Geekscape Reviews: ‘Star Wars Even More Crochet’ By Lucy Collin

With Star Wars being all the rage, now is the perfect time to review Lucy Collin’s crochet kit, Star Wars Even More Crochet. The kit is a sequel of sorts to the popular Star Wars Crochet, which was released in 2015. And while the original kit was dedicated strictly to the classic trilogy, this new release features a mix of characters from the original films as well as those found in The Force Awakens.

The box containing the goods is quite fun by itself, with color photos of the amigurumi (crochet dolls) from the pattern book. Characters can be found not only on the front and back of the box but also two of the sides, giving it a festive air.

Found in the enclosed book are patterns for a Jawa, BB-8, Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, Kylo Ren, Obi-wan Kenobi, Lando Calrissian, Admiral Akbar, Nien Nunb, the four members of the Cantina band, and Greedo.

The kit includes the materials needed to make a Jawa and BB-8, even safety eyes and stuffing.

Sounds great, right? And it is, in theory. However, I encountered several issues with the yarn and the hook. For starters, two important things to keep in mind when crocheting amigurumi is that your gauge is tight enough to keep the stuffing from showing through and that the yarn weights are the same. I noticed right off that the weight for the black and brown yarns for the Jawa were different. I ended up using some yarn from my stash instead (both chosen were worsted weight).

Next off, the crochet hook provided was crooked when I took it out of the box (you can’t tell in the photo because it is facing up). And while the hook was still usable, I did find it very uncomfortable to hold after more than 20 minutes.

It is a shame about the pack-ins because the book for the most part is great. The patterns were well-written and I did not encounter any errors. The only problem was the Techniques and Terminology section, which gives a rundown on the different stitches found in the patterns. I have been crocheting a long time and thankfully knew how to do all of the required stitches already but even I was confused by some of the diagrams used in that section. If you know what you are looking at, you eventually have a moment of “I see what you did there” but I can’t see it being of any help to someone unfamiliar with the techniques. I guess that is where Youtub comes to the rescue.

Here is my finished project, Martini the Jawa. He didn’t take long to make. I did have the split the crochet sessions into bits because my hand really did not like working with that bent hook. But all told, I estimate it took me between two to two and a half hours to finish. Not bad at all.

I am going to give the kit as a whole a 2 out of 5. For $24.99, it should come with usable supplies. The pattern book on its own earns a 4 out of 5. The patterns are relatively simple with a great blend of characters from the series’ past and present. The only problem was the not-helpful Techniques section. Other than that, it was super fun.

[This review is based on a sample provided by Thunder Bay Press. All opinions are my own.]