Customer Reviews

Toys to Knit: Dozens of Patterns for Heirloom Dolls, Animals, Doll Clothes, and Accessories

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

 

 

I just bought this because I've never knitted toys before, although I'm a long-time knitter. I've followed and knitted all sorts of patterns before. I was very attracted to this book because it has great projects and it is beautifully shot. HOWEVER, I've just tried my first pattern out of this book, the "teddy bear" and the pattern has a bunch of mistakes in it. I've checked and rechecked and I can only conclude that an entire row must have been omitted because the number they say you should have at the end of each row is completely off for the entire bear's head. I'm soldiering on, as I've already bought the yarn (and my 3yo is anxiously awaiting her bear), but if I didn't have the experience I do, following and designing my own patterns, I would be totally lost. I would love to contact the author or publisher to get a correct pattern.

Another problem is that there is no "gauge." I have never heard of knitting patterns without a gauge!!! You have to "guess" how big the final product is going to be and the staff at my knitting store had to guess how much yarn I would need, since I didn't want to use the author's suggested yarn.

I'm pretty disappointed. I would never have spent the money on this book. It shouldn't be this hard to knit up a little toy.

I gave it two instead of one star just because the projects are very cute. I may try a smaller one. I can't see tackling any of the bigger ones, since the other patterns may also have mistakes.

Stuffed toys are a fun change of pace for knitters -- smaller pieces, interesting shapes, and (usually) a cute, very cuddly result. The toys in the this book, however, are uninteresting and crude-looking; I really can't see a child warming up to them. If you want toy knitting patterns your money is much better spent on Fiona McTague's "Knitted Toys" or Kath Dalmeny's "World of Knitted Toys."

My review agrees entirely with an earlier reviewer. This book was not purchased from Amazon.com, I saw it in a bookshop and liked the look of the designs. Although I have not made many knitted toys, I am an experienced knitter. I am at present deciphering my way through the pattern for Loulou the elephant - the pattern has errors and combined with a lack of schematics it is taking a little longer than it should. The only other book I have used for knitted toys is "The Knitted Teddy Bear" by Sandra Polley and as it turns out is published by the same publisher. Sandra Polley's book by comparison is a gold mine of instructions, schematics and general help. And so far, no errors. Toys to Knit is another of those books that uses Rowan yarns and why is it that they ALWAYS stipulate far more yarn than is required? Just another sales tool of Rowan Yarns?

Most of the toys and accessories in this book are really cute, but there's just not much else going for this book. The instructions look deceptively simple, but as it turns out only a really experienced knitter can make much sense of them. Many of the toys have multiple errors in the instructions, such as the bear, which is missing several rows of stitches. In addition to being deceptively simplistic, the instructions are also way too vague, without any detailed explanations, either for the trickier steps or the more basic parts. The only "explanatory" material for troubleshooting are sections in the back about abbreviations and the conversions of needle sizes and weights and lengths of yarn. And someone who's just a novice knitter might not even realise that it's just asking for disaster and frustration when there isn't even any gauge or yardage given for any of the yarns specified.

A lot of the colors don't even match in the various pictures and accompanying instructions, such as the teddybear sweater that is off-green in the picture yet described as light blue in the instructions. Many times the reader is instructed to assemble the various parts "according to illustration," yet there are no such accompanying illustrations. It also doesn't make sense to have to separately knit all of these little pieces and then seam them together when there is another way. I've made some stuffed animals and dolls in the past, and my sewing instructor didn't tell us to make and stuff each part separately before sewing them all together! If you wouldn't make a sewn toy that way, you wouldn't make a knit toy that way either. Beyond all of the cute pictures of things like various dolls, the teddybear, finger puppets, mouse, kangaroo and joey, and monkey, this book won't be worth much to even an experienced knitter. Someone with a lot more experience probably could figure out the many error-ridden instructions, but why go through so much headache when one could make toys from a better book like 'World of Knit Toys'?

Do not buy this book. Period. As others have said, the instructions for the teddy bear's head are so far off that only an expert knitter is going to be able to figure it out. I completed this after spending hours recalculating the stitch counts and figuring out which row (I think two are actually missing) needed to be added. The results are adorable, but the hassle isn't worth it.

I contacted the publisher, and finally gave up. Those with whom I dealt were a bit on the dim side and couldn't understand what I was telling them regarding the problems with the pattern. The author is apparently British and shares the same name (Tracy Chapman) with a well-known singer, so reaching her is not possible.

Again I stress, don't buy this book unless you are an expert knitter and are willing to rewrite the directions to make them accurate.

I, too, am an experienced knitter, but many of the patterns appear to have incorrect, missing or vague info. There is no size listed for the finished pieces (or guage) which makes it difficult to visualize. Also, the dolls could easily be done in the round, rather than seaming each piece. Two stars for many cute designs.

I picked up this book because the doll on the front cover looked just like my daughter and I thought it would be cute to make one for her. I am a fairly new knitter but thought the pattern appeared to be something I could tackle. I did find some errors in the instructions for the legs (very confusing for a new knitter). I also found it strange that there was not any type of gauge or swatch (I was taught to NEVER skip this step!), nor the finished size of the doll or any of the toys. Once I did finally get the doll made up, it did turn out to be very adorable in a retro sort of way (think the Island of Misfit Toys on Rudolph) and my daughter absolutely loves it.
I am now trying to knit up the wrap sweater, and the instructions are disappointing. I was hoping to make a set of clothes for her doll, but if the rest of the instructions are as erroneous or incomplete as the ones for the sweater, I'm afraid I won't get them done.

I had a similar experience to a lot of the other reviewers. Bought this book because the projects looked cute, but the instructions are terrible. Vague and chock-full of mistakes (were there no testers for any of these patterns?). A lot of these pieces could have been knit in the round with a bit of shaping, instead you have to knit a gazillion tiny pieces and then seam together "according to illustrations". There are no illustrations. Only a few really bad photographs - I mean, they're cute and all, but totally useless. There's a pattern for a cute looking fish with a bunch of scales that are knit and then sewn on "according to illustration" but in the photo, the fish is peeking out from the folds of a blanket, you can barely see a couple of scales.

In another pattern for an elephant, there are so many pieces to make individually that I've given up hope that I'll ever finish it. Even with many years' knitting and designing experience, it's more effort to fix these patterns than it is to just create one from scratch!

It's deceiving in its perceived simplicity. A novice knitter might leaf through the book and see that they only need to know how to knit and purl and do a simple increase and decrase, but it is easier to learn a few more shaping stitches than to suffer through the dozens of seams required to assemble the final product, especially since the incorrect instructions often lead to pieces that dont fit together properly. Very frustrating and a huge waste of $16.

Wow, I was surprised to see so many bad reviews for this book. I made the Ragdoll (photo of it is included in user photos above) and was very pleased with the results. I haven't tried any of the other patterns so I can't speak about any issues with the teddy bear or elephant. I had no pattern issues with the Ragdoll, her Wrap Sweater, or Skirt. There isn't a gauge for the pattern, but I found that refreshing. Just look at the number of stitches required for the body, then chose a yarn that has a gauge that will make your doll your desired size. I used fingering yarn but might try DK next time if I want to make a larger doll. I do prefer having schematics, but it's certainly not the only book I have that doesn't include them. I love this doll, and the many outfits you can create and haven't found any other books that provide a knitted doll a whole wardrobe.

I was looking for a book with some doll clothes patterns for a Waldorf-style doll I was making for my daughter. I picked this up at the library. One irritating thing is it doesn't tell you the size of the doll in the book, so I wasn't sure if the patterns would work for the doll I was making. But I set forth and made the wrap sweater and it was very easy and fit my doll very nicely. Which was a 13" Waldorf doll. I also knit up the skirt and the undies. The undie pattern needs a little adjusting to fit better but the rest work out just fine. My kids love looking at all the fun stuff to knit and telling me what to make. After keeping it too long at the library and then wishing I still had it, I think I'll go ahead and buy it.