The Woobles Extra Squeezy Kits Review: Are the Giant Crochet Kits Worth It?

Introduction

The Woobles have built a loyal following with their learn-to-crochet kits, and they have also built a fair share of sceptics. Experienced crocheters regularly point out that you could buy a pattern online and cheaper yarn for a fraction of the cost. That tension is exactly why the Extra Squeezy line caught our attention. These are the familiar Woobles formula, but with everything scaled up to twice the size of a standard kit, and priced at $50 each.

The full Extra Squeezy set includes four animals: Phyllis the Manatee, Hugh the Capybara, a Red Panda, and a Toucan. We worked through three of them ourselves to see whether the larger format fixes the main complaint about the standard kits, which is that the tiny pieces can be fiddly and frustrating. Short answer: for beginners, this bigger format is a genuine improvement.

What Comes in an Extra Squeezy Kit

Each kit contains everything you need for one plush: a larger customized crochet hook (Phyllis ships with an 8 mm hook), a big ball of thicker yarn, vacuum-sealed stuffing, the Woobly Bits accessories, safety eyes or black yarn for embroidery, and a pattern card with a QR code. The QR code unlocks step-by-step video tutorials plus a downloadable PDF of the written pattern with photos.

The most important upgrade is invisible on the box: the yarn itself is thicker, not just a bigger quantity of the standard fine yarn. The tutorials have also been refilmed specifically with the bigger yarn and hook, rather than recycling footage from the standard kits, which matters because the techniques read much more clearly at this scale. As with all Woobles kits, tutorials come in both right-handed and left-handed versions, and they remain among the most detailed crochet tutorial videos available anywhere.

What It’s Like to Actually Crochet One

The Extra Squeezy format is noticeably easier to work with. Standard Woobles pieces are small and fiddly, especially the tiny limbs and accessories, and the larger scale removes most of that frustration. You can see your stitches clearly, keeping yarn on the hook is simpler, and even small parts like arms are far more manageable.

One honest caveat: the larger hook holds yarn slightly less securely than the standard metal hook, which has more of a curve. Beyond that, the experience was far more enjoyable. Following the written pattern rather than the videos, the manatee took roughly 2 hours 45 minutes to 3 hours. A complete beginner relying on the video tutorials should expect a longer session, but the pace still feels forgiving. The finished manatee measures about 12 by 5.5 inches, and side by side with a standard Woobles plush it reads as closer to three times bigger rather than the claimed two, at least for this design.

The Capybara, Red Panda and the Rest of the Set

The capybara was the favourite of the set. It skips safety eyes entirely, so the eyes are embroidered with the included black yarn, and it comes with charming details like a small dark brown roll and a mint accessory. The shaping is unusual while you work through the roughly 17 rounds, and it can look puzzling mid-project, but it comes together convincingly by the end.

The red panda, with its satisfyingly grumpy expression, was completed by a visiting family member, who found it just as approachable. The toucan completes the line and comes with the cutest accessory of the bunch: a tiny baby manatee-sized companion set, including a mini straw hat and bamboo pieces for the capybara.

If you already know how to crochet comfortably, these kits are harder to justify at $50 each, since you are essentially paying for a pattern, yarn, and tutorials. But you do keep the pattern in your account, and there is enough extra yarn that you could realistically make two projects from one kit.

Should You Buy the Extra Squeezy Kits?

For anyone moderately into crochet but not a professional, these larger kits are genuinely fun and far less fiddly than the standard size. For complete beginners, the bigger scale is arguably the best possible entry point into the Woobles ecosystem: the tutorials are exceptional, and the larger stitches are much easier to see and manage.

The value equation is the one real sticking point. At $50 per kit you are paying a premium for convenience and guidance, and the yarn itself is not expensive material. The one improvement we would ask for is dedicated tutorials filmed for each specific piece rather than repurposed segments, since that feels like the least you should get at this price. Still, we would happily buy more of these bigger sizes if the line expands, especially any future collaborations in the extra-large format.

Conclusion

The Extra Squeezy kits fix the biggest problem with standard Woobles: the fiddliness. The larger yarn, bigger hook, and refilmed tutorials make the whole experience smoother, and the finished plushes are adorable enough to display proudly. If you are a beginner or an intermediate crocheter who enjoys guided projects, this is the version of the Woobles we would recommend. If you are already a confident crocheter, your money is better spent on patterns and yarn of your own choosing.