Book review

Edward's Menagerie

Over 40 soft and snuggly toy animal crochet patterns

Book by Kerry Lord

Book details

  • Author: Kerry Lord
  • Size: 210 x 278 mm
  • Pages: 128
  • Language: English UK
  • Crochet terms: British English
  • Publisher: David & Charles
  • First Published in the UK and USA in 2014
4.2/5

Look inside the book

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Contents

This book is divided into two sections: Patterns and Technicals.

1- PATTERNS

This section is divided into three levels according to the techniques used:

Level 1: Require knowledge of only the basics of crochet. Animals using one colour and only chain, slip stitch and double crochet. They are suitable for beginners who have read the Technicals section.

  • This level includes 10 Amigurumis: Bunny; Cat; Bear; Elephant; Sheep; Hippo; Alpaca; Rhino; Lion; Pig;

Level 2: Animals introduce simple shade changing, and some of the shapes have been made using a free-form style. Instructions can be found in the Technicals section.

  • This level includes 15 Amigurumis: Gorilla; Aardvark; Bear; Sheep; Panda; Cat; Donkey; Chimpanzee; Koala; Cow; Tiger; Pony; Pig; Zebra; Goat;

Level 3: Animals introduce some more complex techniques. Many of these patterns require the use of irregular shade changing and occasionally the loop stitch. Again, instruction for this can be found in the Technicals section. 

  • This level includes 15 Amigurumis: Bat; Cat; Cow; Dog; Giraffe; Fox; Orangutan; Monkey; Red squirrel; Cheetah; Hedgehog; Raccoon; Grey squirrel; Sheep; Wolf;

 

2- TECHNICALS

This section contains all the techniques necessary to make any Amigurumi.

Here you will find: Basic skills; Working the stitches; Adding body details; Stuffing and sewing; Adding face details; Topknots and tails; Variations;

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Edward's Menagerie

Over 40 soft and snuggly toy animal crochet patterns

About the book

I love crochet! Nevertheless, cutting the yarn into small pieces, mixing many colours, and sewing are not on my favourites list. In other words, I don’t really like amigurumi.

However, this book is one of my favourites, since it maintains a simple concept, simple colours and something that I really like, re-size!

Edward’s Menagerie: Over 40 soft and snuggly toy animal crochet patterns explains step-by-step how to make 40 animals in the amigurumi technique (although it does not name this word throughout the book), divided into 3 levels of difficulty. Instructions enable a complete beginner to get hooking straight away.

No special equipment is needed, only one ball of yarn per amigurumi. 

What I like most about this book is the variety it offers. Once you have mastered the basic techniques, you can customize your toy.

Each amigurumi also has a universal pattern – where you can change your hook and yarn to create 4 different sizes making 160 possibilities!

Besides, we have the variations offered in the Variations section at the end of the book.

The only thing I do not like is that it does not include a single crochet diagram.

200 Crochet Stitches

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