This week I checked out Amigurumi Crochet: Farm & Forest Animals by Kristen Rask and I’m going to share my review with you so you know what it’s all about.
Thank you to Becker & Mayer books who provided this book to me free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion.
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Amigurumi Crochet: Farm & Forest Animals contains 26 crochet patterns for amigurumi toy animals. The patterns are written by a variety of different designers which I always enjoy seeing and at the back of the book a section with information on where to find the designers was great to see. None of the patterns in the book appear to be designed by the author so my guess is perhaps they were the one that gathered this all together to amalgamate it. The patterns available in this book are:
| Monkey | Cow |
| Bear | Beaver |
| Pig | Chick |
| Hedgehog | Giraffe |
| Cats | Bird |
| Fox | Koala |
| Raccoon | Bear Pod |
| Fawn | Dog |
| Squirrel | Alpaca |
| Kitten | Peter Pilot Duck |
| Mouse | Owl |
| Skunk | Bunny |
| Tortoise | Fish |
Amigurumi Crochet: Farm & Forest Animals starts off with a resource section where they walk you through the basic crochet stitches and techniques used in the book. I found some of the explanations to be unclear and the instructions for how to do the adjustable ring to be incorrect. The technique they describe, technically works in a way, but is not an adjustable ring. The pictures were a little dark and unclear so I wouldn’t rely on this section to help beginners learn what’s needed to crochet the patterns in the book. Make sure you read the section on “how to read a pattern” or you may be confused reading the patterns due to the way they are written out.
The materials lists in many patterns were incomplete or incorrect. I found multiple patterns where materials were needed but not listed in the matierials list and other patterns where materials were listed but weren’t used in the pattern. Some patterns had sizes listed for safety eyes, some didn’t and one had the size listed incorrectly. Again, I read the resource section and it noted the patterns are done in DK weight yarn but the material lists in the patterns list the yarns as worsted weight. Technically DK can include light worsted weight yarn and this may be nitpicky but I’d estimate that 9/10 people don’t read the resource section as closely as I did and will end up using a proper size 4 worsted weight yarn and end up with a project that’s bigger than expected. Size information for each toy is given, not that, that matters I guess because none of the patterns actually include gauge information. No yarn information in terms of yardage or brand is given either which was disappointing.
The patterns in the book include photos to support the patterns and the images are labelled to indicate specific steps. This would be helpful if all the images were needed or helped to clarify the indicated steps. I found myself looking at some of the images you’re directed to reference over and over again trying to understand why it was there. If those specific images weren’t labelled and indicated in the lines of the pattern which direct your attention to the image, fine – they’re there as design elements. But when you are directing my attention away from the pattern and to the image, I would expect it’s adding value or clarifying something, which didn’t always happen. It’s truly a shame because some patterns where these images could have been swapped up to add clarity to some sometimes, confusing or vague instructions would have really helped this book out.
While I was reviewing this book, I couldn’t get past this feeling that I had seen some of these patterns before. The owl in the book specifically looked crazy familiar. So, I did a google search and found that a few other books (and also several kits) have been published using the same patterns in this book. I haven’t read the other titles but based on the images seen on the covers, it appears many of these patterns are also available in other titles.
I really wanted to like this book. The animals are cute and I always love seeing makers work together on projects like this. Unfortunately, the above noted issues, combined with the inconsistencies I found in the patterns themselves really made it hard to fall in love with. If you’re really into amigurumi and feel capable of filling in some gaps along the way, this book may be something you’d enjoy. Otherwise, I feel many makers, particularly those relatively new to amigurumi maybe be better suited to other amigurumi titles with more support.
If you are interested in checking out Amigurumi Crochet: Farm & Forest Animals you can find it HERE.
If you enjoy crochet pattern books, you can check out some more of my crochet book reviews on my blog:
Thank you for your honest review! I’m new to Amugurumi and was on the fence regarding the book. I didn’t buy it primarily because there wasn’t a frog or goose in the list, which would make my own personal farm complete.
you’re welcome. I’m glad you found it helpful 🙂