Hello! This week I have a gem of a crochet book to review for you - Crocheted Succulents, Cacti & Other Succulent Plants to Make by Emma Varnam. I was super fortunate to win this book in an Inside Crochet magazine giveaway, especially as it was already on my must read list! The book arrived signed too which makes it super special.
Flicking through I saw so many inspiring photos of different cacti and succulents to crochet, I knew it was going to be tough to choose which one to start with. There are a few that require specific types of yarn, such as fluffy eyelash yarn for the Old Lady Cactus, but most of the designs call for regular DK weight yarn in cotton or acrylic.
I like the way that each succulent or cactus is introduced with a short paragraph about where in the world they're from and their characteristics as a plant - every day is a school day! I chose the Saguaro for my first project, simply because I needed to stash dive on this occasion and I had some DMC natura that was a good green, together with a tiny oddment of Paintbox Yarns cotton which would work for the soil. I didn't have any florist's wire to keep the "arms" in shape, but paper clips worked just fine!
I'm happy to report that the design worked up beautifully and I had no issues with the pattern (I should add at this point that this is not a sponsored post, all views are my own). The instructions are clear to follow and set out with plenty of colour photos. If you're new to crochet, there is an excellent getting started and a crochet techniques section at the back of the book. There's also a section devoted to displaying your plants and how to crochet plant pot cosies. So, I would thoroughly recommend this book - there's something in it for every level of crochet ability and enough patterns to keep you busy for a long time!
