So what's a 'centraliser'?
Following lots of conversations over the last five years with thousands of people making Edward's Menagerie animals, it suddenly struck me that many people were embracing learning to crochet and mastering the stitches, but still dreading the sewing up at the end. One of the greatest challenges seemed to be working out where the 'middle' of everything was in order to feel like you have lined it up correctly to avoid wonky animals. In comes the idea of something to identify a 'central' point on the curvy the 3D shape you are crocheting.
As many of you who have read my books, watched my tutorial videos, or attended TOFT workshops will know, I advocate using a tracking piece of contrast yarn as an end of rnd stitch marker (shown here on this body). It reminds me I am working in a spiral and allows me to very accurately back-track to a specific rnd if required. In addition to using this method with yarn (see video here), I shall now sometimes use a 'centraliser' – a clip-on aid to identify specific stitches or areas in the pattern which you can then line up when sewing up your parts.
August Bank Holiday weekend we’ll be putting a FREE #edsanimals centraliser into every parcel and each one is complete with instruction for pinpointing the middle of your standard body. I can see these being very useful, but also could be quite confusing for a beginner suddenly being asked to 'stitch mark' multiple things. From now on ‘placing markers’ will still refer to end of rnd marking using a tracking piece of yarn, but ‘placing centralisers’ will help with lining up body parts at the end when sewing up.
They accompany a handy tension checker tool (another thing that I know can curse even the most experienced crocheter after a bad day!).
How's your tension today?
Since I learned to crochet six years ago, my tension has undergone complete transformation. At the start (like many people first learning) I clutched to my yarn and hook and my tension was so tight I could barely work the stitches. Once I had the first dozen animals under my belt I found it relaxed into an above-average gauge for around the following 300 animals, monsters and dolls (!!! 
). I had to adjust my hook size accordingly and crochet on a 2.5mm, rather than a 3mm hook to achieve TOFT standard tension.
More recently my tension seems to be returning towards the tight-side, and some days I am on a 3.5mm to get my parts to match my older ones!
With this style of crochet the downside of tight tension is that your stitches will not only be very hard work to crochet, but your resulting toys will be stiff and not soft to touch as the fabric is too tight. The downsides of loose tension are potentially worse, as your stuffing shows through the fabric, toys will be floppy and a bit lifeless, and you will also risk running short of yarn in your kits, or going over the recommended quantities needed in the pattern.
Introducing an #edsanimals leg tension checker. Something for us all to use help compensate for the impact a traffic jam, feeling unwell, or a glass of wine can have on working the double crochet stitch. If your first leg is coming up a bit big, swap your hook size down half a millimetre, if it is too small then swap it up. Be aware we have seen some people using 2mm, and others on 4.5mm to achieve the same tension!
I hope that both of these new tools will be a help to lots of people making Edward's Menagerie animals everywhere, as I wish I had had them at hand over the last few years, and know I will be using mine all the time from now on.
Best wishes,
Kerry
*One FREE centraliser per parcel. The offer is valid from 4pm on Friday 24th August until Midnight 28th August. Offer available online and at TOFT HQ. Designs will be allocated at random and are only available whilst stocks last. Please follow social media for the latest stock updates on limited edition products. This offer excludes workshop bookings and .pdf downloads. If purchasing the Advent Crochet Along or a Subscription to any of the clubs then your free centraliser will be sent separately to your product(s).
