The Importance of Fiber Friends & Building Each Other Up!

Social media has had a crucial impact on a new era of connectivity and community building. Through social media, crochet artists have built a spectacular side of social media platforms that they reference as “the crochet community.” The crochet community has given crocheters a dynamic hub for creativity, instruction, growth and support, exemplifying the ability of online spaces to build meaningful relationships, share knowledge or expertise, and promote inclusive art forms.

Fiber arts has been around for centuries, crochet, however, has only been around since the 1800s. These fiber skills in the past were traditionally passed down through generations and within physical small communities. Through social media, fiber artists have several platforms where they can revitalize old practices, teach their expertise, and reach all the way around the world to showcase their art, designs, and patterns as well as collaborate with people from all walks of life. The exponential growth that crochet has seen within the last 20 years is largely due to the fact that creative like-minded individuals have the ability to connect and collaborate creative ideas and solutions all while being thousands of miles away from each other. The crochet community has fostered creativity on an unprecedented scale.

Being a part of a community is staggering in the best way possible because not only does a community push you to be your best self, but also when you see the people you care about succeed, it is inspiring! Engaging in crochet has been linked to improved mental health, reduced stress, and enhanced creativity, and the crochet community has created a safe space for individuals to explore their creativity and find comfort in making special items. Being a part of something bigger than yourself also creates purpose, maybe before fiber arts you didn’t know what you wanted to do with your life (I know I hadn’t yet)! I’m still figuring it out, but I know I want my future to involve fiber arts. If you are just figuring it out, at least you can crochet or knit and be productive while you figure it out.

If you are just getting started in fiber arts or crochet, chances are that you are still finding out what styles, stitches, and themes you like. Chances are you’ve stumbled into trouble with a pattern or are currently struggling with a pattern. Chances are you are finding your niche in crochet. Maybe you will be an amigurumi specialist, maybe you are a granny square expert, perhaps you love making wearable garments, and maybe you at some point want to start writing patterns. And the best way to help you through you journey to finding your style, learning from patterns, finding your niche, and discovering what kind of crocheter you are is to get to know other crocheters and ask questions. Chances are, someone is going to be thrilled to talk crochet and yarn with you!

If you've been crocheting for 20+ years and you don't really have questions about crochet or pattern reading, you just want to join the crochet community. A great place to start getting involved is through testing patterns! You have the skillset to read a pattern and find potential errors or places with room for improvement, and you get a super cute pattern out of it! Another great place to start is by posting tips, tricks, and things you have learned in you many years of enjoying the craft. Finally, another way to get involved is to do collaborations with other fiber artists or fiber companies that you already love!

If you are nervous with how to form these types of connections, follow people that interest you, if they have something in common with you and they post it on their story, send a story reply and start up a conversation! I found two of my best friends through story replies! One friend actually was in my government class in senior year of high school and she saw that I had been posting crochet stuff. We used to fold paper cranes in class and were so excited to talk crochet when we realized we both have that in common, we went from barely knowing each other to talking every day! My other friend was all over Pinterest and I had seen her work for about 6 months and was a big admirer of it! One day, without knowing it was the same girl, I saw a tester call for a super cute meshy sweater, and I applied. While I was her tester we ended up talking about everything under the sun and now I can’t see a time when we wont be talking every day.

No matter where you are at in your crochet journey, the good news is that once you start forming connections in the crochet community, you have a whole network of friends and acquaintances that are willing to help give guidance and offer creative solutions or just talk about how soft your new yarn is! Your crochet friends will also support what excites you, and in that, when you’ve made something special, they will share it with other members of the crochet community which leads to meeting new people! The crochet community allows for the continuous development of skills and techniques and gives you the power to meet so many people and touch their hearts with what makes you special!