13 Knitting and Craft Sites

Those of you who have read my blog know I’m an avid knitter and love to do things with my hands. Here are some of the sites I enjoy for getting ideas or shopping. Have fun!

1. Vogue Knitting Magazine, Knit1 Magazine, and Knit Simple Magazine
Vogue Knitting is one of my favorite knitting magazines. I’ve been subscribing for a while now and their patterns are fun, challenging, and well-written. There’s a lot here for the beginner, too. They also publish Knit1, targeted for 18 to 35-year-old knitters, and Knit Simple, which is both for beginner knitters and for busy ones – the patterns are easy, minimal shaping and construction, and knit up fast.

2. Windy City Knitting Guild
This is my knitting guild in Chicago. A truly impressive bunch of people, friendly and accomplished. Meetings are packed, usually fifty to sixty in attendance! I was expecting a room full of old ladies in rocking chairs, but that’s SO not what today’s knitting craze is all about.

3. Knitty
Knitty is an online magazine and community that has been around long enough to be a mainstay. They have all sorts of cool stuff to look at and get into. Good luck getting out of here quickly!

4. Vogue Patterns
I love Vogue sewing patterns, and they now have their own magazine. It comes out every two months, enough to whet your appetite for sewing. I find their patterns easy to use and understand and they build your skills progressively, which is nice. The site is fun to browse around on, since they also have Vintage Vogue and a link to all of Vogue’s patterns.

5. Craft Stylish and Threads Magazine
Originally Sew Stylish magazine was targeting younger readers and new sewers, but they did not last past a year. Published by the publishers of Threads magazine, Sew Stylish had a lot of interesting material on using special fabrics and adding ‘bling’ to garments. They started a website that is now Craft Stylish, which thankfully is still going strong. You’ll lose some time wandering around in here, so be warned. (Note: Taunton Press also publishes several other high-end craft magazines, so it’s worth checking out.)

6. The American Sewing Guild
I find their site a little boring, but it’s good to know it’s there. It’s nice to network with other people pursuing similar crafts and the Guilds provide a way to do that.

7. The Knitting Guild of America
The TKGA exists to network member guilds and connect knitters with each other. Their magazine Cast On is instructional and interesting. I like their programs a lot. Since their focus is on education, there’s a lot available through their site that is reputable and will help you develop your skills. I signed up for the Master Knitter Program in hand knitting and am excited about it.

8. Butterick
This is actually the same company that makes Vogue patterns, but they have a different ‘look.’ I like seeing what’s available through all of them, so this site is enticing for me. They also publish a magazine called Sewing Today.

9. Interweave Press: Magazines, Interweave Knits and Interweave Crochet
Interweave Press is one of the best knitting presses out there. Their material is consistently excellent quality and they have some incredible designers in their stable. Very much worth checking out.

10. Alice Starmore
Alice Starmore is a designer and author living in Scotland. She wrote the seminal book, Fair Isle Knitting, which I purchased as a present last holiday and would recommend highly. I truly hope they bring it back in print (my copy was on eBay for $100USD). Her designs are incredibly beautiful, both needlepoint and knitting. I am making her needlepoint Chessboard design and am learning to knit fair isle so I can make some of her designs. Check out her site, there are some beautiful pieces.

11. McCalls
I like McCalls patterns. I own a couple of their wardrobe builders and find them easy to work with and sized well. I like looking at their site to get ideas.

12. Simplicity
Simplicity patterns are another good one. They’re easy to use and well-sized. The site is fun to wander. They have more men’s patterns than the others, though it’s still difficult to find a lot of choices if you want to sew for your man.

13. Makit Bakit
I used to love making these with my mom. Remember the plastic stained glass ornaments you could melt in your toaster? These are them! Their designs are still stuck in the 70’s, which is a shame – I keep hoping they’ll join the craft revival. Soon, soon.

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