Polly the Penguin

I have known how to crochet since I was in my twenties. My grandmother was very good at it and I thought, because no one else in my family knew how to crochet, I would ask her to teach me. However, the only thing she ever had the patience to teach me was how to make a blanket and really, a double crochet stitch. Anything else I could not pick up the first or second time she showed me- so I gave up learning anything else.

However lately, when I saw crochet kits I began looking for one that I could actually do. I didn't know how to read crochet patterns or do much more than a single or double crochet so many of the kits were hard to do. Especially learning the "magic ring"- what you need to master to make anything that is going to come in these crochet kits (like this one). So when I saw that the magic ring would be done in this kit, I was ecstatic. I had been looking for a kit that would have this "pre-start" but this is the only kit that said they would do this- and actually did it (meaning that yes, I have had another kit say there would be a pre-start and they didn't do it). This one arrived, with a magic ring done!

In the end, I mastered SO MUCH from learning how to do this penguin. When I opened the kit I found the QR code and scanned it, which took me to the best video that I have ever seen, when it came to the pattern for this penguin. The video was done in segments- each round had its own video. The instructor went slow and explained everything- so by the fourth video I had learned enough to read the paper instructions on my own- and do the pattern without having to watch the rest of the videos.

Also, the yarn in this kit is the best for beginners. With many of the other kits that I attempted before this one, the yarn would separate- because the hook was smaller than I was used to using. This is a different and nicer type of yarn that won't separate- you don't have to worry about that. Plus, as a beginner, you might (as I did) have to go back and undo what you have done, in an attempt to fix a mistake that you have made. With other yarn you run a big risk of damaging it- but not with the yarn in this kit. I went back and undid my work several times, and the yarn looked no different.

Because of all the things that I learned from the instructional videos that came with this kit, I can now go and do some of the harder kits that I couldn't master before- this being a real beginner kit that you can complete knowing almost nothing- or nothing- about crochet- this is the kit that you want to try. The videos included with this project are far superior to any that I have come across- going slow and explaining to viewers everything they need to know. And, if things go for you, as they did for me, by the third or fourth video (or maybe even before)- you will be able to go on with just the written instructions- and no longer need the instructional video.

Afterward what I have learned from this kit has helped me to complete other harder ones that I wasn't able to in the past! This is a real beginners kit, over and above the others- "best of the best" and worth way more than five stars- as I could finally get the hang of reading crochet patterns after what I learned with the materials that went along with it!

I did include a photo of my penguin- please know that it is my first ever completed crochet project and while it doesn't look the best, I'm learning and in time I am sure (and hope) they will look better!

The videos were easy to understand and I love how it comes with written instructions.

This is my second purchase from Crotchetbuds. I ordered the pig last time.

Buying more for my next airplane flight!