I have both this new version and 2 of the older style versions of this Knit Wit tool. Both sets seem sturdy and work well. I have lots of old books to use with the older version and let me just say, they are funny, especially the long skirts and high neck tops the women of the 60s and 70s wore. But I think I can adapt the older patterns for use with today's yarns and styles and if you can round up some of the older pattern books from ebay or elsewhere, I bet you can, too.
But don't use it with super bulky yarns such as Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick. All detail is lost with the super thick yarns and the resulting knotted mess is not pretty! The two samples I made ended up being turned into fluffy, knotted, tangled looking cat toys, so it wasn't all a waste of time.
3 ply and 4 ply yarn is fine, just not the super bulky variety. The sport weight, fingering weight and baby weight yarns look best, in my opinion, as they show the detail of the strands of yarn and the pattern they make to full advantage.
I also tried homespun, boucle and ribbon yarn and had good results with all of them, but I used ones that were lighter in weight/heft. Fun Fur did not work well for me, but maybe that's just me.
Look online for Hanaami Loom or Hannaami flowers/blooms to see more examples of what you can do with this type of craft.
Get out there and get crafty.
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What I like: The instructions are great for getting up and running. The pictures that accompany the directions are reasonably clear and the brochure format is nicely portable. After a few practice rosettes, I was more comfortable making rosettes without the instructions. I also like the pom-pom and tassel makers that came in the package. I found these the most useful -my 8yo daughter can make pom-pom animals and I can make fringe for my other yarn projects.What I don't like: The instructions don't tell you what to do with the beginning and ending tails that are created or how to secure them. A slight tug on either tail unravels the entire rosette or leaves a gaping hole. Just making a knot doesn't always work -sometimes making the knot pulls the entire rosette out of shape. For a complete craft n00b like me, this is critical info that should have been included. Unfortunately, these tools are not as popular as other yarn crafts such as loom knitting or needle knitting, so finding supplemental info is well nigh impossible. The closest I could come was a video of an informercial on YouTube which of course was unhelpful. Buyer beware. It would have been nice to have had a troubleshooting section in the instructions for solving common problems.
My verdict: It's not worth the paltry sum they're asking for. My kit cost around $10 and if I still had the receipt, I would get my money back. After spending several weeks trying to figure out how to keep the rosettes intact once they were off the tool and joined, I gave up. There's only so much failure I can take, after all. Save your $10 for an extra few gallons of gas.
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