Craft kits with materials and patterns: practical or not a good idea?

Dear users, dear authors,
In your opinion, are these pre-packaged sets with materials and pattern a good idea? Is the amount of material usually enough? Do you find these sets practical, or do you prefer to put together your own materials?

It depends. For embroidery, I find them very practical because you often need a lot of different colors and don’t have to go through the hassle of gathering them yourself. Most of the time, the thread has been enough. I had to reorder once, but that was my mistake because I had to undo a large section.
For knitting and crocheting, I often look for alternatives, especially if I want to make the piece in different colors.

Have a great day, everyone! 🌞🌞

I bought a set like this years ago. It was a cute, pretty big mouse—striped in pink and white.
There was enough material included. You just have to use the colors that come with it.
Every now and then, the crochet hooks are even included in the set.😬

I think they’re pretty handy for a short vacation or as a gift. A friend recently gave me one as a present.

But these days, I put my own sets together.😍

It was a crochet kit like this that really got me back into crafts. I don’t think they’re bad—you just outgrow them quickly.

A coworker asked me to crochet a little unicorn using one of these crochet kits. At first, I was worried that the yarn wouldn’t be enough, since I always cut a generous length of thread to weave in the ends. Luckily, there was enough, but I kept wondering what I’d do if it didn’t.

I prefer to put together my own color combinations of yarn, and I keep enough in stock so I can crochet without any worries.

As a gift set, it’s great—the recipient can get started right away.

I’m far too headstrong 😄 for craft kits to be for me. There’s always something I’d want different... the colors, the size, maybe a different material...
But if I ever found something I wanted to make exactly as shown, I’d buy a complete kit too. If you stick to the specifications, the amount of material is usually generous.

Best regards
Karola

It depends 😊
It’s been a while, but I once got an amigurumi kit from a “knick-knack shop.” It had everything, but the quality was very poor. The pattern was just as bad. A beginner would never have managed with it. 
I’d only buy a kit that includes everything (from the crochet hook to the stitch markers) if I were an absolute beginner, just to see if I enjoy it.

I’m a big fan of Garnmanufaktur. They have wonderful crochet and knitting kits (pattern + yarn) 😊. The quality is great, too. Everything is perfectly coordinated 😊.

Best regards
Sabine

Hello there 

Personally, I don’t buy kits and wouldn’t offer them either. 

My neighbor came to me when she was pregnant with 3 kits. Fox, unicorn, and zebra. Birgit, could you crochet these for me? Sure, no problem. 

-The fox was finished in one evening.
-The unicorn, well, the pattern wasn’t right.
-The zebra had too little black in it.
But luckily I still had some yarn that was a 95% match.

Many people join in on CALs and immediately ask... Do you have to use the specified yarn? 

Can you manage to pick the right color choice for everyone?

One person only uses cotton, another uses poly.
So what do you put in the kit? 

How much of each color? One person crochets loosely, another tightly.

Difficult, I think.
But as I said, that’s just my personal opinion. 

I wish everyone a really wonderful crochet weekend 

Best, Birgit 

I’ve also received amigurumi kits as gifts. Often, the instructions were flawed, or it was simply unclear what was meant. The yarn was usually acrylic, which I don’t like to use for amigurumi—I prefer cotton yarn. The hooks included in the sets aren’t right for me either, since they’re always just metal without a handle, and because I crochet very loosely, I always need a hook that’s at least 1.5–2 sizes smaller than specified. So the projects I made from the sets always turned out differently.
I’ve also bought sweater kits (pattern and matching yarn) before, and those have actually always worked out well.

I used to buy kits like that for embroidery and knotting small rugs.

Hello,
This isn’t for me. I once had a set like this for a knitted pillow, and the yarn wasn’t enough because I knitted a seam selvedge instead of a chain selvedge.
And recently, I was really annoyed by an expensive set for a shawl—the color combination was awful and the shape was weird; I didn’t like it one bit.

I haven’t actually bought a real kit yet. Just twice: a pattern plus yarn for two baby dragons, plus an extra skein of the main color for each.
Most of the time, the yarns used are simply too expensive for me. If I’m supposed to pay around €140 for yarn plus the pattern for a shawl or scarf... then I’d rather let the colors in the kits inspire me and order hand-dyed yarn instead. Of course, that means searching for the right colors—which dyer happens to have something suitable ready at the moment. So far, that’s never been a problem, and I usually come in at least half the price of the original yarn 😁
I think the little amigurumi are really cute as small gifts.
When I want to try something new, a kit like this is an alternative. I bought a kumihimo disc with a pattern and yarn 🙈 two years ago, and I’ve even skimmed through the pattern once. What can I say, the yarn is perfect as a shoelace substitute 😂 so just as it is, without doing anything to it....
Or tablet weaving: a set with yarn, already warped and ready to start weaving right away... Bottom line: the pattern is good, there’s enough yarn, but the tablets are far too heavy to weave with properly 🤷 I’ll replace them all with regular cardboard tablets soon and then get started....