Crochet blog hops explained

Over the years, I have participated in quite a few blog hops through the Dora Does crochet blog.

As autumn looms, I have a couple more coming up, so I thought I’d give a quick overview of what a crochet blog hop actually involves and how they work for anyone new to such events.

It’s worth noting that all blog hops work slightly differently, but below I describe the most common format that is popular at the time of writing.

This article aims to offer an explanation to both crochet makers and crochet designers.

What is a crochet blog hop?

Blog hops are a great opportunity for crocheters like you to get free PDF crochet patterns and discover new crochet designers that you may not yet have been exposed to.

A group of crochet designers come together to share their designs amongst each other’s audiences, allowing them to reach a wider number of people than one designer could achieve on their own.

Each designer contributes one of their own crochet patterns, offering the PDF version of the pattern free for 24 hours.

The blog hop host will create a web page for the event and each day they will share a coupon code and link to one of the pattern pages. The coupon code will allow you to download the pattern for free for 24 hours only.

So to take part you will need to check the event web page each day to get that day’s offer.

Usually the patterns are available to download from ravelry using the discount code, but sometimes the patterns are made available on cloud services like google drive or dropbox and no code is required.

Typically blog hops are run with a theme which may be seasonal or based on the kind of crochet patterns included. For example, ‘fall accessories,’ ‘winter garments,’ ‘quick hat patterns’ or ‘lace crochet patterns’ etc.

Blog hops tend to last between 7 and 30 days, some shorter and some longer depending on the context and number of designers and patterns involved.

For some detailed examples, check out my blog posts on the Designer’s Pick Winter Wonders 2021 blog hop or the Designer’s pick summer event.

Blog hop crochet pattern bundles

It’s common for blog hops to offer a pattern bundle made up from all the patterns involved in the event.

This bundle is sold at a hugely discounted rate – often offering around 90% off the cost of purchasing each pattern individually.

The designer’s will be given an affiliate link for the bundle and will receive a significant commission for each bundle they sell from their link. This is given to them in return for contributing their pattern to the bundle.

Sometimes these crochet bundles are evergreen and are available after the event has finished at a higher price (such as the Designer’s pick bundle).

Other times the bundles are exclusively available just for the duration of the event. If you’re interested in a bundle, make sure you check how long it will be around for!

In some cases, designers may also offer a bonus of some kind (such as an extra free pattern) to encourage you to purchase a bundle via their link. So if you like bargain hunting, and follow multipole designers in a blog hop, it’s worth keeping an eye out for this.

Why do designer’s get involved with crochet blog hops?

Designer’s participate in these events for a number of reasons.

As I touched on at the start, it’s a way for them to get their work in front of a new audience by sharing with other designers. A free pattern is a great way to introduce yourself to a crocheter who is not familiar with your work.

Furthermore, if they have a blog with ads on it (like this one), it’s a chance to get more eyes on their site and get a bit of a bump in ad revenue as a result of increased traffic. This is why the rules of the event are likely require crocheters to visit the designer’s website.

When done right, blog hops are a great win-win situation for both designers and crocheters as I see it.

Are there other extras that can be offered?

Some other blog hops add extra features, such as giveaways or bonuses to create more of a community feeling to their event.

For example, the designer’s pick blog hops, where the yarn for all the patterns is provided by We Crochet, also runs a give away throughout the event to add an extra feature.

This isn’t always the case but it’s something to look out for.

I hope that’s given you an overview of the blog hop framework and that you’ll be able to participate in a few over the course of this autumn and beyond!

Happy hopping!

Dx