so and *gasp*, they saw it in the back of the closet crumpled in a little ball! Look, as far as I’m concerned, once something has been gifted, the giver no longer has any say in what happens to it. You don’t get to say who wears it, how it’s used, how it’s washed, when it is given away, etc! If someone wants to use a blanket that you spent 100’s of hours and $100’s of dollars making as a dog bed, so be it! You don’t get to complain about it!
Sure, you may decide not to make something for that person again, and that’s okay. But you don’t get to guilt trip people or blame them or anything like that. Move on… it was a gift! Personally, if I give someone something that they don’t like, I hope they won’t keep it! I don’t want someone thinking negatively about me every time they see that thing I made that they feel obligated to keep. Nope – give it a way, goodwill it, use it for the dog bed, whatever. Don’t keep it if you don’t like it, and don’t feel guilty about it. Not everyone loves crochet stuff, and everyone has different style preferences.
#4 – Don’t Sell Handmade Things for Less Than $15 per Hour Plus Supplies
Another one of my biggest crochet pet peeves is makers you sell handmade goods for WAY too little. Your time is valuable! If you’re selling your handmade goods, what you’re really selling is – your time, your effort, and wear and tear on your joints. If I make a hat that takes me two hours and costs $10 in materials, and I want to sell that hat, you’d better believe I’m going to sell it for at least $40, otherwise it’s not worth it.
#5 – Tops With Stitch or Color Changes at Mid-Chest – Why?
This style is super strange to me. Why would you want the stitch pattern or color of your shirt to change at mid-boob height? This just seems really odd to me. I get that it’s a natural place for the increases for circular-yoke tops to stop, but that’s not a good enough excuse, in my opinion.
#6 – The Only Opinion That Matters is Yours
This seems to be hard for people. I know we all want people to enjoy what we make, but the truth of it is that the only opinion that matters is yours. If you like what you made, then it’s good. If you don’t like it, frog it and try again.
#7 – Use the Nice Yarn for Yourself
I know I have this tendency to save my best yarn for “special projects” or gifts. I’m trying to get over this one! I do believe that you should use your nice yarn on yourself (or other yarny friends who would appreciate it). Why use it for yourself when it’s so nice that it would make a great gift? Well, if you make it for yourself, you know you’ll like it, you know you’ll wear it, you know you’ll take care of it properly, and it will make you smile every time you see it. That $30 skein of hand-dyed yarn deserves a good home, and what better home than yours?!
#8 – Baby Stuff MUST be Washable!!
Please, for all that is good in the world, do not make baby items that need to be handwashed! If I make a baby thing, it is almost guaranteed that I will be making it out of cotton or acrylic. Baby’s are adorable gross little creatures. They will spit up, drool, and poop on just about anything. Their items MUST be washable.
New parents are overwhelmed and exhausted, and the last thing they need is to have to try to figure out how to wash that very lovely blanket you made them. You know what will end up happening if you don’t take this advice? The item will end up ruined by improper washing, or it will end up shoved into the back of the drawer/closet, because it’s just not worth the hassle to use it and then have to hand wash it. Don’t do that to a new parent, please!
#9 – Crochet Socks?? That’s What Knitting is for.
Nuff said. I think I’ve only seen one pair of crochet socks that actually looked like it would be comfortable.
#10 – Please, No More Crochet Pumpkins!!
So. Many. Pumpkins.
I feel like every designer has made a crochet pumpkin design at one time or another. Some of them are super adorable, don’t get me wrong. But… for the love of…. just…. no more pumpkins!!
That’s it for now, but I’d love to hear your unpopular crochet opinions in the comments!
If you liked this post you may also like The Problem With Mass-Produced Crochet.
Yeah, I did missed seeing this and I chuckle at #10! Thank you for a great blogpost! Made my day lighter. 🙂
Thank you for your opinions. Especially the one about what to charge for your items. I could never come up with a price. Jan