I am currently in love with free crochet flower patterns as a fun and thrifty way to decorate, embellish and make homemade gifts. Crochet flowers can adorn felted bags, complete kitchen dishcloths and become pretty brooches or lasting bouquets with a bit of florist wire. With scrap yarn from my stash, a few hours to spare and my favorite free crochet flower patterns, I can make colorful home accents in the form of my favorite crochet flowers.

Thought cut flowers are the traditional token of love, celebration and amends, crochet flowers are far superior. What is the appeal of watching cut flowers brown and inevitably die on the counter? Cut flowers are lovely while they last, but they never last for long. Throughout the years, friends have shown off their fresh cut flower bouquets sent by significant others, while I have demanded not to be given such bouquets. Crochet flowers, especially homemade crochet flowers, make much better gifts.

The benefits of crochet flowers extend far beyond pretty embellishments and thrifty gifts. As an alternative to cut flowers, crochet flowers may be better for the environment. The vast majority of the 6.5 billion worth of cut flower stems and bouquets sold in America each year are imported. Up to 80% of cut flowers in American come from South America, especially Columbia and Ecuador. Cut flowers must be refrigerated the entire journey, up to 10 days, from South American to Miami and to the rest of America. Unlike crochet flowers, cut flowers have a huge carbon footprint, with emissions from production, transportation, distribution and constant refrigeration.

Hardly requiring extensive transportation, crochet flowers can be made inside the home with free crochet flower patterns or purchased from a local crafter. Crochet lovers can purchase yarn for crochet flowers from local craft stores or ideally from independent yarn spinners. Etsy provides a good resource for finding yarn spinners near you. Many big-name yarn manufacturers also produce environmentally friendly yarns made from sustainable resources such as bamboo, soy silk and hemp. These yarns are also a good choice when trying to reduce your personal carbon footprint.

Unlike cut flowers, crochet flowers do not require dangerous chemicals for their production. Pesticides, fertilizers and other chemical agents are used extensively in the production of cut-flowers imported to the U.S., almost 80% of which come from Columbia or Ecuador. In fact, flower greenhouses in these countries use chemicals deemed too toxic for use within the U.S. or E.U, such as infamous DDT. According to a 2007 study from the International Labor Rights Fund, more than 66 percent of Ecuadorian and Colombian flower workers suffer from work-related health problems stemming from prolonged exposure to toxic pesticides and fungicides.

Cut flowers are hardly an innocent gesture of love and appreciation, unless they happen to come from your own garden. Instead of cut-flower bouquets, people can make crochet flower bouquets to give as gifts or decorate their own homes. Crochet flowers satisfy the need for color, but are guilt-free. With free crochet flower patterns and a touch of craftiness, crochet flowers can save you loads of money too. Ill be making a cheerful bouquet of Daisies for my kitchen.

The variety of knitting magazines published in English is truly large, but if we also count the publications in other national languages we’d be surprised to realize how many knitters there are worldwide. The more recent variant of regular paper-issued knitting magazines comes in the online electronic format also known under the name of e-magazine. If the number of readers is limited in the case of some paper knitting magazines. The real chances for access is wider when it comes to those run online as they address the needs of the international community, and do not target a certain geographical area in particular.

Thus, there are many web pages dealing with knitting that contain links to knitting magazines of wide circulation, covering both the electronic and the paper format. The need for such publications is clearer than ever if we think that trends have to start somewhere as well as innovative ideas for more complex projects. Moreover, to some people, knitting magazines function as an instructive material, regardless if it is innovation or skill development that they are interested in. This is definitely the explanation why we even get to read all sorts of success stories with the with real cases when knitting became a profession and a home business rather than a hobby.

Lots of contributions to knitting magazines come from readers who get the chance to present one personal innovation or another to other hobbyists, and most of the time the very management of the publication is made from people with a serious interest in this activity hobby field. Personal collections of knitting magazines is also common fact with many people taking their inspiration from such improvised libraries. Knitting magazines usually appear on a monthly basis and not in large numbers which are surely inferior to that of fashion magazines, but this is understandable given the fact that they target a specialized readers’ category.

Online, knitting magazines can be accessed in more languages of international circulation, and English, French, German, Italian and Spanish are usually the main ones; however, some e-magazines only have the English and native tongue options included. The type of articles to appear in these publications yarn info and tips, knitting patterns explained, fashion collections, suppliers lists, season trends and lots more. Some retailers and manufacturers of knitting supplies also use knitting magazines to advertise their products, developing both national and international commerce.