Edward's Menagerie Crochet Kits Are Here!

Summer has definitely arrived, or has it? The general consensus has been that it’s been the wettest spring and early summer anyone can remember.  There’s been many an outdoor event canceled over weather conditions lately.  Oh well, that means more knitting and crochet time right? Besides, the lake right down the road still looks a little low so we can use the rain.

Before we get much further there’s some business we need to get out of the way first before we can get to the fun in this post.  Yarn Rhapsody is closed until July 11th for a summer holiday.  We’ll be back July 11th with shortened hours, from 11am - 3pm, until July 15th.  Normal hours will resume on July 18th.  Any classes during this period will be held as scheduled.

Now to the fun stuff!
Edward’s Menagerie Kits by Toft has arrived at the shop. 

Edward’s Menagerie is a series of crochet patterns designed by Kerry Lord and featuring 40+ animals and birds. We’ve picked up a sampling of this large collection.

Each high-quality kit comes with a soft 100% wool yarn, hook, stuffing, yarn needle for sewing bits together, and pattern, all packaged into a resealable pouch.  You just need a little know how and a stitch marker to get going.

We would consider these advanced beginner level projects.  All you need to be successful is a single crochet stitch, and very basic increases and decreases.  Directions for special techniques and stitches will have short instructional videos on Toft’s website.  These guys work up pretty quickly.  The chameleon featured in this post was complete in about 4 hours at a leisurely pace.  The same maker finished a Pegasus that is a little more involved in about 6 hours.

We have a couple of tips for these project kits for you.

Stuff lightly!  This is mentioned in the videos but we can’t stress it enough.  These guys will look a bit odd overstuffed and they were designed to be a bit floppy. Let the density of the single crochet fabric do most of the work for holding the shape of the animal.  The only exception to this would be an animal that needs to stand and then the extra stuffing is only needed in the legs.

Keep your pattern! Toft has included notes on recommended yardage and hook sizes to make larger versions.

These kits can be found on the right hand side of the store near our community knitting table and range in price from $15 to $36.  These would make an excellent gift for a new crocheter, made up for your favorite munchkin, or you can embrace your inner-child and just keep it for yourself.