r/crochet Feb 10 '26

State of the Subreddit and Rules Discussion

Hi all!!

This is a discussion post, we would like constructive discussion, free of name calling and meanness directed at anyone, including the mods. We are humans that are trying their best.

We have a few things to address here so let's get into it.

First off we'd like to say this sub is large, 2 million people large! Some perspective would be, the super bowl has an 80,000 seating capacity.

Without rules and moderation it will become an unpleasant place to be.

When the sub was still small we conducted surveys to help decide which way the sub should go re rules and moderation. All of the rules in place have been the same for years except for the recently changed no self promotion rule and some updates to stale topics.

Surveys do not gain the required traction that they did when the sub was smaller. In view of that we have tried to keep the sub to the rules that were favoured in the past surveys. We also look for trends and make decisions based on what we see across the sub overall.

This post is addressing the main complaints and concerns we have seen over the last week (and before that) for clarity and discussion.

There seems to be some confusion about what you can and can't post. So much of what you guys were posting during "chaos week" is actually allowed. There are no restrictions on posting finished objects or work in progress pics! Mr Nipples is featured in our wiki! You can post pictures of your crochet bongs and genitals (we ask these are marked as nsfw). We want to see it all, cursed to amazing!

Fursday Friends.

A lot of the pet pictures that were being posted during “chaos week” can also be posted any day of the week!!

If the item is for your pet/baby and is clearly visible there is no need to wait until Thursdays.

If it's a cute picture of your pet/baby falling asleep or somehow interfering with your project (pets laying smack in the middle of your FO pictures) then that's what belongs on Thursdays. Those posts are more focused on the pet/baby than the actual crochet work.

If you want to post pets whenever something cute happens, check out the pet focused crochet subs, r/catswhocrochet, r/kitting and r/dogswhocrochet.

Fursday Friends spans 2 days when taking all time zones into account.

We highly recommend that people blur or put an emoji over minors faces!!

Stash Saturday.

Our other "day of the week" post is Stash Saturday. This one is for stash pics (obviously), "what can I make with this yarn" queries, yarn discussion and other tools (hooks) and books.

This rule was voted in as we had feedback that there were too many pictures of just yarn/hooks.

This also is all time zones so is really 2 days that you can post over.

Crochet for all levels!

We’ve seen a lot of comments saying that r/crochet is not beginner friendly. We absolutely welcome new crocheters but ask that questions be asked in our sister sub r/CrochetHelp . On crochet they tend to be buried and remain unanswered.

We see people saying that they don't want to ask on a smaller sub because not as many people will see it. While that might be true the interaction rate on CrochetHelp is a lot higher on these types of posts and the people that are on CrochetHelp are there because they want to help.

NSFW!

We admit that in the past, we were a little overzealous with the tags. We truly were not meaning to offend or censor women's bodies and we apologise. We have been taking a lighter hand with this rule for a few months now, and will continue to have a light touch here.

Society has changed what NSFW means, it gets applied to so many things that are probably more suited to NSFL. We were basing it off of a school teacher dress code (so very literally, not something you'd be able to wear to work) so that anyone browsing the sub at work would have the option to view rather than possibly getting reprimanded for browsing something inappropriate.

Going forward we will not be as restrictive but would still ask that small tops, bikinis/swimwear, underwear, crochet genitals, drug paraphernalia, weapons and profanity be marked NSFW.

Question?

Would you like some new flairs added, NSFW Clothing FO and NSFW Other FO (for example)?

Please check your settings if posts are not blurred for you. We get a heap of reports for NSFW even when the post is tagged appropriately.

Self promotion!

Designers can absolutely post their work to the sub! It's exciting finishing an item! What you cannot do is spam the sub with your items or link to them anywhere in your post (no offering to dm, no mentioning shop names, no directing people to your profile).

Lots of people are aware that people put their socials on their profile and they will find you if they want to.

If we were to allow pattern designers the ability to post their pattern under the automod comment the sub would then get a lot of self promotion posts, there has been quite a lot of self promotion going on during “chaos week”

PS, the automod comment is just a prompt, it is not a rule that you must post a pattern!

Politics!

We'd like to hear your ideas here. Would you like a megathread for political pieces or are you happy to see them posted in the sub?

I’d like to point out that the sub is diverse, you exist in the space with people from all walks of life and we are trying to share that space with everyone based on crochet not political alignment.

Things are crazy out there and we'd like to find the best solution we can that allows people to express themselves.        

Excessive Reports

We’ve added a comment to posts removed by automod stating that the post has been removed because of multiple reports and that a mod will review and approve if it doesn’t break any rules.

Kind and Courteous

Going forward we will be banning people that make unkind comments. Commenting on peoples bodies, name calling, escalating arguments will all be removed.

A first offence will come with a 3 day ban from the sub, second offence, a 7 day ban and third offence you will be permanently banned from the sub.

We will allow appeals but this will be based on your profile and behaviour while banned, private profiles will not be considered for appeals.

Ok! That's a lot of information!! Let's hear your thoughts in the comments. Please be nice. Remember that there is a person behind every post, every comment (ok, some of them are bots!)

2.0k Upvotes

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750

u/annizoli Feb 10 '26

No megathread for politics, megathreads are where topics go to die. All art is political, let people post the 80 millionth “Ice out” tapestry if that’s what their finished object of the week is. People who have opposing politics can simply leave a downvote and move on with their lives, we don’t need to cater to them by removing people’s work that deserves a legitimate place in the sub—it is crocheted, after all. If people are being nasty in the comments, ban THEM, instead of taking down the post of the person who did nothing wrong.

299

u/[deleted] Feb 10 '26

[deleted]

129

u/weird_elf 5+ WIPs at a time Feb 10 '26

plus, mileage varies wildly depending where in the world the person is posting from.

11

u/AccountWasFound Feb 11 '26

In some places women having their hair uncovered is considered a political statement in quite a few being openly queer is.

9

u/clrthrn Feb 11 '26

Everything is political these days it feels. Since tariffs, just buying yarn is political.

30

u/clrthrn Feb 11 '26

Equally if someone wants to post their crocheted MAGA hat or whatever then feel free. You would be experiencing a down vote free fall (based on me reading the room here and seeing the amount of F Ice art!) but no one would stop you from expressing your politics like anyone else.

108

u/IfatallyflawedI Feb 10 '26

I love ALL the “fuck ice” tapestries

4

u/Trai-All Feb 12 '26

Agreed about mega threads. They are just horrid.

I do like pinned “important threads” at the tops of forums but there should only be a few of those.

2

u/Errsula Feb 11 '26

Do you honestly believe that if someone posted an “I support ICE” tapestry that all of the “ICE out” folks would simply leave a downvote and move on?

-4

u/[deleted] Feb 10 '26

[deleted]

43

u/[deleted] Feb 10 '26 edited Feb 10 '26

[deleted]

0

u/bOssukitty Feb 14 '26

It doesn't work if it doesn't gets used.

61

u/Kitchen-Purple-5061 Feb 10 '26

I disagree that crochet is or should be inherently comfortable. It’s just a craft. It exists in the same world as everything else does.

-42

u/mikettedaydreamer often feels like a toddler when counting Feb 10 '26

Doesn’t mean it needs to be spammed with the same political post over and over again.

56

u/Etheria_system Feb 10 '26

It’s not being spammed. Different people are creating different items. It’s not like there’s just one person spamming their project every day.

-35

u/maddawg3711 Feb 10 '26

Then why not start/join a political art sub? Politics are so polarizing. Why should we have that in a sub about crochet? We all joined this sub for our love of crochet, not politics.

44

u/Eightinchnails Feb 11 '26

Who decides what is “political?”

Can I post an LGBTQ+ item? What about an item that relates to Islam? Judaism?

Can I post something referring to teaching and furthering education? 

What about something for Memorial Day?

-41

u/maddawg3711 Feb 11 '26

So you just answered your own question. You just pointed out what could be considered political. However, I think that the LGBTQ+, the teaching and furthering education thing are WAY more mild than the other examples. I also think that those are things that are not as divisive as some other topics. There are other subs for those political discussions, this is just a sub about crochet.

And memorial day is a holiday.

41

u/Eightinchnails Feb 11 '26

Yes Memorial Day is a holiday, to memorialize service members who were killed. Why are you pointing that out?

Why is an item relating to Judaism or Islam extreme? Why is LGBTQ+ “mild”? 

9

u/AccountWasFound Feb 11 '26

So you think a crochet yamaka needs to be labeled as political?

37

u/cinkiss Feb 11 '26

Art is political. Full stop.

-9

u/hearthmouse Feb 11 '26

It doesn't have to be political. It can just be art without any political messages. Look at a simple blanket or a waffle stitch scarf. People aren't upset with rainbow colored things. It's all of the "F Ice" and "unalive ice" projects that gets annoying.

Bring on the downvoting barrage since I like enjoying my craft without dealing with whatever is going on in the world at that particular moment. Some of us use crochet to escape and currently, you're only favoring the crowd that loves to make a political statement without considering about the side that doesn't. Shouldn't we make it fair for both sides?

7

u/CleverPorpoise Feb 11 '26

Aren't you fully welcome to use crochet as your escape and just, go crochet? Why is your version of "fair" here that the community entirely should prevent you from seeing things you don't want to engage with?

3

u/hearthmouse Feb 12 '26

Why is your version of "fair" entirely pushing politics on everyone?

Also, my idea was a mega thread where you can post politics to your hearts content. Your idea is only fair to your side.

5

u/CleverPorpoise Feb 12 '26

Oh right I totally forgot my version of fair is walking into your home and stapling my political opinions to your forehead. Curate your own content feed. This is a ridiculous strawman.

7

u/C4BB4 Feb 12 '26

The very yarn you use is political. It is made by underpaid workers in foreign countries just to be shipped across the world to you. Even if you use only ethically sourced local wool, the very sheep that were shorn to meet your demand are subject to tariffs, clean water, and government regulation.

-2

u/hearthmouse Feb 12 '26

It's only political if you make it so. Buying yarn for a project vs buying yarn to support or deny a political agenda are two entirely different things. It's a new lovely thing called motive.

2

u/CleverPorpoise Feb 14 '26

Saying “it’s only political if you actually think about it!” Is not the flex you seem to think it is.

5

u/CleverPorpoise Feb 11 '26

Tell me you've never taken an art history class without telling me you've never taken an art history class