Learn to Crochet With This Adorable PAC-MAN Kit From The Woobles

I've been slightly addicted to crochet ever since I first tried a learn-to-crochet kit from The Woobles, and their kits are only getting better with time.

While I started with Fred the Dino, I soon advanced to the designs in their The Woobles Crochet Amigurumi for Every Occasion book before trying out their Miffy Crochet Kit earlier this year. However, their latest branded collab, The Woobles PAC-MAN seems destined to get a whole new kind of fan invested in the art of making things with yarn. When the team behind The Woobles reached out and asked if I'd like to check it out, I (a lifelong gamer) instantly said yes. Here's what you need to know.

The Kit

The Woobles is becoming a household name thanks to their incredible kits, featuring everything beginners need to learn how to crochet. In addition to all of the materials you need to make an amigurumi push from scratch, these kits also come with a card linking to online instructions, featuring step-by-step video tutorials for newbies, and PDF directions for more seasoned crocheters.

The brand new The Woobles PAC-MAN kit features the world-famous arcade character and everything you need to crochet him. The set comes with the brand's proprietary Easy Peasy Yarn in both yellow and black, complete with stitch markers for guidance, an embroidery needle, special safety eyes in PAC-MAN's signature shape and polyfill stuffing. It's typically available for $35 without a crochet hook or $40 with one—and if you're new, you'll definitely want the stunningly printed PAC-MAN hook, featuring pixel versions of the classic character and his famous ghostly enemies. Besides internet access, you'll only need one outside object for the whole thing, and that's a pair of scissors to snip your yarn.

In addition to PAC-MAN, there are also kits for BLINKY the Ghost ($35+), PAC-MAN's Cherry power-up ($7) and a bundle including all three for $87.

(via The Woobles)

 

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The Experience

I'm always eager to jump into a new kit from The Woobles, and this time around was no exception. The brand also sent me a completed PAC-MAN for reference, so I could see the end result before getting started, making me even more eager to bring my PAC-MAN to life. I started by laying out all of the materials and then got crafting.

One thing I really appreciate about The Woobles kits is that they start your plush for you. By now, I'm well-acquainted with the magic ring shape that's great for starting off circular plush crochet toys, but it's a tough step for beginners, and it's nice to skip regardless. The pattern was pretty typical, slowly incorporating increases to build up the spherical shape, up until it asked me to do a bunch of chain stitches to separate one half of PAC-MAN's head from the other. Next, I simply rejoined the body to continue around before the decreases came in, and before I knew it, it was time to cut the yarn and sew the end together for the completed head shape.

The next bits were a bit unusual for The Woobles, too. With the black yarn, the pattern instructed me to do smaller magic circles before building them both up into identical half-moon shapes, almost resembling orange wedges. It also had me leave three feet tails on each, which felt a bit excessive at the time.

Next, it was time to get sewing! With the other Woobles patterns I've followed, there was minimal sewing involved, usually just to close up the ends of plushies, so it was really interesting to whip stitch all the way around the edges of the mouth to secure both halves. I also found myself referring to the video tutorials to make sure I didn't badly mess this step up. I didn't need to use all of the excess tails, but it was definitely nice to have extra, and while it wasn't the cleanest job, he was already looking like PAC-MAN. I thought it was strange that the pattern didn't have me place the safety eyes until after sewing the mouth segments on, but it was no issue to get them in, and I especially loved the cute triangular cut-outs to create the ideal PAC-MAN look.

Next was the step of stuffing. The kit came with plenty of polyfill to get PAC-MAN into precisely the shape I wanted, preserving his roundness without overstuffing the mouth section to make the black pieces bulge, and once I was happy with the general size and shape, I could sew the two black wedges together, and PAC-MAN was complete!

As always, I was super pleased with the result (right), even compared to the sample PAC-MAN I was sent (left). Though I don't think my stitches were quite as clean, I prefer the more spherical shape of my PAC-MAN figure overall.

And since I enjoy making my amigurumi my own, I also went ahead and found a doll hat pattern online to make my plush a pink hat, complete with a ribbon, to turn PAC-MAN into PAC-MOM. I think they make quite an adorable couple.

 

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Bottom Line

Whether you're quite familiar with crochet already or have never picked up a crochet hook in your life, I think you're going to have a ton of fun with this PAC-MAN kit from the Woobles—especially when you see the final result. My plush and hat were completed within a couple of hours, but it'll take longer if you're learning the process, and at the end of it, you'll be tempted to head to the craft store to buy all kinds of supplies to make more.

And now, I'm seriously tempted to buy The Woobles' ghost pattern and surround my PAC-family with spooky ghouls in a whole rainbow of colors.

 

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