I got a copy of Creepy Cute Crochet at TNNA. At first glance I was unenthused. All the little creatures have essentially the same body and head (there are a few exceptions). But when my kids got their hands on it they were in love. They asked--no, demanded--to be taught to crochet yesterday so they could "make two of everything in the book." I'm not whiz at crochet. I got them yarn and hooks and sat them down and showed them how to make a chain. My eight year old gave up after about 26 seconds. My 10 year old stuck to it a little longer. He made a chain and tried to learn single crochet. Then he gave up too. So I was instructed to make one of the patterns from the book. They picked Nosferatu. I made the head yesterday. It looked awful. I made a second one. It was much tighter and more rounded. I made the body, ears and collar today and stitched it all together. He just needs some buttons for eyes and felt for fangs and he'll be ready to suck. Your blood.
I have some minor quibbles with this book.
1. The instructions for the head are the same for nearly all the patterns yet they appear completely different from doll to doll. The instructions for Nosferatu's head make a sphere but his picture makes his head look very oval.
2. The patterns tell you to increase and decrease but don't explain how. I found more instruction on the author's website. I also found errata for the head there.
3.The instructions for the head and body both tell you to finish the piece and then later tell you stuff them once they're all closed up. I noticed this and stuffed them before finishing and so will 99% of people making them so not a huge deal.
