Edward's Menagerie: Over 40 Soft and Snuggly Toy Animal Crochet Patterns

Bought this after learning crochet basics from YouTube and wanting some projects to start. It has 3 levels of difficulty. Level one uses only one colour for each part, super simple. Level two usually adds a simple colour change (legs change colour after feet) and level three has multiple colour changes to make face details etc. The hints and tips have good photographed instructions for the stitches needed and I had no problems following the patterns. I did find on the toft YouTube channel, videos to show sewing up, stitches etc which are useful if you have not made soft toys before. I have made level one bunny, elephant and rhino and level two monkey and pony. All have gone down well as gifts and are incredibly cute, great for kids of any age and adults too. There are about 40 patterns but some are very similar with a few colours or details changed when you work up a level e.g there are three cats, a plain one, a Russian blue and a tabby. However there are still a lots of different designs to choose from, at least 30 different animals which is a lot of choice. A great book would thoroughly recommend

I've made multiple animals from this book & each one has turned out great with minimal skill on my part! The instructions are easy to follow & each pattern is well explained. Great for a beginner at amigarumi, each pattern is made up reasonably quickly, even by a beginner; and I like that as each body part is stitched separately, it's a great project for making when you have a bit of spare time here or there. Highly recommend. This Is my favourite crochet book.

I LOVE this book! I have never ever crocheted before and I wanted to make my friend who's had a baby a toy, so I thought I'd give it a try. After reading through the technicals and tips, and watching the videos on youtube (just type in Edward's Menagerie into the search function on youtube) and a bit of trial and error to begin with, I am now hooked. I have finished off Bridget the Elephant's body and I'm halfway through her first leg. I would definitely recommend thicker wool and crochet needles for a beginner, I'm still not sure how it can be done any smaller, but I'm sure practice will help. The book is really simply laid out, lovely pictures, helpful diagrams and such great stories about each animal that are worth a read in themselves. Update: I have attached a few photos of my animals. I have now made 12 since I bought the book in May. Everyone loves them - they all look great and I have a really long list to finish for Christmas now (mainly for adults who are jealous of the ones I've made for kids!)

I bought this book as I was looking for something fun to crochet as a beginner and this book has been perfect for that with very clear instructions on how to do each stitch. There are also different levels so once you have mastered the basics you can move up a level. The only reason I have rated this book a 4 rather than a 5 is that there is not clear instructions on how to put it all together, I ended up having to improvise, still turned out ok but would of helped to have directions for this final task. Overall i would definitely recommend this book, good way to learn crochet!

This book should come with a warning that you're likely to spend all your money on Toft yarn and become hopelessly addicted to making this menagerie of animals :) The book is beautifully written and all the animals have their own little characters (and names). The instructions are clear once you get your head around how the pattern is written. I found the Toft website had lots of links to Kerry's videos where it becomes really obvious what you need to do. There's a good mix of beginner, intermediate and advanced animals to try, although a beginner should really know the basic crochet stitches first as it can be a bit fiddly in places. Once you've made one, the body, arms and legs are all the same, just in different colours or with loop stitches for fur, the heads vary slightly, but on the whole, once you've made one, you're well on your way to mastering the rest. I've had lots of positive comments on the animals I've made and my daughter is always asking me for the next animal to add to her collection.

Really well put together book, full of lovely animals to make. Very well thought out, with very clear instructions on sizing, making, assembly etc. Good, clear pictures of the stitches and the little extras that make the animals unique (tails, manes, topknots etc). If you are a beginner, you could follow this easily, but equally if you are an experienced crocheter there is plenty here to please you. Patterns are graded from simple to more complicated, but all the animals are the same basic shapes - bodies, heads, legs etc - simple ones are all one colour, more complex ones have colour changes. I have been crocheting for years, but am loving making these animals (if you are experienced, you could easily adapt them for yourself). Very good book, well worth the money.

This book is simply beautiful. My crochet skills are very basic (I can do Granny squares and that's it!) but with the great instructions in this book I was able to master a host of new techniques and the elephant I'm making from this book is looking great. A couple of points...there is a lot of flicking between pages as you're following the patterns which can be a little inconvenient but it hasn't spoiled my enjoyment of the book. Also, if you're a novice crocheter, I would recommend starting off with a chunky wool and a large hook as it's easier to count your stitches this way which is an essential part of these patterns. Also, make sure you use a stitch marker so you know where your rounds start. The author uses alpaca wool but I just used ordinary which came out great. I've really enjoyed making my first toy out of this book and can't wait to make them all. I'm very fussy when it comes to craft books and I'm hard to impress but I really think this book is top notch.

Lovely book, easy patterns to follow have bought other of her books since.

J'écris mon évaluation en français, MAIS...ce livre est en anglais et la terminologie du crochet est britannique est non pas américaine. Ce livre est un must pour tous ceux qui aiment faire des amigurumi au crochet. Les 40 animaux sont tellement mignons qu'on a envie de tous les faire tout de suite.Ils sont tous faits avec la laine d'alpaga. Néanmoins, si on veut les faire avec d'autres types de fils, un tableau d'equivalences est fourni;au début du livre. Le livre est extremement bien organisé par niveaux. Il y a 3 niveaux avec un bon choix de modèles par niveau. Le premier niveau est pour débutants ou personnes qui veulent faire quelque chose de simple et nécessite la connaissance de mailles en l'air et mailles serrées en utilisant qu'une seule couleur. Avec le niveau 2 on ajoute le technique de changement de couleur. Avec le dernier niveau on ajoute des mailles spéciales, des boucles ou mailles fourrure par exemple. Tout est si bien expliqué que même le troisième niveau n'est pas trop difficile avec un peu d'entrainement. La présentation de chaque animal est faite comme si l'animal est un personage aves sa vie propre.

El libro es de muy buena calidad. Trae perfectamente explicado como hacer los personajes. Vale la pena. Lo recomiendo!.

Excelente produto

Non vedevo l'ora che arrivasse... e finalmente eccolo! Un libro fantastico ideale per quello che ho in mente di fare: creare splendidi pupazzi ideali per i più piccoli! Spiegazioni precise e dettagliate per seguire tutte le istruzioni fino alla fine! Lo consiglio vivamente a chi vuole cimentarsi in questa splendida arte! I risultati sono decisamente di grande soddisfazione!!!

I have 3 of Kerry Lord’s books, and have made over a dozen animals. I hadn’t crocheted in over 30 years, and these were easy to get started with, as it’s almost all single crochet. My first attempt at her method of ‘invisible decrease’ was a bit wonky, but I discovered a YouTube channel which illustrated it well and never looked back! From this book I’ve made Emma the bunny, Bridget the elephant (super cute!), Penelope the bear, Benedict the chimpanzee (another super cute one!), Laurence the tiger, Caitlin the giraffe, and Rufus the lion. I made changes to Rufus, as I didn’t like the mane in the pattern, so I just used another of her methods for that. Be aware of the yarn used - a soft, shiny yarn isn’t great for the animals with hair, but it’s perfect for something like the elephant. They all turn out well, and everyone loves them. I also have ‘The New Collection’ and ‘Dogs’ in the Edward’s Menagerie series.