This week I checked out the new book Creative Crochet Projects: 12 Playful Projects for Beginners and Beyond by Stephanie Pokorny and I’m going to share my review with you so you know what it’s all about and give you a sneak peek at some of what the book has to offer.
Thank you to Fox Chapel Publishing who provided this book to me free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion.
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If you don’t already know the name Stephanie Pokorny, you may be familiar with her online name: Crochetverse or have seen her fantastic crochet costumes online. Her work has been EVERYWHERE: National Geographic, Ripley’s Believe It or Not, various t.v. programs and more. Stephanie has a really playful, creative style that I absolutely adore. She once share a photo of an angler fish mask/hat that she made which was super cool and got me hooked on following her on social media. So, when I found out a few months ago that this book was coming out, I was way too excited to get my hands on a copy to see what she had in store.
As the title of Creative Crochet Projects: 12 Playful Projects for Beginners and Beyond suggests, the book has 12 different crochet projects contained in the book, accessible for various levels of crocheter. The projects contained in the book are:
- Finger Crochet Scarves
- It’s a Cinch One-Hour Cowl
- Squiggles McGee Hat
- Bubble Hue Shift Hat
- Asymmetric Owl Wrap
- Happy Heart Bunting
- Foldable Burger
- Foldable Hot Dog
- Sliceable Watermelon
- Bee-Unified Mobile
- Roll-Away Kitchen Playmat
The book starts out with a resource section which included a great section about gauge which I loved to see – particularly the part about checking gauge in the round. I don’t see that sort of thing included often enough in crochet books that I review and was thrilled to see it included. So many people just show checking gauge in a square which can leave some people confused or checking their gauge incorrectly when checking it in the round. The materials used in the book are easily accessible from online retailers, with some of them being available in local stores.
The projects themselves are clear and easy to understand as an experienced crocheter. An absolute beginner may struggle with the book at first because there are a lot of abbreviations used, even in the notes section and I can see beginners having to continuously flip back and forth between the abbreviations explanations at the front of the book and the project they’re trying until they get the hang of it.
The projects are fun and colourful but not necessarily what I expected from a Stephanie Pokorny project. Based on previous releases by Stephanie, I expected something more punchy and out of the box. Don’t get me wrong, the book is great and accessible for a wide audience, which I guess sells books. But Stephanie is an incredibly talented crocheter and designer known for crochet costumes and cosplay inspired makes. I would have been pre-ordering my copy of a book like that the second it went live and then eagerly waiting by the window until the day arrived. Putting my personal opinion as a fan of hers aside, the book has some fun projects that can be made for kids, teens and adults. If you’re an beginner crocheter that has a grasp of the basics and wants something that’s full of colour and has a variety of different projects to try, then you may want to check out Creative Crochet Projects for yourself.
If you’re interested in buying a copy of Creative Crochet Projects by Stephanie Pokorny, you can check it out HERE.
If you enjoy crochet pattern books, you can check out some more of my crochet book reviews on my blog:
