Crochet Couture for Kids Ages 2-12, a Crochet Pattern Book by Alla Koval
Most people think of crochet as being a winter craft. This idea is perpetuated because the most popular crochet projects tend to be things like hats, scarves, and blankets. There are many lovely things you can crochet in the summertime, but it might not even have occurred to you to go looking for them. And even if you’ve decided you want to get started on a new summer crochet project right now, it isn’t always easy to find appropriate summertime patterns — since most crochet books and websites tend to devote significant amounts of their space to publishing fall and winter patterns.
If you enjoy crocheting for girls, or working crochet lace designs, I think you’re going to be really excited to discover this gorgeous collection of summer-friendly crochet lace patterns. If you have a daughter, granddaughter, niece, sister, or friend who’s in need of some new summertime clothing, accessories or bedspreads / lace blankets, this book is definitely worth checking out.
This Books’ Details at a Glance:
Book Title: Imagical Seasons: Crochet Couture for Kids Age 2-12, Volume 2, Summer
Author: Alla Koval
Technical Editor: Edie Eckman
Publisher: myLCG
Copyright Date: 2015
ISBN: 978-1-943187-01-3
Formats: Both digital and paper copies of this book are available. I’m reviewing a digital PDF copy, and therefore cannot comment on things like paper quality, binding quality, etc.
Number of Pages: Amazon.com notes that the paperback version of the book includes 88 pages. My most updated digital PDF version of the book includes 90 pages.
Skill Level: No skill levels are noted in these patterns, so I wanted to ask Alla’s opinion about this. She commented briefly in the interview I posted. Here’s what she had to say:
I see my book to be useful for English readers from US or Europe and for readers with no English at all; useful for crocheters of any skill level – from beginners and to advanced designers; and finished projects to be worn by girls from 2 to 12 years old and some pattern are suitable for adults also!
Crochet Patterns Included in This Book:
Kristal Motif — This is a versatile crochet motif pattern that you’ll find incorporated into other patterns throughout the book. It’s 21 rounds. The design reminds me of vintage bedspread motif patterns — and, indeed, this motif can be used to make bedspreads and blankets if you’d want to use it that way. There are a couple of blanket designs included in this book. However, Alla also shows you bunches of other creative ideas for using this motif.
Silverlace Blanket
The Silverlace blanket utilizes the Kristal motif pattern and transforms the design into a delicate lace baby blanket.
Tropicale Cover —
The tropicale cover is a whole different take on the kristal motif. You can crochet this version of the design using worsted weight yarns and multiple colors. Thanks to the larger yarn size, it should theoretically work up more quickly than the Silverlace blanket. I haven’t yet tried crocheting either pattern to see what the actual time requirements would be.
Azure Wrap
The azure wrap is a chic, sophisticated design based on the kristal motif pattern. Quite a bit of space in the book is devoted to pictures of different ways to style, finish and wear this wrap. This is a nice touch that I definitely appreciated. The photos will be especially helpful for girls who have never owned a wrap before, and may not be confident of how to wear one. Your girl has choices for several different options, and can pick the one that suits her style best.
Petaline Dress & Poncho
The Petaline Dress — This is an adorable, on-trend and eye-catching pattern for a lacy dress based on the Kristal motif. The project photos include two different sizes and colorways of the petaline dress, which I found helpful for visualizing some of the fun possibilities for finished projects I could create with this pattern.
Daisy Beanie Hat
This is a super cute lace beanie that’s versatile enough for wearing with many different outfits.
Flower Pin
This book includes a pattern for a flower pin that’s designed to be attached to the daisy beanie. It could also be used as a standalone project; you could make these separately from the beanie and use them in many different ways. There’s an adorable project photo in the book showing this flower used as a hair clip or barrette, adorning a baby girl’s hair.
This design is crocheted using the first two rounds of the flower motif pattern from the center of the daisy beanie. However, it can look really different when finished and styled in various ways.
Millefiori Apron Top
This design just couldn’t be any prettier! It’s a harmonious design featuring many gorgeous details.
The book also includes a glossary, some charts and an index.
Where to Buy This Book:
- Imagical Seasons Crochet, Volume 2, Summer, Paperback version at Amazon.com
Imagical Seasons Crochet, Volume 2, Summer, digital (Amazon Kindle) version.
Things I Like About This Book:
- I definitely welcome the idea of a new, stylish, up-to-date collection of summer crochet lace patterns for girls. I think there was a hole in the marketplace that this book fills nicely, and I’m excited that these lovely summer patterns are now available.
- There’s some exceptional design work included in this book.
- These are all lovely projects. I’d want to make any of them. Every one of them looks to me like it would be worth investing both the time and the yarn to give them a try. This is not a statement I would make about many pattern books! It’s really rare for me to find a book that includes so many appealing options.
- The photos, colors and styling are all harmonious and beautifully done.
- I think this book is a good value for the asking price — particularly for the Kindle version, which is priced more attractively. However, even for the paperback edition, I think the asking price is a good value. It’s rare to find a pattern collection that incorporates this many quality details — a fantastic variety of gorgeous and intricate patterns, on-trend styling, symbol crochet charts, schematics and written instructions.
- I really appreciate the detailed yarn info that Alla has provided for each pattern. She gives you the important details about the actual yarns used in her project sample or samples. She also includes the general yarn weight standard in case you want to make substitutions.
- You get bunches of helpful reference info at the back of the book, which will come in handy if you need to brush up on things like how to join-as-you-go motifs, which yarn weights are which, how to measure, etc.
- The Imagical Seasons team has already made updates to the books to correct some errata that came to their attention before the start of the blog tour. Yay! Seems like they’re pretty on top of things in that regard.
Things About This Book That Could Be Improved On:
There really isn’t anything significant to dislike about this book. It’s a spectacular collection of patterns overall, and I think it would be a worthwhile addition to most crochet reference libraries. But since this is a book review, and I feel obligated to give you my 100% honest opinion about the book, I’ll get excessively nit-picky and reveal a few little things I noticed that could be improved on:
The book includes a close-up photo of the Silverlace blanket — which is great, and really helpful. Except for the fact that the blanket is white, and the picture was taken on a white background. Maybe I’m just looking at it on sunny day and with a too-bright monitor, which is possible. I think the details would stand out more if it had been photographed on a different color background for added contrast. But overall, this is not really a big issue, as there are several other pictures of the blanket included. It’s better to have this picture than not have it, and even considering the white on white, I’m sure it will prove helpful to those who decide to crochet this pattern.
As I mentioned above, skill level ratings are not included for these patterns. I don’t see this as being a huge problem, but I do think it would have been nice if they had been included.
I’m a little concerned that the subtitle of the book could accidentally create buyer confusion. I’m referring to the part where it says “for kids 2-12”. The projects in the book are suitable for girls. While I acknowledge that girls are kids, I would not describe any these patterns as being particularly boy-friendly or unisex. (Perhaps others will disagree…the floor is open for comments if you’d like to express a different opinion.) I do think it’s important to make prospective buyers aware that, if you’re looking for a book of boys’ patterns or unisex patterns, this book is not likely to meet your needs.
Just to be clear, I think it’s a fantastic idea to have a collection of patterns intended for girls! I love this book and think it’s fantastic overall. I’d enthusiastically and wholeheartedly recommend this pattern collection to any of you who have daughters, granddaughters, little sisters, and nieces to crochet for.
More Highlights From Alla Koval’s Imagical Seasons Crochet Blog Tour:
More Crochet Patterns for Girls
- Crochet for Girls: 23 Patterns for Crocheting Cute Clothes and Accessories
- Imagical Seasons: Crochet Couture for Kids 2-12, Volume 1 — Spring
- Girls’ Crochet Baby Blanket With Heart Pattern
More Gorgeous Crochet Lace Patterns
More Summer Crochet and Craft Ideas
- Jewelry Patterns
- Dishcloth and Washcloth Patterns
- Fourth of July Crafts
- Find More Summer Crafts HERE.
Posted By: Amy Solovay
This page was last updated on 7-27-2023.