My finished Dorothy doll.
Like many kids her age, my daughter loves “The Wizard of Oz” (both the book and movie), so when I stumbled across The Wizard of Oz Crochet by Kristen Rask while looking for another crochet book online, I immediately bought it.
The book actually comes as part of a kit. Along with the instructions for making 12 characters, the kit contains: a 4.0 mm metal hook; two sets of black safety eyes; two colors of embroidery floss; a tapestry needle; stuffing; and yarn to make the Tin Man and Cowardly Lion. It is a complete kit for making those two characters, which I think is particularly nice. How often have you bought a kit to make something only to discover half way through the project that you needed to purchase other items to actually complete the project? Not so with this kit!
The 12 instructions included in The Wizard of Oz Crochet are for: Dorothy; Toto (with basket); the Scarecrow; the Tin Man; the Cowardly Lion; Glinda the Good Witch; the Wicked Witch of the East; the Wicked Witch of the West; a Winged Monkey; a Lollipop Kid; the Wizard of Oz; and a pair of Ruby Slippers. All of them are quite cute and really look like what they’re supposed to be.
So that’s the good news–a complete kit for making the Tin Man and Cowardly Lion, and cute designs. The bad news is that the pattern instructions (or at least those I’ve attempted so far) contain many, many errors.
A close-up of Dorothy.
My first project from this book was Dorothy. On Round 3 of the head (the first part of the doll you make), I encountered the first error. The instructions for Round 3 were “*sc, 2sc in next stitch* (24).” It is mathematically impossible to start with 12 stitches and have 24 stitches at the end of Round 3 following those instructions. I am not as good a crocheter as a knitter, but thankfully I’m experienced enough to have been able to figure out what to do to create the doll’s head–I chose to follow the written instructions and to ignore the stitch count. So for Round 3, I repeated “sc, 2sc” around and ended with 18 stitches. For the rest of the head, I continued to follow the written instructions and ignored the stitch count, and my head was round and the size it was supposed to be.
Overall, the errors for making Dorothy were with stitch counts. Which aren’t such a big deal IF you know enough about crochet to figure out to ignore them. There were only three errors that I’d call “substantive,” where you cannot follow the instructions as written and have your doll turn out properly. (See below for all of my Dorothy corrections.)
Dorothy with Toto’s basket.
It’s such a shame though, because The Wizard of Oz Crochet book is sold as part of a kit and therefore seemingly a nice gift and good for a beginner. But a beginning crocheter would be totally lost with these instructions. And the errors are not just with the Dorothy pattern–I started the Toto pattern and found even more errors, and many of them substantive, not just stitch counting mistakes. I have taken a break from Toto because my crochet skills are not good enough to quickly and easily figure out how to fix Toto’s pattern. I keep checking online for corrections from the book’s publisher, but I haven’t seen any yet. So Toto may just have to wait.
Luckily Dorothy turned out well and my daughter was thrilled with her new doll. Dorothy is really cute, and once I figured out how to correct her pattern, she was fun to make. For my Dorothy doll, I chose to make her legs a little longer so they wouldn’t look stumpy. By making her legs longer, my completed Dorothy is approximately 8″ tall, which is an inch taller than the finished doll according to the pattern. Although how you put your doll together (sewing the legs onto the body, etc.) will affect its height also. Overall I’m pleased with the results, as is my daughter, which we all know is what really counts when making a doll for your little one.
Here are my corrections to the Dorothy doll pattern:
Great looking doll! I am currently making a set of these.
Thank you, Tina! I’d love to see yours when you’re finished! Happy crocheting, Samantha
How can I send you photos?
Is email convenient for you? If so, send them to me at samantha@makerknit.com
I made the Toto doll, but I’m like you, I had a hard time following the directions. I agree that a beginner would be totally lost. Also, I started on a Glinda, but she seems larger than all the other dolls. I would love to show you my progress and get your opinion!
I would love to see your work! Email me if that’s convenient, or tell me what would work better for you. I still haven’t gone back to the Toto doll, so if you have any tips for completing it, I’d really like to hear them.
I’m sending you pics of my work so far. I’m so excited to find someone else who is as in to this as I am! I am going to make another Toto for a friend. I will make notes to share with you!
Thank you for sending me photos of your dolls–they’re fantastic! And you’ve completed so many of them! You’ve inspired me to try Toto again. I know I stopped making his head because I didn’t have the plastic nose at the time (but I do now), and then I paused on his body because I thought the pattern was wrong and I had to think about how to fix it. (Is his body really supposed to be the same size as his head?) If you do make another Toto, PLEASE make notes and help me! 🙂
I’ve been trying the flying monkey and the face/snout has crazy directions. If you every get around to trying him, could you post the corrections? Thanks.
Dinah, The flying monkey is in my queue, and I will definitely post my corrections when I’m done. Please check back, and thanks for reading! Happy crocheting, Samantha
On the flying monkey snout, the creator uses the beginning chain stitches as the center of the first few rounds. Don’t turn around at the end unless the directions say turn. It is very confusing. Does that help?
Thanks for the clarification, Tina! I hope it helps Dinah.
It did help. The directions for doing the eye part of the face are not correct, but I managed to monkey around with them too and I got a monkey face!! Thanks so much for the help. Dinah
Hi Dinah, I’m so glad Tina’s suggestions helped you! (Thanks again, Tina!) Samantha
So glad I could help!
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I love how Dorothy turned out, and thank you for posting the corrections to the pattern. I am giving away this kit now on my blog (http://tammypowley.com/2014/03/25/wizard-of-oz-crochet-kit-giveaway-review/) and have read in the amazon reviews that many people have round errors in the pattern. Hopefully they will post errata soon for this. I linked over to this post from my post about the giveaway.
Hi Tammy, Thanks for your kind words. I am very happy with my Dorothy doll and I did enjoy making her after figuring out how to correct the pattern. I love your review of the kit; it is spot-on: the concept for the book is great (as you said, who doesn’t love the Wizard of Oz?) and the dolls are so cute, but the patterns are not for beginners. It’s such a shame that the editing wasn’t a little better; that would have solved so many of the problems. Hopefully they will publish errata soon (please encourage them when you send them your contest winner’s info!). Thanks for your comments, and Happy Crafting, Samantha
I also bought this kit because my daughter is such a big fan. I had just a couple of problems with the Tin man, but was able to figure it out and adjust. But the problems with the Cowardly Lion have been ridiculous! A friend on a Facebook crocheting community found a site with the corrected pattern for the lion, as she, too, bought the kit and has found errors. I intend to write to the publisher (the address is in the front cover) and let them know that the amount of errors in this book are unacceptable, eapesially for the price we paid for it!
Hi Vicki, I agree with you–the number of errors is unacceptable. Such sloppy editing. And it’s such a shame, because as I said in my post, it would have been such a wonderful kit if not for all those errors. It’ll be interesting to see if you get any response from writing to the publisher. Good luck and thanks for your comment! Happy crocheting, Samantha
I’m curious about where people found the corrected pattern for the Lion. I found something posted online from the maker’s of the Crochet book and it had similar errors!
I just scrapped the book, looked at the picture and wrote my own pattern. Maybe this will help others!
https://drmegs.wordpress.com/2016/01/14/wizard-of-oz-crochet-tin-man-lion/
I bought the kit. I finished the tin man and now I am working on the lion. It doesn’t make sense when doing the body – page 42 in book with kit – that round 4 ends with 24 stitches and round 5 ends with 25. The directions say *3sc, 2sc in next stitch*(25). It ends up with more than 25 if you complete the round. This looks like a mistake. Anyone out there have an idea? Round 6-9 doesn’t look correct either because it says to sc in each stitch and end up with 26!Should this be 25?
Denise, I have not attempted the cowardly lion, so I cannot tell you for certain, but in my experience with this kit, if you ignore the stitch counts and just follow the directions as written the object will be correct. My friend Tina has made the cowardly lion, so maybe she can guide you. Check out her blog post on the cowardly lion: https://crochetshowcase.wordpress.com/2014/02/21/the-cowardly-lion/ and ask her about the pattern. Good luck and happy crocheting! Samantha
I am working on the ruby slippers and I can’t figure out the instructions as they say rows such as ch 18, hdc 6 stitches, turn sc in 9, (well there are only 6), ch 1 turn is a row, and it goes on like this and I’ve tried turning every which way and can’t figure out how to get it to look like the picture. Am I just stupid?
Hi Jane, Such a shame that the designs are so cute and the instructions are so terrible. Sorry that you’re having so much trouble! I have not attempted the Ruby Slippers, so I cannot help, but a friend of mine is a bit of an expert on Wizard of Oz Crochet, having made just about everything in the book. She has a post about the Ruby Slippers on her website that may be of help to you (see link below). Best wishes, Samantha https://crochetshowcase.wordpress.com/2015/07/08/ruby-slippers/
I thought it was just me!!! I am on my third attempt of the shoes. Trying rounds instead of rows. Sigh. I am a crocheter and I am appalled that this was even published as is.
Hi Toni, If you figure out a fix, please let me know and I’ll post your corrections/clarifications. These shoes are giving so many people trouble. I have not made the slippers, so unfortunately I cannot offer any insight, but have you checked out my friend Tina’s website? If not, her post about making the Ruby Slippers may help (see link below). Good luck and happy crocheting, Samantha
https://crochetshowcase.wordpress.com/2015/07/08/ruby-slippers/
I’m curious about where people found the corrected pattern for the Lion. I found something posted online from the maker’s of the Crochet book and it had similar errors!
I just scrapped the book, looked at the picture and wrote my own pattern. Maybe this will help others!
https://drmegs.wordpress.com/2016/01/14/wizard-of-oz-crochet-tin-man-lion/
Hi Meg, Your Cowardly Lion is fantastic! And thank you for sharing your pattern; it is going to help so many people (including me)! Good luck as you continue down the yellow brick road…. Samantha
Thanks, you too!
Your lion is great! Thanks for redoing the pattern. This kit is so confusing. I need to get back into Glinda and finish her. Have you tried her yet? Here is my lion: https://crochetshowcase.wordpress.com/2014/02/21/the-cowardly-lion/
So cute!! I have not tried Glinda yet. I am a professor, and so I had a lot of time over winter break to get creative with yarn and not as much time now that my classes have resumed. I’ll be sure to post her when I get to her! You can follow me at https://drmegs.wordpress.com/ to get an update when I do!
I got this kit for Christmas and just now got a chance to look at it. I started out by looking at the Toto and basket pattern and didn’t think some of the steps seemed right. I’m glad it seems I’m not the only one to be confuse – but also irritated because the directions should be more clear. It seems like making any of these characters will be a lot of trial and error – but I absolutely LOVE how your Dorothy came out!
Hi Sissy, Thanks for your compliment on my Dorothy doll! I was very happy with how she turned out, although it was quite a process given all the pattern errors (and the fact that I am not a super-experienced crocheter). It is such a shame that (seemingly) all the patterns in the Wizard of Oz Crochet book are unclear or just plain wrong. Before you start any of the Wizard of Oz projects, you should check out my friend Tina’s website: https://crochetshowcase.wordpress.com/; she’s made many of the dolls and offers tips and advice for making them. Also see Meg Smith’s site (https://drmegs.wordpress.com/) for her great examples of the Tin Man and Cowardly Lion, and for her Cowardly Lion pattern corrections. Best of luck and happy crocheting! Samantha
I’ve had this kit for some time now and had given up. I’ve completed the Tin Man and got corrections for a he Lion. Now with your help I might get my head round the rest. I’ve crocheted since I was seven and have never come across anything so confusing. Thanks for the clarity.
Hi Wendy, I’m glad you were able to find some useful information here! Thanks for you comment, and happy crocheting! Samantha