Friday magazine review

"Inside Crochet" issue 4
October/November 2009

For the last few days I've almost attacked my poor postman when he delivered our mail but failed to bring the latest issue of this magazine. Some kindly spirit must have been watching over him though as it has now been delivered and he is free from the threat of an anxious crocheter armed with a 3.5mm hook, at least for another two months that is.

Why did I want this issue so badly? Well, at the back of the last issue was a photo of a 'Hooded stroll jacket' by Rebecca Velasquez which I have fallen in love with. I've never made myself a proper garment using crochet, (shawls and a poncho really don't count) and for the last year I've been thinking I need to stop worrying about messing it up and just have a go. This jacket would suit me so well, and I've gotten it into my head that I simply must have it, whatever the cost.

Ahem - perhaps not whatever the cost, after greedily reading through this fantastic issue I did a bit of yarn research and was shocked to discover that the recommended yarn for this project was not available from within the UK and would cost approximately £75 to order it from the American manufacturer. Thankfully there are 3 other alternative yarns listed, but to get the quantity of yarn I need for this jacket I would have to spend between £30 and £40 just to purchase the budget yarn recommended. This has been a bit of a wake up call for me so I need to do some more research into this before I go ahead and splurge that much on yarn when I may still make a mess of the jacket...

As for the other patterns in this issue there are a lot that I really like, including a lovely felted backpack (and an article all about felting/fulling to help get you started) some lovely tops a couple of scarves (just right for the upcoming autumn months) and a cute scull laptop pouch by Rockpool Candy. The only disappointment was that I was expecting more amigurumi in this issue and all that was included was a rather lumpy looking caterpillar which was so basic it really didn't deserve to be written up as a pattern and I can't imagine anyone bothering to make it.