Crochet Advent calendar - rip-off or expecting too much?

[Sue6274]

Hi everyone,

This is probably a bit of a niche market but it’s niggling away at me and I feel like I’ve stupidly wasted so much money.

I purchased a “Crochet Society“ advent calendar this year, total cost around £54. Loads of social media hype about it on FB, Youtube etc, everyone encouraging others to buy it, the suppliers website crashing on launch day all adding to the hype and inevitable FOMO.

So here we are, half way through December and my £54 spend has got me a crochet hook that is scratched and unusable plus 24 small balls of wool that would be about £20 to buy in the shops. Oh, and the wool colour repeats, day 1 and 15 are the same, 2 and 16 and so on, so there’s no joy opening it now as I know what will be in the overpriced door anyway....

I’m an idiot for buying it in the first place aren’t I?

Hangs head in shame for wasting £54......

I think the toft one is pretty good if you wanted to try similar next year...

Chalk it up, you can’t undo it, but learn

Sounds crap. Message them and ask for a refund and leave the company a poor review. I've never had one of these adult adverts but guessed they were mostly poor value, as you can't see what you're getting, abit like a lucky bag? The anticipation is always the best bit, till you rip it open to find a couple of mank sweets and a crap plastic toy. Sorry OP.

Oh you’re so right about the comparison to a lucky bag, showing my age but takes me back to the 1980’s and that bubble gum with a tattoo in the wrapper and a xmas cracker style toy!

So annoyed about it, it is a niche hobby but most people who crochet, both UK and international, will have heard of “Crochet Society”. They’re a big company that publish all the well known UK craft magazines. Unfortunately any negative feedback is promptly deleted from their FB page but at least I won’t make the same mistake next year, you live and learn.

oh thats a shame, my friend curates there normal sub boxes( not sure about the advent) and usually they are really good quality.

I think it was designed as a crochet-along, so you follow a pattern to use each day's yarn to make a project. So the colour repeats are likely to be part of the pattern

crochetsociety.co.uk/all-posts/2020-advent-cal/

Yes, the normal monthly subscription boxes are great and, at £14.99, really good value. I think that raised my expectations quite high though as at over 3 times the price I was expecting something super special...

I'm into crafting (crochet, knitting and spinning) and bought my first fiber advent this year but from an independent small business I've bought from before. I'd highly recommend having a browse around Etsy and Instagram for next year's advent (many advertised mid/late summer) as I've been far more impressed by these than by bigger name brands. IME they put a lot more effort into sourcing quality materials and the crochet hooks and stitch markers are add one and little extras not part of the advent itself. Of course this does tend to come at a cost, I spent £40 on mine but it's partially raw fiber, some dyed and ready to spin so it's not as expensive. If I was to buy a similar advent for wool I could easily be looking at £70 or up to £100+.

As you've already purchased for this year I'd chalk it up to experience but leave a review or give feedback. Definitely contact them about the damaged hook as that can easily be replaced or the value refunded. I guess the positive reviews are from crafter's who are looking for different things from you, I wouldn't be happy in your situation either.

As you can tell from my username I crochet and am surprised that Crochet society isn't as good as it sounded. I decided that it was too much money to spend on something I didn't know I'd like. Would rather choose my own colours of yarn etc. Maybe choose a pattern and yarn for next December that you could do a little of each day instead?

Lol, so many crochet people on here, fantastic 😁

There’s a gorgeous xmas CAL by Crochet Sanctuary that I spotted a bit too late for me this year that I’m already planning for Xmas 2021.

Is anyone doing the crochet society advent pattern? I didn't get a calendar and would love to see pics if anyone would like to share

There's quite a few on Instagram with the #crochetsocietyadventcalendar

Nearly all advent calendars are poor value for money based on the content alone, so YABU to expect any different from this one.

I've had gin advent calendars before and even the best value ones leave you paying £60 for the equivalent of one bottle of gin. You do get the choice of trying lots of different gins, but also find quite a few not to your taste.

There's also many things where more expensive doesn't actually mean it will be worth the extra money and the high price reflects higher production costs, lower economies of scale, response to demand or simply to make it more profitable to the seller, rather than it being a good product for the money.

YABU if you are not doing the crochet-along! The daily pattern is part of the surprise. Seems like you have rather missed the point/fun of the exercise.

YANBU about the damaged hook. I hope you can get it replaced at least.

What a shame! I bought a crochet advent calendar last year from a small business owner. Sadly she isn't doing them anymore. Some days were slightly disappointing, but over all I felt it was value for money.
The crochet along looks lovely. I might give it a go next time I need to make a blanket.

Is the point of the calendar that you make something specific with the materials? Therefore the things repeat because you need them to make the ‘thing’.

we’re making a small blanket with the yarn, a little bit of the pattern is released each day.

I am making the blanket, it isn’t really to my taste to be honest but that’s just me and I’m not complaining about that as it was always going to be a case of not being able to please all the people all the time, I make quite a few blankets for our local animal rescue centre so will probably add it to that pile!

It’s more the ridiculous cost for what we actually received that’s annoyed me and that the blanket isn’t festive at all.

Is the yarn hand dyed or just commercial yarn? I've never heard of the Crochet Society.

I've never bought a yarn advent calendar, but if I did it would be from a dyer who dyes their own yarn. They are usually more expensive, but I've seen enough on podcasts to know that I would love them. I would choose a seller that had my aesthetic though as I can't stand purples or twee pastels.

I think a small bump in price is understandable because someone has to organise and put the kit together, but a big increase would bother me. I think additional costs are more understandable for independent dyers as they often have to hand wind and their packaging is often beautiful and well thought through. Hence worth the extra money.

I do knit and crochet, but use Ravelry for designs and inspiration. That's probably why I've never heard of the Crochet Society.

Thanks mostlygrannysquares I will check it out

PS great name!! I do mostly granny squares myself!

It’s 33g balls of commercial yarn with Crochet Society branding so can’t really tell who manufactures it. Nice enough soft yarn but ridiculous number of breaks/knots in the yarn.

I usually find that the woolly advent calendars are poor value for money (although I thoroughly appreciate the effort that goes into them). I’m not a person who really appreciates surprises though, so that definitely adds into it. It’s a shame you’re disappointed, but I doubt you’d be able to get a refund, especially if it’s as described and not faulty.

Cross-posted, you might be able to argue that the knots are excessive, but it might be difficult to actually get anywhere with them.

Agreeing with @Feckingirritated the knots sounds excessive, I'm sure I've heard that most commercial yarn brands allow 3 per 100g and after than it may be classed as faulty (not certain it's a clear cut), so 1 per 33g and certainly not every or most balls! I'd be really annoyed by this alone, the fiber might be good quality but the actual yarn isn't, sounds like they've tried to follow the trend while keeping their costs low. Was the hook or high quality or a simple metal/plastic/bamboo one you could buy in a craft shop for a pound or two?
In light of what you've said I'd contact them, raise your problems (damaged hook, excessive knots and breaks in yarn) and ask for replacements for those items that are affected. At least that way you've got the product you expected even if you think it's still not what you would've liked.
Also, in defence of the independent yarn dyers, I think the vast majority of people who buy their advents are very pleased and think they received a great product for the cost. I don't think they're value for money in terms of getting something cheaper than usual but in terms of a high quality product using materials and colour scheme that you like as well as supporting an artist to produce more of the product you want in the future. I can't imagine the sellers of these are making lots of money off them especially considering the extra hassle that goes into them. If you don't have Instagram already I'd make an empty account and start following some people, get a feel for their style (start saving some pennies each month) and treat yourself to something you'd really love come next Xmas. I've been super pleased with the one I got this year and I actually think it's value for money in every way as well as getting me to try new things too.

I’d be pissed off at myself for buying it too. Maybe contact the company and explain how rubbish it actually is, they might offer a refund or at least a voucher of some sort.

That's a shame for you OP - especially if the pattern/item to make isn't to your taste either.

I like doing crochet and cross stitch etc but am so fussy about what project to do... an advent calendar for me would not go down well if it's all surprises.