Believe it or not, having fun with crochet is a good way to save money. It keeps you at home where you cannot spend anything, and it is enjoyable and relaxing at the same time.
It is not a hobby of the past
Crochet has an old-fashioned reputation, largely from a particular era of brown acrylic blankets. That reputation is thoroughly out of date.
The last twenty-five years have seen an enormous revival, driven by the internet: instant access to patterns, video tutorials that remove the need for someone to teach you in person, and crocheters finding each other worldwide rather than only locally.
Independent designers now produce work that has nothing to do with the 1970s, and amigurumi – crocheted toys, from Japan – gave the craft something knitting genuinely cannot match.
Why it is inexpensive
The equipment is almost nothing. One hook and one ball of yarn. There is no set of tools to accumulate before you can start.
Projects can be tiny. A dishcloth, a hat, a pair of slippers. Each costs a couple of pounds in yarn.
It uses leftovers. Small amounts left from larger projects are exactly right for flowers, toys, granny squares and stripes.
It replaces things you would buy. Dishcloths, face cloths, hats, scarves, blankets and gifts.
Why it is relaxing
Once the movements are learned, the hands work without supervision and the mind is free. That is the whole of it, and it is why people describe an evening of crochet as restorative rather than merely passed.
Crochet is particularly good at this because it is interruptible. Only one stitch is ever live, so you can put the work down mid-row and pick it up later with nothing lost – which matters enormously in a busy household.
Where to start
A 5.00mm hook and a ball of smooth, light-coloured worsted weight yarn.
Make a dishcloth. It finishes in an evening, the fit does not matter, and you will actually use it.
And it is genuinely fun
That is the part that gets lost in discussions of benefits and savings. Making something out of string, watching it appear row by row, is satisfying in a way that is hard to explain to anyone who has not done it – and it does not wear off with repetition.
