Happily Hooked Magazine, Issue #60, March 2019 — A Celebration of Patterns Worth Picking Up Again
There is something deeply satisfying about the arrival of a new issue of Happily Hooked Magazine. For crocheters of every skill level, each issue feels like a fresh invitation to slow down, pick up a hook, and lose yourself in the rhythm of yarn and stitch. Issue #60, released in March 2019, was no exception. In fact, it became one of those issues that longtime subscribers still talk about, pulling it off the shelf months — and even years — later to revisit a beloved pattern or find inspiration for a new project. If you have this issue tucked away in your collection, this is your reminder to dust it off. And if you have never explored it, now is a wonderful time to discover what made it so memorable.
March is a month of transitions. Winter hasn’t quite let go, but there’s a restlessness in the air, a desire to start something new. It is no coincidence that the patterns in this issue feel perfectly suited to that in-between season — cozy enough to embrace the lingering chill, yet fresh enough to signal that warmer days are coming. The designers featured in Issue #60 brought that balance to life beautifully through their pattern choices, and the result is a collection that genuinely has something for everyone.
What Made Issue #60 Special
Happily Hooked Magazine has always prided itself on offering patterns that are both approachable and rewarding. Issue #60 continued that tradition with a lineup that felt thoughtfully curated. Whether you were looking for a quick one-evening project or a multi-week commitment that would grow into something heirloom-worthy, this issue delivered. The range of difficulty levels, the variety of project types, and the clear, reader-friendly formatting all came together to make this one of the stronger issues in the magazine’s run.
One of the things that sets Happily Hooked apart from other crochet publications is the editorial care that goes into each issue. Patterns are tested, instructions are written with real crocheters in mind, and the photography consistently shows finished pieces in real-world contexts — draped over a chair, worn on an actual person, hanging in a home — rather than styled in ways that feel disconnected from how people actually use their handmade creations. Issue #60 maintained all of those qualities while also feeling particularly rich in the variety and depth of its featured designs.
The Patterns: A Closer Look
Because this is an issue worth revisiting in detail, let’s walk through the kinds of patterns that defined its character and why they remain worth making today.
Wearables That Work for Real Life
The wearable patterns in Issue #60 struck a balance between stylish and wearable — two things that don’t always go hand in hand in craft publishing. The designs leaned into the transitional energy of early spring without sacrificing warmth or practicality. Cardigans, shawls, and layering pieces appeared prominently, giving crocheters the kind of wardrobe staples that get used season after season.
What stood out about these patterns was their versatility. A shawl designed for cool March evenings could just as easily be worn over a summer dress when the air conditioning kicks in. A lightweight cardigan worked in a neutral yarn becomes one of those pieces you reach for constantly without even thinking about it. The designers behind these patterns clearly understood how people dress in real life, and that awareness showed in every design decision from silhouette to stitch choice.
For crocheters who are newer to garment construction, Issue #60 also offered patterns with gentler learning curves — pieces that introduce techniques like top-down construction or simple seaming without overwhelming the maker. This kind of accessibility is one of the reasons Happily Hooked has built such a loyal readership. The magazine doesn’t gate-keep skill development; it invites it.
Home Décor and Functional Pieces
Beyond wearables, Issue #60 gave significant attention to home décor projects, and this is where many readers found their favorites. March is the time of year when people start thinking about refreshing their living spaces — moving away from heavy winter textures and toward something that feels a bit lighter, a bit more welcoming of the coming season. The home décor patterns in this issue answered that instinct perfectly.
Throw pillows, table runners, wall hangings, and decorative baskets all made appearances, and each one felt like something you could genuinely imagine in a well-loved home. None of these designs felt trendy for the sake of it. Instead, they reflected a timeless aesthetic — clean lines, interesting textures, classic color stories — that ensures they won’t look dated when you pull them out years from now.
The functional pieces were especially strong. A well-designed crochet basket, for example, is not just a craft project; it becomes part of how you organize and live in your home. When a pattern is engineered thoughtfully — with the right stitch density for structure, the right yarn weight for durability, and the right sizing for actual use — it becomes one of those makes you appreciate every single day. Issue #60 had several patterns that fit that description.
Baby and Children’s Items
No crochet magazine would be complete without patterns for the little ones in our lives, and Issue #60 offered some genuinely charming options in this category. Baby blankets, booties, hats, and a few adorable amigurumi-style pieces rounded out the children’s section, each one with the kind of sweet, thoughtful design that makes these items such meaningful gifts.
What made the baby and children’s patterns in this issue feel especially well-chosen was the attention to safety and wearability. Baby items in particular need to be soft against sensitive skin, free of any embellishments that could pose a hazard, and durable enough to survive the realities of infant and toddler life. The patterns in Issue #60 checked all of those boxes while still being genuinely lovely to look at.
For crocheters who make items to donate to hospitals, shelters, or charitable organizations, this issue also provided patterns that worked beautifully at scale — designs simple enough to repeat multiple times without becoming monotonous, and quick enough to complete that you can build up a meaningful donation in a reasonable amount of time.
Techniques Highlighted in This Issue
One of the most educational elements of any Happily Hooked issue is its attention to technique. Beyond simply providing patterns, the magazine has always made an effort to help readers grow as crocheters — explaining the “why” behind certain stitch choices, offering tips for cleaner finishing, and introducing techniques that might be new to some readers while providing useful reminders for more experienced ones.
Issue #60 was particularly rich in this regard. Several of the featured patterns incorporated techniques that pushed makers to expand their skills without throwing them into the deep end. Textured stitches like the bobble, the puff, and various cable-inspired techniques appeared across multiple patterns, and the written instructions in this issue did an especially good job of explaining how to execute these stitches consistently and with confidence.
For those patterns that included colorwork, the instructions carefully walked through the process of managing multiple yarn strands, weaving in ends cleanly, and keeping tension even across color changes. These are areas where many crocheters struggle, particularly those who are newer to working with more than one color at a time, and the guidance provided in Issue #60 treated those challenges with genuine thoughtfulness.
The magazine’s editorial team also used this issue to revisit some foundational skills — blocking, seaming, and reading pattern schematics — through the lens of the specific projects featured. Rather than presenting these as abstract lessons, the advice was grounded in the actual patterns readers were working on, which made it far more useful and immediately applicable.
Yarn and Material Choices
An often-overlooked dimension of any crochet pattern is the material story behind it, and Issue #60 brought a welcome variety of yarn weights and fiber types to the table. From bulky yarns that work up quickly into dramatic, cozy textures to fingering-weight yarns perfect for delicate, lightweight shawls, the issue covered a wide spectrum.
Several patterns in this issue were also accompanied by notes on yarn substitutions, which is enormously helpful for crocheters who may not have access to the originally recommended yarn or who prefer to work with a different fiber. These substitution notes went beyond simply listing alternative brands; they explained what properties to look for — drape, stitch definition, elasticity, washability — so that readers could make informed choices based on the specific needs of each project.
For crocheters who are drawn to sustainable and natural fibers, there was plenty to love in this issue. Several patterns featured or suggested cotton, bamboo, linen, or wool yarns, each of which brought its own unique character to the finished piece. The editorial coverage of these materials helped newer crocheters understand how fiber choice affects not just the look of a finished project but also the experience of making it.
The Community That Surrounds Happily Hooked
It would be impossible to write about any issue of Happily Hooked Magazine without acknowledging the remarkable community that has grown up around it. The readers of this magazine are not passive consumers of crochet content; they are active, passionate makers who share their finished objects, offer each other encouragement, troubleshoot pattern questions together, and celebrate each other’s victories with genuine warmth.
Issue #60 came out during a period of particularly strong community engagement for the magazine, and the projects from this issue generated a lot of conversation in the Happily Hooked Facebook group and across other social platforms where crocheters gather. Seeing how different makers interpreted the same pattern — different yarn choices, different color combinations, different finishing details — is one of the great joys of being part of a crafting community, and Issue #60 gave people plenty to experiment with.
If you are working through any of the patterns from this issue now, years after its original publication, you can still find conversations about them in the community spaces connected to Happily Hooked. Longtime members of these groups often remember specific patterns fondly and are happy to help troubleshoot or share their own experiences making a particular design. That kind of living, ongoing engagement is one of the things that makes crochet communities unlike almost any other creative community.
Why Older Issues Still Matter
In an era of instant digital content — free patterns on Pinterest, YouTube tutorials for every technique imaginable, Instagram feeds full of crochet inspiration — there is a temptation to wonder whether a print magazine issue from a few years ago can still be relevant. The answer, for any issue of Happily Hooked that was well-curated and thoughtfully produced, is absolutely yes.
Good patterns do not expire. A well-written shawl pattern from March 2019 is just as clear, just as enjoyable to make, and just as beautiful in its finished form as it was when it first arrived in subscribers’ mailboxes. The same is true of the technique guidance, the yarn advice, and the design inspiration. In fact, there is an argument to be made that returning to an older issue with fresh eyes and more developed skills is actually a richer experience than reading it for the first time — you notice things you missed, you appreciate nuances you weren’t yet equipped to recognize, and you bring more of yourself to the making.
For newer crocheters who are building their library of references and inspiration, back issues of Happily Hooked represent genuinely excellent value. Issue #60 in particular, with its range of project types, skill levels, and techniques, is the kind of resource that a developing crocheter will return to repeatedly over the years.
Getting the Most Out of Your Issue
If you are planning to work through patterns from Issue #60, here are a few thoughts on how to approach them in a way that sets you up for success.
Read through the entire pattern before you cast on a single stitch. This sounds obvious, but it is one of the most commonly skipped steps in the crafting process, and skipping it is responsible for more frustration than almost any other mistake. Reading through a pattern in full gives you a complete picture of the construction process, alerts you to any techniques you might need to look up, and helps you understand how the various sections of a project relate to each other.
Swatch, particularly for garments and home goods where fit and size matter. Even if you have worked with a particular yarn weight many times before, your tension can vary between projects, between hooks, and even between different times of day. A swatch takes maybe thirty minutes and can save you from hours of frustration later.
Take notes directly on your pattern pages. Write down which hook size you actually used, which yarn you chose, how many skeins it took, any modifications you made, and what you would do differently next time. These notes transform a pattern from a single-use document into a personalized reference you can return to over and over again.
And finally, enjoy the process. The finished object is wonderful, but the hours spent making it — the meditative rhythm of the stitches, the pleasure of watching something grow under your hands — are where the real gift of crochet lives. Issue #60 of Happily Hooked Magazine gave its readers patterns worthy of that process, and that is reason enough to pick it up again today.
A Final Word
Happily Hooked Magazine, Issue #60, released in March 2019, stands as a strong example of what this publication does best: bringing together beautiful, practical, well-written patterns with the kind of supportive editorial voice that makes every reader feel capable and inspired. Whether you are a subscriber who received this issue on its original release date or someone discovering it for the first time, the patterns inside it are worth your time, your yarn, and your creativity.
There are few things in a crocheter’s life quite as satisfying as settling in with a well-loved magazine, a cup of something warm, and a project that calls to you. Issue #60 has all the ingredients for exactly that kind of afternoon. Pick it up. Find the pattern that speaks to you. Cast on. And enjoy every single stitch.
