Customer Reviews

Crochet Pattern-a-Day: 2009 Day-to-Day Calendar

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Okay, so I knew when I bought this sort of what to expect....poor photo quality, patterns stretching on for multiple days (so not really "a pattern a day".....I bought this calendar in 2007 and was really disappointed.

However, I decided to give it another try, because I figured it has been a few years, and the quality should have improved somewhat. And...it has....BUT.......that is because the majority of the patterns that are more modern, and well designed with good photos are from yarn companies like Patons or Lily.

In the 2007 edition of this calendar from what I recall all the patterns were new original patterns that people submitted, however in this 2009 edition apx. 36% of the patterns are patterns that can be found for FREE on the internet. Let me break it down, I counted these patterns, and I may be off by one or two, but here are my numbers---there are 200 total patterns, and 71 of them can be found for FREE on the internet.

So, basically, in my opinion, the majority of the "good" patterns are free ..... so is it worth it to buy? I am actually going to say yes----IF you can get it for a discounted price. I bought mine with a 50% coupon at JoAnn's, and even if there are some pretty awful patterns in here, poor photo quality, and over 1/3 of them being free....there is still enough here to warrant spending $7.50 on it. Even if only about 10% of the patterns are ones that I would consider making, spending under $10.00 for 20 patterns is still a good price.

Also, I want to mention that the photo on this Amazon page that has the ladybuy hat and scarf for kids ----this pattern is NOT included in this 2009 edition (at least it was not included in mine). Luckily this is not a pattern I was wanting to make anyways, but for those of you who think it is cute, be forewarned that it was not included in my calendar, and is likely to not be in yours either.

What a load of absolute rubbish! This calendar is truly awful. I was so excited to see this in the shops marked at 50% off.

My first big disappointment came when I found out there are only about 170 patterns or so - not 365 as one would expect of a "Pattern-a-day" calendar. By the way, I have throughly checked the box and there is no indication of this anywhere before you purchase it and break the interior seal.

Even though I felt a bit ripped off about getting about half of what I expected, in the end I'd be fine with it if there were some really nice patterns in there. BUT THERE AREN'T!!!

Most of the patterns are just absolutely heinous. Who in their right mind would design or make some of these things? I know everyone has different tastes, but COME ON! Badly written patterns, badly designed things, badly made things, and amateur photography.

Some of the only decent patterns in here are available in a pattern book that I can check out for free from my local public library - they are previously published - and I'm told, many are available for FREE on the internet!

Lastly, the one or two halfway decent items - I decided to give them a-go and they are completely riddled with errors. Obviously no one bothered to check these patterns - or for that matter, have someone even vaguely familiar with crochet to read through them to see if they'd work.

I paid $13.50 Australian for this, and I'd feel disappointed and ripped off even if I'd only paid one dollar for it. DON'T BUY THIS LOAD OF GARBAGE!

Since I got the calender for next year, I haven't used any other the patterns yet, but I have flipped through it and I can see quite a few patterns that I would really like to make. They have something for every one. The only thing I would caution (and I knew this before I bought it, but others might not) there is NOT one crochet pattern per day - you are not getting 365 crochet patterns (because that would be an awesome deal for the price!). Many of the patterns take up multiple days on the calender. All in all, I'd say its a great deal, you get 192 patterns (if I counted correctly), which is still a great deal for the price. Where are you going to find a book with that many patterns for the price of this calender?

I should have read the reviews before buying! I thought this was going to be so much fun to have so many new patterns to look through and make. However, the vast majority if not all of these patterns are available online for FREE from various websites. I had already seen several of the patterns in this calendar and was able to find the others that I tried searching for online. In addition, there is not a new pattern for every day. Several of the patterns take up anywhere from 2 to 5 days when they are too long to fit onto one page.

I bought this calendar for my mom for her birthday. She loves to crochet and is always looking for new ideas and patterns. When she opened this she was so excited she just had to open it. Once she started looking through the days, she realized that if she looked at all of them she would ruin the surprise of the daily pattern. Let me tell you, she is definitely ready for the new year to begin!

I bought this calendar and previous ones for crochet and knitting patterns. No more of any future years (crochet/knitting) calendar pattern books. I am an experienced crochet and knitter, and there are better books than this one. I'll save my money for a real worth having book. I will donate the ones I have. I'll be honest and say that for me perhaps up to six of the patterns in this year's calendar are worth keeping. I do not recommend this book for intermediate and experienced crocheters.

I bought this on a recommendation of someone who purchased the 2007 version.

1. I was aware that some patterns would stretch over a couple days, but this is ridiculous. There are 200 patterns in this "crochet pattern a day" calender. 165 days are taken up by spillover. Some of these patterns you would expect to spillover - sweater sets, things with complicated instructions. Some of these spillover patterns are POTHOLDERS. Ridiculous that they run over two days.

2. There were ten patterns in this calendar I had yet to see. TEN. All the others are available for FREE on the internet via websites like crochet pattern central and yarn brands' websites.

3. Many of these patterns are just hideous. Not even adaptable into something usable with yarn substitutions. My least favorite free crochet pattern designer seems to be heavily featured, as are her horrid, cheesy patterns.

4. All in all, there were about a dozen patterns I want to keep. And you know what? None of them are so life-alteringly cool that I would be sad to live without them.

5. The "calendar" is a LOOSE stack of small pages, making it very difficult to keep them together. After a lot of jiggling, I managed to tuck the few quality patterns in behind the rest. I would have loved to see this at least bound with a couple rings - easy to open, easy to lay flat, but can keep the things together.

I'm so very glad I bought this discounted, so I only wasted $10. But still, I wish I could get my money back.

These calendars are garbage plus I would like to add that most of these patterns you can find online for free. Don't waste your money.

Very useful! Lots of patterns for all levels of expertise. Fun just to look at! Also, shipped very quickly.

The patterns were very unfashionable....just because it is crochet, it does not have to be ugly. Waste of money, although my co workers thought I may make some of the items as a Xmas gift, they were nicer to me.