Kawaii Crochet Garden Review

Kawaii Crochet Garden by Melissa Bradley includes 40 Super Cute Amigurumi Patterns for Plants and More and today I’ll be sharing my review of Kawaii Crochet Garden as well as a sneek peak at some of the projects included in the book. I’ve also included information about accessing a free bonus pattern from the designer!

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Kawaii Crochet Garden includes 40 amigurumi crochet patterns for plants and various other garden tools and garden creatures. This colorful amigurumi pattern book jumps off the page and invites you into a world of adorable crochet toys.

Thanks to David & Charles Publishing for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Like Melissa’s last book, Kawaii Crochet, Kawaii Crochet Garden is arranged by color. For example, the Poinsettia is in the red section and the Daffodil Bub is in the yellow section. The book is 128 pages long and includes the following crochet patterns:

The patterns is Kawaii Crochet Garden are written in U.S. terminology and many pattern include helpful assembly photos or stitch charts. The patterns are well-written and easy to understand.

The patterns range in skill level from beginner to intermediate level. Skill-level is identified with a small image of a seed / seedling located in the bottom corner of the materials section of each pattern.

A seed without leaves indicates a beginner pattern, a seed with a small root and closed leaves indicates an easy pattern and a seed with established roots and open leaves indicates an intermediate pattern. It’s such an adorable and fun way to show the skill level.

This book also includes a section on color theory and the color wheel. I love this addition to the book as many makers feel that they struggle with finding great color combos for their projects.

Check out the Video Version of this Review and See a Flip Through of the Book!

Tools and Materials Used in Kawaii Crochet Garden

The tools and materials, found at the beginning of the book (pages 6 & 7) include:

• Crochet hooks (3.5 mm (E) and 2.5 mm (C))
• Stitch markers
• Fiberfill stuffing
• Chenille stems (pipe cleaners)
• Hot glue fun
• Floral wire
• Safety Eyes
• Pins (like sewing pins or t-pins)
• Wire Cutters
• Cotton Yarn (worsted weight yarn/aran and dk/light worsted weight)
• Scissors
• Yarn Needle

I love the variety of different patterns included in the book. The crocheted potted plants are my favourite. If you wanted to omit the safety eyes and smiles that are added to many of the projects, you would have some gorgeous, realistic-looking plants. The coleus, strawberry plant and gerbera are my personal favourites. If you’re a notorius plant-killer like I am but you love plants, then Kawaii Crochet Garden is a great way to get your plant fix without worrying about any maintenance afterwards.

Other Amigurumi Book Reviews to Check Out

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• Crochet at Work
  
  
• Pokemon Crochet
  
  
• Crocheted Animal Rugs

Kawaii Crochet Garden Resources

At the back of the book (pages 112 – 125) there is a resource section that walks makers through useful information and tutorials for techniques used in the crochet patterns. There is a section that includes how to read patterns and modifying the design which I thought were great additions to the book. There’s also a U.S. to UK terminology conversion chart. Other resources include:

Basic Stitches:

Magic Ring, Slip Knot, Chain, Slip Stitch, Single Crochet, Half Double Crochet, Double Crochet, Treble Crochet. There are some images accompanying these instructions but I felt some steps were missing so they could be confusing for absolute beginners. If you’re an experienced crocheter, you probably wouldn’t bother looking at these anyways so it isn’t a big deal.

Other Stitches

Invisible Single Crochet Decrease, Standard Single Crochet Decrease, Chain-2 Picot, 3-Double Crochet Bobble, Single Crochet Spike Stitch-One Row Down. Right Side / Wrong Side of Crocheted Fabric, Back Bump / Back Bar, Front Loop, Back Loop, Back Bump / Back Bar of a Foundation Chain. The instructions for these are clear to understand. There are limited photos available for these but the ones that were included were helpful.

Colorwork

This section covers how to change colors, join yarn and carrying yarn / crocheting with two colors.

Finishing

This section covered fastening off, invisible fasten off and weaving in ends as you go.

Making Up

This section covers how to insert safety eyes, stuffing toys, closing stitches through the front loops, crocheting two pieces together, shaping, fastening off inside a three-dimensional piece, yarn-wrapped stem, yarn-wrapped blossom stem, crocheting with floral wire and stitching facial details. There are photos included in this section that were helpful.

I love how many resources are included in this book for makers! The resources are really helpful and thoroughly thought-through. One resource that I didn’t see added with would have made the resource section complete was how to measure gauge. They give a gauge for each toy which is fantastic so you have the option of having your toy turn be the size that you expect it to be should you wish to match gauge, however, it would’ve been great had they added how to measure gauge as well.

Overall, Kawaii Crochet Garden is a gorgeous, colorful book that’s full of life and fun. This book is accessible to a variety of skill levels and is a great addition to an amigurumi maker’s crochet library. These crocheted plants make great gifts and can liven up a space as a home decor addition.

If you'd like to purchase a copy of Kawaii Crochet Garden, it is available for purchase from Amazon.

Kawaii Crochet Garden Free Bonus Project

If you join the site Bookmarked.hub, which is a site run by David & Charles publishing (and some other craft book publishers), you can download a free PDF bonus pattern designed by Melissa Bradley. This pattern is an adorable sun.

Bookmarked has a variety of free crochet patterns and bonuses offered by authors of their various craft books. There are patterns and projects for a variety of different crafts like needlework, sewing, knitting & Crochet and more!

What is your favourite project from the book?  Which one would you make first?  Let me know in the comments below.