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Guest Post and Giveaway – Norah Gaughan’s top ten Crochet sites

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This Giveaway is over. The winner has been announced here.

Editors Note: We at CraftGossip are honored to have Norah Gaughan present her list of top ten crochet blogs for inspiration. In celebration of this post, we have a copy of Norah’s latest book, Comfort Knitting and Crochet Afghans to giveaway. How to enter the giveaway is presented at the end of this post, so read on!

Norah Gaughan is the design director of Berocco, maker of fine yarns and patterns for knitting and crochet, and the author of the new book: Comfort Knitting and Crochet Afghans: More Than 50 Beautiful, Affordable Designs Featuring Berroco’s Comfort Yarn.

And these are 10 of Norah’s favorite spots on the web to soak up inspiration!

http://crochetcoralreef.org/

An amazing, and educational, project from the Institute For Figuring. The crocheted coral reef is a woolly celebration of higher geometry and feminine handicraft, and a testimony to the disappearing wonders of the marine world. Just beautiful! This exhibition is showing now in Dublin till’ June. Get ye on a plane!

http://blog.craftzine.com/

I love seeing all of the different crafts from origami, to baking, to crochet and knitting and they all seem relevant to each other.

http://blog.makezine.com/

Crochet (and knitting, our other specialty here at Berroco) often finds inspiration in unexpected places. Make Zine, nerdy-cool sibling to Craft Zine, offers so many unexpected designs—often of the science and mathematical variety. I love this post about the designs created via letterpress and dice, for example. Reminds me of one of our Afghans from the new book! As seen in the crocheted coral reef project as well, geometry can be beautiful!

http://www.crochettoday.com/

This magazine always features the cutest projects!

http://www.crochetinsider.com/

Dora Ohrenstein is an amazing designer and a true “crochet insider” who writes about crochet techniques from all over the world.

http://prudencemapstone.blogspot.com

A scrumble a day keeps the boredom away. What’s a scrumble? Well, it looks to me like a modern art piece using various crochet techniques. Very cool.

http://www.anitabruce.co.uk/tblog/tblog.html

More knitted and crocheted sea life! I love how some of the entries read like scientific journals.

http://rosylittlethings.typepad.com/posie_gets_cozy/crochet/

I love all her craft projects, but her knitting and crochet work is especially beautiful.

http://littlegreen.typepad.com/romansock/

Cute crochet never gets old.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/crochet

Also not a blog, but if you do any crochet or knitting at all, I suggest you create an account just to lurk around the patterns and get inspired by this incredible online community.

To win a copy of Norah’s latest book, Comfort Knitting and Crochet Afghans, go to CraftGossip’s Facebook Fan Page, and leave a comment on this post at Facebook. A winner will be randomly selected from all the entries. Good Luck!

Comments

  2. It is always exciting to find new afghan designs. Norah Gaughan’s latest book would be an awesome source of inspiration!

  4. It is great to get directed to great crochet web sites. Some I use others I hadn’t found come across before.

  6. No, no! Admire the coral reef crochet from afar. jumping on planes for travel is one of the major reasons why our oceans are in trouble! Looking at some photographs has a much, much smaller carbon footprint and can be enjoyed over and over by many people.

Have you read?

The Official Stardew Valley Crochet Book: That Rooster Had Me Hooked

Apparently, this is the year chickens took over my crafting attention. First came the emotional support chickens, then the pocket chickens, and now a rooster has managed to talk me into looking at another crochet book.

Honestly, put a crocheted chicken in front of me at this point and I’m going to stop scrolling.

That is exactly what happened with The Official Stardew Valley Crochet Book. The rooster sucked me in before I had even properly investigated what else was inside. After all the emotional support chicken crochet patterns we’ve been sharing, you would think I’d have had enough poultry. Apparently, there is still room in the imaginary yarn coop.

Now, a little honesty before we go any further: I haven’t read this book yet or tried its patterns. This is a look at why it has caught my attention ahead of publication. I have a very good feeling about this one, and I’m expecting it to be a lovely addition to the crochet bookshelf.

What’s Inside The Official Stardew Valley Crochet Book?

The publisher describes a collection of 25 crochet patterns with variations for more than 45 amigurumi projects, created by ConcernedApe, Megan Lapp and Ryan Novak.

The announced projects include Junimos, Slimes, chickens, a Junimo Hut and familiar game items. There are simpler projects such as Eggs alongside more challenging makes, including the Mermaid Pendant.

The chicken variations are particularly tempting, with different beaks, combs and tail feathers, plus White, Blue, Brown, Golden and Void varieties. You can probably see why my attention keeps wandering back to the coop.

It is scheduled for release on 26 January 2027 through Random House Worlds, with 240 pages in the hardcover edition.

Why This Crochet Book Is on My Radar

What appeals to me is the combination of recognisable characters and slightly ridiculous little objects. Those are often the crochet projects that make me smile most. A useful blanket is wonderful, but sometimes you simply want a tiny yarn creature keeping you company beside the sewing machine.

If you’ve enjoyed our emotional support pocket chicken crochet feature, you’ll understand the attraction. Small, characterful projects have a way of becoming much more tempting than the sensible project already waiting in your basket.

For Stardew Valley fans, there is also the pleasure of making something connected to a favourite game. We’ve previously shared a Junimo crochet pattern, so this feels like a lovely next book to explore for readers who enjoy that crossover between gaming and yarn.

Would I Add It to My Crochet Wishlist?

Absolutely. I can’t yet comment on the clarity of the instructions, the finishing details or how the patterns work up. Those are things I would want to assess with the book and a hook in hand.

But based on the announced collection, I know this is going to be a good one for my kind of crochet browsing: plenty of personality, playful projects and chickens I’m already mentally choosing yarn for.

You can take a closer look at The Official Stardew Valley Crochet Book on Amazon.

I came for the rooster. I suspect I’ll stay for the rest of the farm.