Real Life Ravelry Alternatives

Today, everyone seems to forget about real-life, but recently, Ravelry changed that, for me at least.

I thought I would share all the alternatives people may have forgotten about since the world of instant virtual patterns came about. Let’s talk about these alternatives that we might not otherwise recognize.

Where do you shop in person?

There are still brick and mortar shops, stores, and boutiques around all of us. Some of us can find patterns or pattern books where ever we find our craft supplies.

Michaels has lots of little, affordable booklets from Patons that focus on one type of garment; socks, mittens and gloves, cables, for example. Personally, I love them and if you can’t find them there anymore, they can be found on Amazon.

I often will check Pat Catans, Joann Fabrics, Michaels, Hobby Lobby and Walmart for patterns and sometimes find free pamphlets. Otherwise, look for sales at these stores and buy pattern or instruction books when they run their 30% or 40% off sales.

There are some pretty nice books to be found written by skilled individuals who don’t depend on Ravelry for their livelihood.

When you hit that cute little yarn shop, support them if you can by buying pattern books or magazines. There you can find the latest things if that is what you are into.

There have even been times when I would find a book at a fiber festival. They may be a little pricey there but you are supporting the little guys and getting a nice take home.

I love to shop at Half Price Books and occasionally Barnes and Noble. There I find all sorts of knitting, crochet, sewing and needlework books. And when they say ‘half price’ they mean it! 😉

Going to the library and checking out their shelves with the new books is a great way to flip through all the new craft books to decide if you want to own them. That’s what I did to find that modular knitting book.

Where do you shop online?

I have searched all the places I like to frequent online to see what they had in the way of knitting and crochet patterns.

I am not affiliated with any of these companies, I just like them. The choices are really endless.

Here is my list of places online that offer patterns and pattern books. I will put an asterisk by those that offer free patterns.

• *WEBS
• Annie’s e-PatternsCentral
• *LoveCrafts
• *AllFreeKnitting
• *AllFreeCrochet
• *Vogue Knitting
• *Lion Brand
• *Yarnspirations
• *Knitting Pattern Central
• *Crochet Pattern Central
• *Red Heart
• *Interweave
• *Blueprint
• *Berroco
• *Knit Picks
• Etsy
• *Purl Soho
• *Schachenmayr
• *Biscotte Yarns
• 21st Century Yarns
• *Knitrowan

Also, I have found YouTube to be an excellent resource for knitting and crochet techniques, lessons and designing tips and tricks.

Why not try designing your own patterns?

When surfing the internet, I’ve found many tutorials about designing knitting and crochet patterns as well as in books off the real-life shelves.

Most often, in my sewing, I find a picture of something I love but don’t want to buy and I just make my own version of it without a pattern.

When you have the foundational knowledge of something, knitting, crochet, sewing, you can do anything if you have the right resources available.

So, to learn the foundations, I collect the resources you see in the pictures.

And because most of the books I find on Amazon in the used books lists, I can get them for sometimes a fifth of the retail price of the book. I don’t mind waiting a little longer for it to arrive at that price.

So, if you have any places that you like to go in real-life share them in the comments. I’m sure we would all love to find new places to check out for knitting and crochet patterns.