Crochet kit for beginner aged 12

[CoffeeChocolateWine]

My 12yo DD would like to learn how to crochet and has asked for a beginner kit for Christmas. She knows how to knit and sew so generally pretty creative but she's never crocheted before. I'm not someone who crochets so a bit clueless!

She isn't overly interested in starting with the little squares...she'd like to make some kind of toy but not sure if that's ambitious for a beginner?

If anyone has a suggestion for a good beginner kit that might interest a 12yo I'd appreciate it!

My daughter crochets, and she says that YouTube videos are much easier to follow than written patterns. She loves amigurumi, which are cute animals and inanimate objects with little black safety eyes.
There are loads of kits around, but I would suggest perhaps that if your daughter is a knitter she may already have plenty of yarn? So maybe put together a kit of a selection of crochet hooks, stitch marker, stitch counter, pack of safety eyes and maybe a couple of balls of wool. It's much more cost effective

There's some nice kits on Etsy, and you can have a read through the reviews. I would think she can find tutorials for most stitches on Youtube. I had a go at learning a few years back and lots of people recommended Bella Coco.

Thank you. I will have a browse. I did look on Etsy but the ones I thought she would like said they needed a basic knowledge of crochet which she doesn't have as she's never done it before. No, she does have a fair amount of yarn so I like the idea of just putting together a kit myself...just a bit concerned I'd miss something crucial!

I'm a fairly experienced crocheter but found amigurumi kits challenging when I started. You could try something like Hoooked Pigglet Maggie, but I think I'd get her a book too in that case, maybe this one: Amigurumi Made Easy: 16 Straightforward Animal Crochet Patterns.

If I was doing this I would find a suitable craft bag (lots in somewhere like Hobbycraft) and add

Hooks (pony are good and reasonable) in 3mm, 4mm and 5mm
Stitch markers (a box of mixed on Amazon, they're like little plastic safety pins)
A row counter
Small sharp scissors
Needles for sewing up
Some safety eyes

Bella Coco crochet website is a good place for ideas; she's just published another book and some stitch 'playing cards' which might be nice. Her YouTube channel is good for stitch instructions.

I agree with @reallyalurker that small things are a challenge. If she's adamant a small bag of toy stuffing needs adding to the above list.

Does she have a ravelry account? Loads of free patterns on there and you can see how they've turned out for other people

I wouldn't buy a kit, just some decent hooks (knitpro are good) and maybe an pattern amigurumi book

Along with Bella Coco’s videos I found this book really helpful when I was learning.

Amigurumi (little toys) isn’t necessarily harder, it still uses simple stitches but for many people it can easier because there’s more instant gratification - you finish a square and you need to do something with it to make it useful where’s as you finish a head and you still need to make the rest of it but it looks like a head. The bit I like least about amigurumi is the sewing up but as she already sews then this shouldn’t be an issue for her. Kits are a bit hit and miss I think because it depends on how well the pattern is written and you don’t always get a good variety of things to make. I’d been crocheting for a while and made a sloth from a kit and it nearly went out of the window a few times. Get her to find a pattern she likes on YouTube so she can follow along with it and then buy the supplies and some nice yarn.

For amigurumi, cotton works quite well as it holds its shape well and the stitches are clear. You will see a lot of plushies (the really fluffy looking toys) these are done in chenille yarn and I’d avoid that as a beginner as it can be quite hard to see the stitches and it doesn’t like being undone. I quite like using a cotton brand rico and their Ricorumi DK yarn, you can buy a multipack boxwith a couple of different colours, this would give her the chance to pick the colours she likes best for the projects she wants to try. If you are buying yarn for her kit - avoid black, navy, dark brown as these colours can be hard to see. Also avoid anything with a sparkly thread as she’s likely to catch it to be begin with and it’ll end up pulling the thread out. Yarn has weights (how thick it is) don’t buy anything less than a Double Knit (DK) for her to begin with, chunky is quite good because it works up quickly and stitches are nice and clear. If you go into a wool shop or hobby craft they will be able to help you pick some wool and get the weights right.

There are loads of different types of hooks out there, people have already given you some good brands. One brand I quite like is Prym hooks but for starting, I think you can’t go wrong with an Amazon basic kit. This will have most of the stuff she will need - hooks in a variety of sizes, tape measure, snips, stitch markers and darning needles. They might not be the version of these things but whilst she works out what works for her they’re great. In addition to that she would need some safety eyes and toy stuffing which can be picked up from Amazon or hobby craft. Although she can embroider eyes on and she might like that more as you can give a bit more personality that way.

I bought for my ds gf a pattern for a pig in blanket (about £5 on Ravelry I think) with all the bits she'd need to make it. It's a mix of a small granny square and some amigurumi which might be a bit tricky to make, but if she already gets knitting she might not find it as hard. I taught myself to crochet aged over 40 and have in the past few years started knitting again.
I was going to suggest the new book Bella Coco has brought out with the stitch cards as she has great reviews from crocheters who started with her. I didn't, I got a kids learn to crochet book from the library, but discovered attic24 and her blog helped me learn.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1125424303/crochet-pattern-for-pig-in-a-granny

Thanks so much to everyone who has taken the time to respond. I really appreciate it and I have lots of resources to explore now. I LOVE that little pig in blanket! It makes me want to take up crochet myself so I can make it!

definitely need to get her looking at Attic24 - Lucy has some great pattern tutorials with step by step pictures. Lots of different things to make including flowers and other shapes which your DD could look at once she has the basics under her belt

She has a fantastic eye for colours too

@CoffeeChocolateWine Amazon has a few different crochet kits like this one. You may need to buy a separate book for the toys though.