Books: Toys To Crochet

As you may know, I only really started to teach myself to crochet about a year ago, and much of my inspiration to pick up the craft came from my huge attraction to Amigurumi style crochet toys. I still haven't got much beyond crocheting trims on knit items or my every growing crochet afghan (a perpetual work in progress), so I thought Claire Garland's Toys To Crochet would be a good way to get me into the world of crochet toys. I've had this book for a couple weeks now, though, and I have yet to feel the urge to pick up the hook.

It's not that Garland hasn't done a good job with this book -- it's full of nice pictures (and at least a couple dozen animal, doll and mobile patterns) and the instructions certainly seem clear enough for even a novice like me to follow. I'm just not in love with the patterns. Some of them are just clearly not my personal style -- the bears and dolls are long and lanky rather than the squat characters I tend to favour. Others don't really seem to suit the medium of crochet -- because the stitches are so square and bulky, toys like the lobster, the monkey and even the plush cars don't look very polished... in fact, they're kind of messy looking. Again, not really for me.

With that said, there are a few things -- mostly larger, cleaner looking items -- that I would like to try after Christmas once I have some spare time. The mama pig on the cover is super cute (and very baby appropriate) and there's a horse puppet that I think would be perfect for entertaining a young baby. So, not a total loss, but not the right place to go if you're looking for hipper or quirkier art piece toys.