Craft Fix

Where to find craft magazines in Dublin

I love reading craft magazines. At a cost of 7-9 euro each, this can easily become an expensive habit! Luckily I often have gift vouchers so I can get my fix without feeling guilty. Despite the huge variety of craft magazines available, many newsagents don’t stock them unfortunately. Here are some shops in Dublin that have a good selection:

Easons – O’Connell Street, Dundrum Shopping Centre & Dun Laoghaire branches have a great selection, and I presume other larger branches do too.

Reads – Nassau Street, owned by Easons, so you can use Eason vouchers there.

Bus Stop Newsagents, Frascati Shopping Centre Blackrock – this shop stocks way more magazines than at first glance – so many that they are all overlapping each other so you can just see the very left of the cover sometimes. The craft titles are at the front of the shop.

This is Knit, Powerscourt Shopping Centre have some knitting and crochet magazines upstairs along with some nice couches 🙂

Crochet magazines

Crochet is the poor relation when it comes to craft magazines, but there are a few dedicated titles:

Inside Crochet – UK monthly magazine, recently changed owners, hopefully it will continue
Crochet Today – US magazine out every 2 months – my personal favourite, with the same modern, relaxed vibe as Knit Simple. You can download a free iPad app where you can preview each issue in full, get a free back issue and buy further issues.
Crochet World – US magazine out every 2 months – a bit more old fashioned, but there can be some good patterns. There is a good value digital only subscription available too  for $16 a year with access to 2 years of back issues.
The Art of Crochet – partwork magazine – this magazine series recently started again, it’s out every few years and you get free yarn with each issue to work towards making a blanket. If you were to buy all the issues, it would work out as the most expensive blanket in history! 🙂 But I learned to crochet with this magazine – the free DVD with the first issue is excellent and finally made crochet click for me after several failed attempts.

Knitting

Knitting magazines seem to multiply – every few months I notice a new one!

Knit Simple – US magazine out every 2 months – my favourite knitting mag – I love the modern vibe and unusual patterns, but I can find it a bit tricky finding good yarn substitutes for the US patterns
Simply Knitting
– I like the modern, easy patterns. There is also an Alan Dart toy pattern in each issue.
Let’s Knit
– this is quite similar to Simply Knitting – a good all-rounder, nice and light.
Knit Now – one of the newer knitting magazines, it just focuses on accessories, so it’s a good choice for new and casual knitters interested in smaller projects.
The Knitter – this is a more serious affair, with modern patterns for the more experienced knitter. I haven’t bought a copy of this yet as it seems a bit above my level! 🙂
Knitting – I think this magazine is most similar to The Knitter, with a bit more substance than the more casual mags.
Yarnwise – formerly called Knit, this magazine also has patterns for more experienced knitters along with in depth feature articles.

Cross Stitch

While there are several cross stitch magazines available, I feel they have gone a bit downhill in recent years. When I look back at old issues, the quality of the patterns and pages were better and there were more patterns and less filler content and ads. A major gripe is that most come in plastic, so you can’t flick through before you buy and have to stand shaking it to even try and make out what’s on the cover – but I still  buy them regularly all the same! 🙂

Cross Stitcher – this is my favourite cross stitch magazine, and since its revamp a couple of years ago it’s the most modern. It also tends to incorporate cross stitch with other sewing and craft techniques.
The World of Cross Stitching – this used to be interchangeable with Cross Stitcher before Cross Stitcher went all “cutting edge”. It’s a good all round cross stitch magazine.
Cross Stitch Crazy – this magazine focuses on smaller/lighter/easier projects and is good for new and casual cross stitchers.
Cross Stitch Card Shop – does exactly what it says on the tin! It’s great having this mag specialising in cross stitch cards, although I feel that some of the designs are a bit small and niche these days, rather than providing larger designs that you can produce real show stopper cards with for birthdays and Christmas etc.
Cross Stitch Gold – this magazine is more traditional and focuses on larger projects – it’s probably the only magazine I’ve never bought.

 

2 thoughts on “Where to find craft magazines in Dublin”

  1. Hi there,

    I’ve seen one of those Christmas special editions of one of the Cross Stitch Magazines in Easons on O’Connell Street a few weeks ago, but forgot to take a picture.

    Now I can’t remember the name anymore, but it was in plastic, included a little kit and there was something about Hardanger in it.

    I live in Meath and going to Dublin just for this wouldn’t make much sense. And the Easons in Navan didn’t have it. And I can’t seem to find it online, either.

    Now, I’m not sure any of the Dublin stores (apparently they’re supplied independently rather than from a central warehouse) have this particular issue. But could you do me a favour and have a look when you go into one of them the next time – and let me know what it’s called?

    It’s a rather odd request, I know, and it’s absolutely fine if you don’t put it in the comments.

    Greetings from Trim,
    Kathrin.

    Reply
    • Hi Kathrin,
      This post is very old & needs an update! But the good news is that unless you wanted the free kit, you may be able to read this cross stitch magazine online for free. All you need is a library card. Here’s the Meath libraries cross stitch magazines online selection or you can download the Libby or PressReader apps for your ipad or phone.
      I haven’t bought any craft magazines recently because of this, but from memory I think the main cross stitch magazines Easons do are still CrossStitcher and The World of Cross Stitching, but they may do special one-off Christmas editions too.
      Hope this helps,
      Janine.

      Reply

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