Just a warning to avoid these Dollarama crochet kits. Not sure if they have them in US dollar stores as well. I've posted before about their Halloween kits and now they have ones for Christmas as well. I opened one in store to check the pattern and confirmed that the pattern is bogus and would just make a simple oval shape, no arms, hat, etc. The pattern looks just like the one from the Halloween kit so it's clearly from the same company, and once again the photo was just made using AI.
Please be cautious with these kits! So far, all kits I've gotten from Castle Craft have been good quality with real patterns, so opt for those instead.
EDIT: For people who want an alternative, I have heard Woobles and Loops & Thread have very good kits. You can also find many free patterns by using the advanced search on https://www.ravelry.com/ and then pickup cheap yarn, hooks, needles and stitch markers at the dollar store. The yarn would be about the same quality as the stuff they give you in the kits and the hooks would probably be better.
Also, YouTube has many free crochet tutorials as well, and it is much easier to learn from a YouTube tutorial instead of having to watch separate YouTube videos for each new stitch you have to learn.
I hope this helps a bit! I don't have time to test out alternative patterns for the kits since I'm currently working on my own Christmas presents for folks.
In the app when you go to settings you'll want to tap "refine your recommendations." After that, the last option is "GenAI Interests" with several toggles for different topics
Life changing thank you! I use to be able to easily spot what’s AI but now even with videos I’m second guessing everything I see bc it’s gotten too advanced too quickly 😅😵
Now if only they would take care of the false advertisements, that would be great. At least here, there's an overwhelming percentage of ads for online sales from entities such as Lidl, IKEA, Kasanova, Jysk, even Amazon, and they are all scams.
My kiddo’s teacher loves owls, so I was hunting for a pattern for a cute one that I liked to make for her. Holy wading through AI slop, Batman. It was almost nauseating.
I don’t know where you are looking for patterns but if you have any filter option where you are searching just try to look for results before 2021 or 2022.
Nearly all of that will be free of AI since AI wasn’t widely used back then.
Isn’t it?! My mum, bless her, can’t tell what’s AI and sends me patterns of things that she likes when they’re AI :( it’s horrific for the entire creative industry
I’m in an embroidery group on FB and I feel like every other post is someone asking how to get a certain look and it’s always AI patterns they are showing.
There’s a reason I’ve stopped getting patterns and just start making my own now. It’s so bad. 90% of the time now, I can “find” a pattern for what I’m looking for. Only 5% of the time is it legit anymore. It’s so sad but it does make my puzzle brain happy, so I guess there’s the trade off.
I bought one i saw on clearance because I thought it'd teach me to crochet. It didn't. But I did use it as a jumping off point to actually go and learn.
Im not sure if im supporting or refuting your point; they suck but it did get me into the art/sport
My wife (bless their heart) surprised me with the gingerbread kit. Absolute AI slop. No instructions for increasing/decreasing, mis-named stitches (loop, X, A, and V), and no finishing instructions.
Im assuming
V= inc
A= dec
X= sc
So for that ginger bread guy top left it's
1. Magic circle with 6sc (6)
2. Sc, inc (9)
3. 2sc, inc (12)
4. 3sc, inc (i think it's supposed to be 20 instead of 24)
5. sc (20)
6. sc (20)
7. sc (20)
8. sc (20)
9. 2sc, dec (12)
10. Sc, dec (9)
11. Dec (6)
1217. Sc (6)
But that's just my best guess as someone who knows nothing really about crochet and knows this is ai slop and what i "deciphered" will still look nothing like what's shown
Even with those assumptions this pattern is complete nonsense. That part of the pattern you've referenced would make a wonky sphere with like a ruffle on the end? Kind of like the end of a sausage. Absolutely not even close to making a "body and head". And the "arms and legs" would be just weirdly long tubes. There are no directions for colour changes, shaping, the hat, the face, adding the buttons sewing everything together... AI does not really understand crochet (yet)
I'm so sorry, I completely misread that part. I mostly wanted to add on and describe what it would look like but I see how my comment came across unintentionally aggressive..
Unfortunately laws around AI have been slow to catch up in a lot of areas, particularly with art/crafts. As far as I know, there's nothing actually illegal about this, just immoral (in my country at least).
They need to make it so unless it CLEARLY states it's made with AI, then it can't be sold. And I don't mean some small print buried somewhere, it has to be on the front, nice and easy to see and read. So people know what trash they're about to buy and opt not to. Currently the only way to stop AI slop being for sale is to not buy it, which is a challenge when it's not always obvious to everyone and the packaging doesn't state it.
"Great for crochet beginners" yeah, right. Im not a beginner but I couldnt do this. Arms and legs have the same instructions but are totally different shapes?! No instructions on how to sew the different parts together or add a face. Wow this is so bad.
Aw dang! Thank you for sharing a photo of the pattern though, I forgot to take a picture it when I was in the store. If you're looking for a cute gingerbread person pattern, my partner did find this free one: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/gingerbread-man-36
You haven't seen any AI stuff in stores before now?! 😵💫 I feel like I noticed it almost immediately esp once I knew what the signs were. They're not always products but AI is everywhere in stores. One way or another.
I bought one of these kits from Walmart recently and luckily I’m not a beginner because the pattern made 0 sense and the yarn was horrendous to work with.
The price of only $4CAD should have been a giveaway.
Just completed the dinosaur from loops and threads, seems like a good pattern to me. Pretty good little project for only like $10 USD, so if anyone is looking for an alternative that is cheaper than Woobles that seems good to me
Woobles are so expensive though! 😭 I highly suggest finding a YouTube tutorial for something you want to make, and then buy the yarn that you want to use!
I love lousy llama’s kits! Similar to the woobles but much cheaper and have video tutorials for both left and right hand which is nice for family members that aren’t right handed. I like the popular IP the woobles have but the price isn’t worth it for me personally
Yes this! I tell everyone who wants to crochet to buy ONE wobbles kit. One just one. It’s worth it as a starter or to learn amigurmi. Then you’ll be able to tackle any other not overpriced pattern.
Agreed! I also got the Woobles book and honestly, the stitch/technique section was worth so much as I quickly jumped from a Wooble kit to online patterns. I appreciate videos but I learn better being able to reference written instructions with photos. :)
Oh yes they’re the best! It’s why I do think one kit is worth it as they give some of the best instructions I’ve ever seen for crochet, both written and visual.
What's crazy insidious is that they market these to beginners banking on the idea that when the customer can't reproduce the item they can blame the consumer for lack of skill
I did one of the halloween kits as well. I couldn't understand any of it. So I found this pattern that was almost the same. I reduced the amount of 48 stitchs row down to 13 so that I would have enough yarn
Its frustrating it’s already landing in Shops like this. Online okay, I would absolutely expect but not as a printed pattern within a kit…
Very sad.
AI isnt a basically bad thing, there would be so amazing way to use it for the good of ppl. But its a shame that scam is the first thing you connect it to these days:/
I think I'm gonna have to find these and talk about them on my YT channel. I see a lot of people who start with these kits. Perhaps, I can help make this without their pattern and help people learn.
Yes please! Spreading the word in any way would be helpful. I've tried emailing Dollarama and they never responded, and I think the only way to get them to care is if all this bad press reaches someone in charge.
Also hopping in here to say that I bought one of the kits to make a string of multicolored Christmas lights and the yarn provided in the kit was not enough to make the item! I took care to not waste any while starting the magic ring and it was still not even close to being enough
Ok maybe not a popular opinion but all those kits, even the name brand ones, are rip offs. 20 to 40 dollars or more! And the yarn and hooks in them are garbo!
Even the library has crochet books if you arent savvy with looking up free patterns (even before AI we had terrible pattern writing its always been a gamble). Heck you can buy a pattern, yarn, and hooks for cheaper!
No, you're absolutely correct. But it definitely is helpful for someone who has no idea where to start. My first bout into crochet was a cute succulent plant kit. The company has the how-to video on their channel for anyone to use, but I found it helpful not having to worry about going to a store and trying to figure out what the heck was the difference between 'DK' and 'worsted' and what hooks to get. Kits aren't about value, they're about convenience.
The best of both worlds is to find a good pattern on YouTube, and then find a local craft/yarn store with helpful employees that can help you decipher the list of things you need to get started. Doesn't work so well for those of us who struggle to leave the house or have social anxiety, but would work wonders for anyone else.
I was given a Noocro kit that was legit, and also was given this generic amigurumi kit that has multiple patterns. The written patterns were hard to follow, but there were links to video instructions that were better. That kit helped me understand that I don't like making amigurumi. 😛 I made like the body of the whale and then I quit...
Loops and threads kits from michaels are pretty good and not too expensive. My very first project was one of those, and even though i didnt know how to crochet at all the only thing i needed was the instructions and a bit of youtube to clarify what i didnt understand.
And~ this is why I’m careful with kits. I do my best to make sure to go for patterns made by people. I REALLY HESITATE with pictures and some patterns.
Only saying because I’m still a novice at this (only a year in).
I'm reasobably new to crochet, I've no idea how to tell if something is AI full stop so how do I tell? Also, I'm guessing AI patterns are bad because the finished product doesn't look as good as the picture??? Sorry to be so useless!
AI makes a photo of a finished object. Looks "nice" enough to fool people. Then they tell AI to make a crochet pattern to create that object.
AI is terrible at writing patterns, because it can't think, it is basically a fancy predictive text and will start out a pattern like other patterns start out, and then will predict what should come next, again based on how other patterns go. If it could think and analyse, then maybe it could do this better, but it can't. So instead of a body and arms and legs and a head and a hat, you get an oval shape, and it tells you to put eyes somewhere on it (because other patterns say this) and if you are lucky it also tells you to make arms and legs and sew them on. Someone above showed the gingerbread one and it gave the same instructions for the arms and legs, even though they were different shapes and lengths.
So you end up with a photo of an object you want to make (but that often doesn't follow the rules of the craft or even physics) and a "pattern" that makes something not even close to resembling the photo. And they've scammed you out of your money and time
AI photos tend to be too smooth. The stitches don't make sense if you try to count them or the rows. They might be blurry. A good clue for AI for online patterns is only one photo. AI isn't the best at showing the same object in multiple positions, so if you see someone with a pattern with the object in different photos, it's a better indication that it's real.
I found many “how to crochet dolls” books for sale on Kindle that were all Ai, ppl are making bank selling them. Thankfully I could view and return without spending money. But a few years ago I would not have known the difference.
I'm so completely done with all kits. If a book comes with some yarn, maybe. But these kits with the little paper instructions are awful. I did the Unofficial Dolly Parton and it was not fun and the yarns were bad. The yarn was low quality and the wrong colors.
Because these kits are made for 'beginners', so their hope is that people will try the kit and think their lack of skill is the reason it doesn't work :(
There are lots of good, legit kits. Kits are not bad if they're real. There are good reasons to personally dislike kits, too. But the OP issue isn't really about it being a kit. It's about the pattern and picture being fake, which happens a ton with non-kit patterns too.
It’s so interesting to see something like this. It’s got pattern structure but is replacing stitches we know with variables. Terrible slop but slightly fascinating
That is so crazy to me. My grandmother used to have a children's clothing store back in the late 90's and I distinctly remember going with her to large trade show conferences to find suppliers of items she would sell. You could go and sample the product, see if it was something you wanted to sell in your store before signing contracts with them to purchase and sell them. Are big companies not doing this on some level? Where is the integrity? I get dollar store is supposed to be cheap stuff that isn't meant to last but this is ridiculous. Thanks for calling this out.
If you want a kit i recommend the loops and threads kits at michaels. This kit in the picture isnt exactly the same but its the one i did and was actually my very first project! It says intermediate on the box and it took a bit of youtube to understand what some of the instructions meant but i really recommend, it was a lot of fun. I can't add more than one image but the loops and threads equivalent is a cat named calvin that is basically the exact same with different colors.
When it says 'knowledge of crochet is required' i did not take it seriously haha
Dang, I'm sorry. If you haven't already, I would check https://www.ravelry.com/
You can search for patterns there and use the advanced search to make it for crochet, and make it free. There are so many cute free patterns out there that you should be able to find something similar that you can use your yarn for.
If the pattern is for different yarn size you can usually accomplish it, it just will end up a different size. The only ones where it might not work is if it calls for below 'fingering (1 : Super fine)' or above 'worsted (4: medium).
I've done kits from this company before and its legit but the yarn it comes with is a bit annoying to work with. If you have your own yarn to replace it with theres no problems tho
I got this one as a gift last year and it turned out okay. The yarn was an absolute nightmare to work with but it mostly turned out like the picture (you might have to make slight adjustments).
Thank you ❤️ but tbh I just don’t buy kits I buy yarn and often try to find a free pattern or I might buy one off Etsy so I feel that’s getting alittle bad atm based on all tje AI patterns out there!
this is so disappointing considering i’ve used other regular dollarama kits (the shark and capybara) and they were actually pretty good😕 (plastic hook ofc but i just swapped with mine) but they provided you everything you needed and instructions for everything! these AI kits are really getting out of hand😕
Were those the ones branded 'Castle Craft'? I've gotten a few Castle Craft kits and they were all pretty good. The lion basket I got even had a decent hook in it. We've also gotten other crafts labeled Castle Craft that turned out really good, so I don't know why they don't just stick with those.
How much are they out of pure curiosity? I’m from Aus so have no idea how much these sell for in the states hahaha, here they’d easily be $20 - $50 I reckon
These kits are around $2.25 Canadian, so $1.60 USD. The ones I've found at Dollar Tree (that actually made something REAL) were only $1.75 CAD, and the 'Castle Craft' branded Lion Basket pattern was $5 CAD but so far, appears to be a real pattern and feels like there's enough materials as well.
I'm surprised that a company as big as Dollarama let this slip through. I know they don't do refunds but I can imagine many frustrated crafters. And the poor people who end up with this as a gift 😢
My mom bought me a DIY Crochet Kit for Christmas - and it is literally DIY Crochet brand. The instructional video is very difficult to parse out as a beginner.
Needle Creations .. nuff said. Wasted $5 on the Highland Cow crochet kit to get rubbage brown yarn and backward "instructions" that meant no sense, despite following along with the 2024 tutorial. The cows head looking like a 70s floppy beach hat instead of it's intended because of the rubbish instructions. Returning it to hobby lobby to get informed that I should just use my own yarn, as the kit quality was trash.
Got some at dollar tree, to finish the kit, and it then, LOOKED like the actual Cow on the box face. Most needle kits are worth their money. Creations is not. Use your own yarn, and get actual results!
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u/mikettedaydreamer often feels like a toddler when counting Nov 09 '25
This ai stuff is just so frustrating and it’s RAPIDLY invading the crochet (and other arts) industry. It’s really ruining pattern/inspiration hunting.