Really! If you’re suffering from crochet boredom, doldrums, lack of inspiration, there is a cure for it. Take a trip to your local library or book store. I warn you, the library is cheaper! Some places don’t have great libraries like we have in St. Louis. But most any library can participate in interlibrary loans to borrow books they don’t own. And – if you request a title for purchase and the library buys it – YOU GET IT FIRST! That’s so much fun.
I have only recently acknowledged that I cannot personally own every crochet book or magazine ever published. It was a crushing truth. Hard to take. I have PAS (pattern acquisition syndrome) baaaaaad. I also suffer from YAS (yarn acquisition syndrome). For someone who has crocheted for less than 10 years, I have a huge stash of all things crochet. But, back to the books.
There are lots of older crochet books that are seldom discussed or written about. Back in the 1970’s (which I know seems like the stone age to some of you), there were a gazillion crochet patterns published only using granny squares. However, there are other patterns from that era and earlier too. Your library is likely to have some of those old books.
To discover which books you might want to search for at your library, do some searching online. Check at amazon.com, of course, but also check other sites like gutenberg.org and other used book sellers like hamiltonbooks.com, abebooks.com, campusi.com. There are lots of them out there. Browse a category – crochet, hobbies, needlework. Each site may categorize crochet in slightly different ways. But, if you do a bit of searching, you’ll find a wealth of wonderful books full of exciting designs and designers. Another great thing about the older books – they were edited better and there seem to be fewer errors in the patterns.
