Well, well, well. I guess it was time. I’ve seen The Woobles on SharkTank and every ad imaginable on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. I was always interested in trying it, but just hadn’t gotten around to it. I recently had 2 friends who bought them and I heard nothing but good reviews, so I decided to try it for myself. Here are my thoughts. (This is a completely unsponsored post.)
I should add that I did know how to crochet going into this. My mother taught me when I was a little girl. We used to make doilies. Some years passed and I randomly picked it up again as a teen and made a purse on my own, but I didn’t really know what I was doing. I just kept making loops until it was the size I wanted and then sewed it together. I never really learned how to follow a pattern.
ORDERING
So I took the plunge. First off, it was super easy to order from the website. I hate creating new accounts and I was able to order through my Amazon Prime account. That made it super easy. I also got a free tin for with a promo code. The kit came in a couple of days. I decided to start with The Pineapple, not too many color changes, and I love pineapple. It’s part of their beginner kits.
WHAT YOU GET
The kit comes with the “yarn” (it’s actually cord) needed (honestly, more that you need, so you can make more than one or try the various patterns some more), stuffing, little bits for the eyes and mouths, and instructions that are available online. The instructions take you to a website where you can see step-by-step instructions, as well as a pdf of the the pattern. Totally pleased with everything in the kit. You can also get a crochet needle (0.4mm) or opt out if you don’t need one. I really appreciated this option.
GETTING STARTED
I think the game changer here is that they have prestarted your piece (with a magic circle). The reason this is such a brilliant idea is that it’s so easy to get frustrated starting something new, when it’s hard. Creating chains from nothing and then looping them and yarning over, can be very tough when you have 0.05mm of material to grasp. They start you when very simple techniques that are easy to explain and follow along. And if you are having trouble there are stitch markers already placed in the material. It makes it very easy to know if you are doing the right thing or if you messed up. The 30 second videos were very helpful and easy to follow along. It is HARD to show stitches on camera, but their method of explaining the V’s for the Single Crochet and telling you which hole to go in (and WHY) was super helpful in building skills.
OVERALL
My overall opinion is that this is a great kit. Sure, you could go buy yarn and try to YouTube it, but honestly, if you’ve never done it before you may get a little frustrated and probably not enjoy this new skill. For $30 you can spend a couple of hours and have a finished product to show. With the one pattern that I just finished I learned how to make a chain, do the single crochet, half crochet, and double crochet stitches, how to increase and decrease, and how to connect pieces together without you seeing the threads. If I had one complaint, I would say I appreciated the very slow beginning, but then it jumped a bit faster once they had taught you the stitch the and I had to rewatch some videos. So I would have appreciated some more walk throughs towards the end of the piece, but it probably did help me learn better to have to do it on my own. I wish there were tips on how to make the bottom flat, and make the leaves curl properly, but I also didn’t look at the help menu, so maybe those were there.
I appreciated the kid-friendly versions where you could use thread instead of the small pieces. Looking out for the consumer is a great thing to do. I finished my pineapple in less than 3 days, so maybe 6-7 hours of crocheting. My confidence is high and I know I can follow a pattern and make almost anything now!!! (I didn’t like the placement the pattern suggest for the mouth so I moved mine down, so understanding what is goign where and why definitely makes these customizable!). Completely worth it! I will definitely be making another one as a gift for someone.
Take this as a sign to GO FOR IT!!!
Have you tried The Woobles? Comment below or on the Instagram post @joyfishbowl!
