Hey Crocheters! 👋 It’s Michelle.

It is hot, hot, hot! 🌞 And this issue has lots of cool summer things. I’d love to hear what you think — just hit reply and tell me what you’d like to see next!” 🧡

In this week’s e-mail:

• Don’t Let Crochet Scammers Ruin Your Summer!

• Gudetama gets his own kit

• Hot Summer favorite finds

YARN OVER HOOK

My Weekly Favorite Finds

🧶 Fun Things

• I love, love, love this Summer Crochet Bingo (JoyOfMotionCrochet)

• Build your own crochet hook binder from leather! (ThreadandMaple)

🎈 I never thought of making that!

• A fun, environmentally friendly and safe way for a summer water balloon fight! (YarnBerry)

🟨 Granny Square of the Week

• Summer is in full swing! Here’s Sunflower granny square 🌻 (See more: OkieGirlBlingingThings)

 🧡 Featured Crochet Charity

• Something a little different this week, we’re featuring a Crochet-A-Long for charity instead of actual charity. (See more HookedOnHomemadeHappiness)

✨ WIP

• What I’m working on Rosalie Beanie this week

  👉 What are you working on? Reply to share it with me!

LOOPED IN

News

• Etsy significantly changes their policies. Among many quiet updates, Etsy is now allowing previously prohibited listings, like tailoring or altering customer provided items, and certain divination and metaphysical listings. Some previously allowed listings are now banned, including payment for express shipping and tips as well as for certain services and seller sourced items. (See more: Erank)

• Independent craft stores diversify to survive. The closure of JoAnn and evolving customer interests, has forced many shops to expanded beyond their original specialties—adding yarn to fabric stores, introducing premade kits, and offering impulse-friendly items like candles and stickers to attracts “multi-craftual” customers. (See more: CraftIndustryAlliance)

• Nike adding crochet to shoes? Capitalizing on the crochet trend, Nike is debuting a “crochet swoosh” on two women’s shoe styles in Fall 2025. Spoiler alert! It’s not actually crochet! (See pictures and read more: SneakerNews and SneakerBarDetroit)

• Woobles releases Lazy Egg Gudetama Kit. The star of a Japanese animated series on Netflix, Gudetama is a perpetually tired, apathetic, and unmotivated lazy egg. This Woobles kit is just the thing for fans! (See more: ComicBook.com)

• Crocheting a better future, one bread bag at a time. Women in South Africa are creating a sustainable future crocheting items from bread bags upcycling into beautiful and functional items generating income and fostering community pride. (See more: GoodNewsGuy)

STITCH BY STITCH

🧶 Crochet Scams Are Everywhere — Don’t Get Fooled

It’s exciting to see a message from a potential buyer pop up on Facebook asking to buy one of your handmade items, but be careful...it could be a scam!

Here’s how it works:

Someone grabs a photo of your crochet or product from your public page or group.

They send you a sweet message and say they want to buy it or one just like it. After you say yes and tell them the price, they ask if you can ship.

They agree to your price, send you an address for a shipping quote and then ask for your Venmo or Apple Pay info.

If your spidey-sense hasn’t already gone off, they’ll say they sent you the money and ask you to confirm.

Of course, you haven’t received it so they ask you to call support and give you a fake number where they are waiting to take your call.

They “help” you by triggering real Apple Pay codes to your phone and asking you for them so they can access your account and be gone with your money before you even realize it!

They may also “accidentally” overpay and ask you to send the extra money back. Or claim the payment has an issue and ask you to send them a processing fee.

By the time you realize it’s a scam, your money is gone and the scammer has vanished.

How to keep your yarn and your wallet safe

🧶 Stick with trusted platforms
Use sites like Etsy where payments are handled securely. Even though there is small fee, it’s worth it for the peace of mind. If something goes wrong, you have support behind you.

🧶 Be careful with instant-pay apps
If someone you don’t know wants to pay through Apple Pay or Zelle, that’s a red flag. These apps are fine for friends and family, but they don’t offer seller protection like Etsy or PayPal Goods & Services.

🧶 Banks and Apple Pay will never ask for the code sent to your phone.

If they do, hang up and call the number on your card or on the bank’s or payment providers webpage. Don’t Google the number!

🧶 Listen to your gut
If it feels too good to be true, like a big surprise order from a total stranger, trust your instincts and double-check or ask them to order through your website platform.

🧶 Add watermarks to photos
Consider adding small watermarks to photos of your finished pieces. This makes it harder for scammers to steal your images and use them against you or other crocheters.

🧶 Set clear rules
Always get a deposit before starting custom work, and only accept payment through a trusted platform. Never ship an order until the payment has cleared for real.

Crochet scammers are getting bolder, but a little awareness goes a long way.

Keep sharing your work — just be smart about who you sell it to! 🧡

IN STITCHES

WEAVING IN THE ENDS

Thanks for reading! If you know of a new or emerging designer that I can feature or links to Gudetama crochet patterns, send them my way.

Stay cool and keep crocheting!

—Michelle 🧡

P.S. Sharing this newsletter with a friend is the biggest compliment you can give me! 🧡