Customer Reviews

Tiny Yarn Animals: Amigurumi Friends to Make and Enjoy

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I bought this book because I LOVE amigurumi, I have just about every English crochet amigurumi book, and several Japanese amigurumi books.

Some pros:

1. Large full color photographs for each project.
2. The book is about the size of a magazine, so each pattern fits on 1-2 pages--I like that.
3. At the end of the book the author lets you know what yarn is used for each project.
4. The author uses different eyes for the projects--some are embroidered, some are safety eyes---gives you inspiration for using different types of eyes.
5. There are some patterns that are pretty unique---such as the lemur, koala bear, hippo, fish, fox and bumblebee. You do not see patterns for these all over the place like you do bears, puppies, owls, etc.......
6. There is a gauge given for each pattern, which is nice. That is not common in amigurumi books, and I like having a gauge for each pattern.
7. Very reasonably priced.
8. Lastly, this might sound odd, but I like that the author did not name the patterns with human names. The hippo pattern is simply called "Hippo", not "Jenny the Hippo" (or whatever...)...for me it is harder to really personalize or make an amigurumi project when it already has a name. I like when patterns are just called "Elephant" not "Elizabeth Elephant".

Okay the cons.....
1. The patterns could be written a little better. For example, typically in a crochet pattern whenever there is a round (or row) where there is an increase or decrease there is a stitch count given for that round (or row). This book does not have any stitch counts, so you never know how many stitches you should have per round. While this is not a problem to easily figure out how many stitches you should have while on Round 3, by the time you are on Round 18 after increasing and decreasing you really do not know how many stitches you should have.
2. I wish there were charts for the patterns--it would at least make up for the lack of stitch counts.
3. I have found some of the results to be quite awkward--especially the mouse. It seems that much of the shaping for some of the animals is accomplished not by the crochet stitches themselves, but by the stuffing.


All in all I will keep this book for my Amigurumi Library, but if you are a beginner I would definitely suggest something that has a bit more logical and predictable shaping, and stitch counts such as Ana Paula Rimoli's "Amigurumi World". But, if you like me are just crazy for Amigurumi, then you will have to have this book too.

I bought this book because it has some very cute, unique patterns that I hadn't seen anywhere else (koala, lemur). It's a very nice book to look at, with its full color photographs of all the different creations. However, the lack of certain instructions makes it difficult for an amigurumi-novice.

For example, there are almost no instructions on how to assemble the animals once you've made the pieces. I had to resort to online tutorials (crochetme.com) to find this information. I think the author should have devoted at least one page to assembly and how to sew the pieces together, with photos to illustrate. The book has a great section on basic crochet stitches, with big, clear photos, so it seemed silly that in an amigurumi book, there wasn't a similar page for animal assembly.

As others have stated, the patterns rely a lot on how they are stuffed to make the shapes as pictured. Also, I really only found about half of the patterns appealing.

Consensus-
Pros: Cute, unique patterns, nice photos, easy to read
Cons: Little to no instruction on assembly or stitching pieces together; for some of the animals, you can find better patterns online

The instructions in this book need to be reviewed. They are not detailed enough. For example, on one project the instructions are to refer to the image to see how to attach a tail. I did not find the image they were talking about, there was no image that provided that information. Also, the steps don't have the total number of stitches at the end, so it's sometimes difficult to track your progress. I think this book is not as easy for beginners to understand as some other amigurumi books.

While the patterns themselves look adorable when completed, the instructions, if followed exactly, will not let you make a what you see in the picture.

I bought this book for my daughter. While not an expert, she is a fairly accomplished crocheter.

Some of the explatives and comments issued by her while following these instructions were, shall we say, colorful. My daughter usually doesn't talk like this. With some analysis on her part, it was fairly easy to "fix" the patterns, but it should not have been neccessary to fix them. When you but patterns or instruction they should be complete. They should work the first time, and everytime when followed exactly.

To the Author: Your directions need serious work. You may wish to have a few friends or associates "test" your instructions. If they fail, find out where and fix it, BEFORE you put it in a book.

To the Publisher/Editor: Epic Fail. When publishing anything with instructions it is your DUTY to your readers to insure the instructions are accurate and complete. Try harder. Maybe even test things like this with a group of whatever {crocheters, knitters, etc} BEFORE you release.

To those who feel I wrongly acuse the author of failure, follow the instructions EXACTLY as written. Do not assume, do not add. See what your results are.

The instructions are pretty easy to follow, especially if you have some idea of what you are doing, but the animals are REALLY tiny. I've made others that were small and cute, but these are a little smaller than I like. But they are cute!

I've made 2 amigurumi stuffies now. My first from a book titled Crobots: 20 Amigurumi Robots to Make and the other from this book. The Tiny Yarn Animals book pales in comparison to the Crobots: 20 Amigurumi Robots to Make book. Tiny Yarn Animals had instructions for making each part but didn't not mention how much to stuff the parts or how to even put it all together. The lack of instructions on how to put the parts together has left me hesitant to try another pattern. I would not recommend this book to someone who has a hard time figuring things out from photos or is new to crochet. I'm sure if you're an avid amigurumi maker you can probably figure this stuff out pretty easily.

Easy, fast work up and great patterns -- Couldn't ask for better ones! I'm glad that I bought this terrific book! Amigurumi, crocheted toys - cute cute cute! I have 5 grandchildren and need things that work up FAST -- this is it!

These patterns are very cute, and very easy to make. Even better, they only require small amounts of inexpensive yarn and stuffing. Here's a gift idea: give someone -- a new crocheter, a crafty teen or kid, or whoever -- a copy of this book, a few balls of Wool-Ease yarn, a couple of crochet hooks and a tapestry needle. Put it all in a cute gift bag, and voila -- they're all set to make adorable little stuffed animals.

These animals would also make excellent stocking stuffers. Anyway, the book is cute, well-done, full of good patterns ... what are you waiting for? Buy it!

Tiny Yarn Animals, is an okay book. Some of the animals are cute, but most are the same looking. They are mostly skinny animals. Her instructions are not detailed like many other books that I have read. For example, she does not tell the reader how many stitches you are suppose to have made in each row or round. Her abbreviations are a little different than others and she does not explain them in enough detail. Some may know that "mm", move maker, but she doesn't say what a move maker is and there are other abbreviations that she has that she expect the reader to know. So if you are a newby than prepare to be confused.

*Cara Whiting did not write this review, her daughter did*

Although it would be nice to have stitch counts at the end of each round/row, the patterns are fairly simple, and I didn't really find any necessary. (That might just be because I've got mad crochet skills(; ) However, it would have been nice to have a little more instruction on where to attach the different parts. So far, I've made a penguin, lemur, and pig, and all of my friends, relatives and teachers went crazy over them. I find it kind of strange that so many amigurumi patterns (in any book) leave out tails on animals, (such as the pig in this book) so I've improvised. But what's a pattern without a little personalization, I say? All in all, I love this book. :3

Pros: Cute, simple and quick to make
Cons: Assembly is a little sketchy

These should be easy for any fairly experienced amigurumi-maker.

--Luci