A couple of bear-like friends bought me a cute Donna Wilson Make Your Own Monster Kit for Christmas. It was a really sweet gift as they said "Christmas is a time when parents can be selfless and so someone needs to look out for the Mums and Dads". Awwww!
The best thing about the kit was that it was really quick to make and it was easy to get a bit creative without having to send Flo off to a baby sitter for the afternoon. I had a little look at it on Boxing day and I had finished my little monster, who I named Peter, the very next day.
Peter is a working man by day and a crazy punk by night.
Donna Wilsons designs have often caught my eye. I love her crazy creatures, which you can buy ready made online, from fashionable boutiques or knit your own versions using her cute-as-a-button book The Knitted Odd Bunch.
Although this kit provided me with a nice diversion from mummy duties, being a crafty person already I did have a few criticisms of the kit.
The body shape of your monster has already been sewn for you and so all you need to do is cut round the shape, turn it inside out and stuff it. I felt a bit cheated by this as I was expecting and looking forward to deciding on and then sew the body shape myself. If the shape of the monster is already decided for you then why not have him already sewn and stuffed in the box?
To embellish your monster you get some felt shapes and little machine knitted scraps in some really lovely colours and patterns. However if you cut these scraps into any kind of foot, hand, hair, mouth shape as directed on the box, any knitter will know the knitted stitches will fray and
unravel pretty quickly. I gave it a go and the shape held ok once sewn down, but if you were planning on giving this as a toy to actually be handled and played with, then felt for all of the embellishments would have been a better option.
Over all I really enjoyed making Peter and will be passing him onto a good home soon. I think this would be a good kit for young crafters or really busy craft lovers.
