Review: MJ’s Off the Hook Designs
Prognosis: Good. The only reason this doesn’t get an excellent prognosis is the Bernat Softee Chunky yarn she recommends for the Dino Blanket. I spent hours untangling this yarn to prep it for crocheting. I will never buy Bernat Softee Chunky yarn again.
The Market Bag: Found at We Crochet, this pattern is easy for beginners that know the basics of magic ring and double crochet, single crochet, and slip stitch (Click on the links to see how-to-videos). MJ also includes her own video which moves pretty fast for this newbie. I loved using We Crochet’s Dishie yarn. (We Crochet has several dishcloth kits that are great for beginners and include this amazing yarn. I purchased one and used the leftover yarn to learn other basic crochet stitches). The end result for the market bag was pretty good for my first bag and its actually functional! I liked making this project.
Tools Needed: 5.0 mm and 5.5 mm crochet hook. Scissors. Yarn needle. Optional: Stitch marker
Supples Needed: Yarn provided in kit.
Treatment Plan: Make sure to count your stitches at the end of each round to make sure you are following the pattern. Its easy to get off by one or two stitches then the whole project is off. If you like frogging, or pulling your project apart, this may not be so bad. If your count gets off you can simply frog your project back to just before your mistake and start over.
The Dino Blanket: Found this pattern on MJ’s Off the Hook Designs’ Etsy page. Oh, the yarn. So many tangles. Building this project was fun and fairly quick but it took forever to get ready to start due to the necessary detangling of Bernat’s Softee Chunky yarn. Stay away from this yarn. This pattern requires you to crochet with 2 strands which took a little getting used. Again, you tube was my savior in learning this skill.
Tools Needed: 16 mm crochet hook hook (I used a 15.75 mm because I already had one on hand- likely made my project slightly smaller than intended). 9 mm crochet hook. Scissors. Yarn needle
Supplies: 14 skeins of yarn! (NOT Bernat’s Softee Chunky yarn unless you want to spend hours detangling it!). Yes, that’s a lot of yarn.
Treatment Plan: Find a compatible yarn thats easier to work with, obvi. Open to suggestions. I will definitely be checking out some of MJ’s Off the Hook Designs’ apparel patterns in the future. Stay tuned.
