Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts

Friday, September 21, 2012

Knitting Books

by Kelly


Books! One that I purchased at near cover price (gasp) and 2 others from a library sale.


Yes, I'm getting overconfident again. I'm dreaming of a lovely, warm, knit sweater that won't break the budget because I made it myself.

But I do know my limitations, and I can see at a glance that Viking Patterns for Knitting and The Celtic Collection are out of my league. Ah, but look at the eye candy inside:

The Celtic Collection

The Celtic Collection



Viking Patterns for Knitting

Viking Patterns for Knitting

Meanwhile, the Debbie Bliss book has patterns that are still beautiful, and might actually be attainable one day:

Celtic Knits


Celtic Knits
I love, love that dark blue sweater above. And once I get past the basics of sweater construction, that's the first one I'll tackle.

Meanwhile, it's time to go to the closet and break out the simple sweater project that has been reproachfully falling on my head lately, and calculate what I will have to do to make the gauge. (*sigh*) Where did I put that calculator?

Monday, January 23, 2012

50 More Crocheted Afghan Borders

by Kelly


We're going to be having a giveaway soon, and one of the items in our contest is a book. If you're a regular visitor here, you know that I love
me some books. 

I'm always delighted to give books as gifts, because then I can check them out before wrapping them. One year for Christmas, I bought the Twilight series for someone, and read them all before The Big Day.  Luckily, I have inherited my mom's ability to read a book without cracking the spine or leaving other evidence behind.

The book to be included in our giveaway is 50 More Crocheted Afghan Borders  and has, of course, fifty beautiful borders. But two in particular caught my eye, so I had to try them out.

First up, a simple pink heart pattern, which I think would work beautifully as a border for anything made for a little girl:


then there was this slightly more complicated flower border:



I'm glad to report that these patterns are easy and fun. The directions are clear and the pictures are beautiful and encouraging, even when the pattern is a little challenging. The book stays open when you're working from it, unlike some pattern books that I have in my library.

Our giveaway is scheduled to begin January 30th, so be sure to visit us then for your chance to win a copy of this book!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Christmas Crochet and Knitting Books

by Kelly

Handknit Holidays - Knitting Year-Round for Christmas, Hanukah, and the Winter Solstice.

Handknit Holidays: Knitting Year-Round for Christmas, Hanukkah, and Winter Solstice
Amazon.com
 
 The Thread Crochet Christmas Village

The Thread Crochet Christmas Village
Amazon.com


Our best Christmas Thread Crochet by Leisure Arts


Our Best Christmas Thread Crochet (Leisure Arts #2941)
Amazon.com





Twas the Knits before Christmas



Twas the Knits Before Christmas




Wednesday, November 30, 2011

The Mitten Tree

by Kelly

Last year Donna and Dawn and I made some things to donate to a local charity drive called The Mitten Tree. They distribute donated hats, scarves, gloves and of course, mittens, to kids at local schools. This drive is organised through a library, so it should be no surprise that there is a book titled The Mitten Tree. It should also be no surprise that I find this really neat and decided to write a post about it.

I found the review below on a great site that I've visited before called Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site. 



cover artSarah, an old lady, lives by herself. She misses her grown children and so, she watches the children who wait for the school bus near the big evergreen tree. Although Sarah smiles at them as she walks by, they ignore her. When she notices a little boy, dressed in blue, who can't enjoy the snow play because he has no mittens, she finds some blue yarn and knits a pair of mittens which she hangs on the tree at the bus stop. Nobody sees her do it but the little boy in blue arrives first at the bus stop that morning, and seems to know the mittens are for him.



According to my husband the librarians were really happy with our donations last year, so that inspired me to make even more this time. So here's my contribution for this year.



Everything is knit with the exception of the hat in the far right corner, which is a purchased hat that I embroidered with yarn and my trusty size 13 tapestry needle.


I originally tried to decorate the hat with embroidery floss and needle, but the flowers were just too tiny. Using the yarn worked much better.

Oh, and that's just my portion of the donations. Wait until you see them all together. I'll post about that just before we take them in.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Highbrow Craft Books

by Kelly

                                      Delftware Inspired Cross Stitch

Blue & White Cross Stitch: Inspired by the Classic Designs of Willow Pattern, Delftware and Toiles de Jouy
at Amazon.com

                                    Fashions inspired by Jane Austen

Craft Gossip



                     Quilts and things inspired by William Morris

William Morris in Applique: Six Stunning Projects and Over Forty Individual Designs
at Amazon.com


  Norwegian Handknits : Heirloom Designs from the Vesterheim Museum





at Amazon.com














Sunday, June 19, 2011

Frustrations of the Crochet World

So I am working on my Christmas blanket and am almost done when I realize I'm out of Christmas colored yarn (multi-color, red, green and white). I check my stash to see if I might have missed any additional skeins....which I hadn't. Next stop, my local Jo-ann's store. I stop by there today only to find that they have no more Christmas yarn. I figure, okay, maybe I can just order some online but while I was there I find that they are having a 30% off sale on books. Of course I have to get some. I found one that has a matching blanket for each of the birthstones of the year and one big book Cozy and Comfy Afghans.

I go home after this to check out the online sites only to find that Jo-Ann's doesn't sell the yarn I need online... Ugh!!! My next idea is just to make it one row smaller than what I originally decided. So I start SCing the squares together and notice that it really doesn't look like the picture. Which is when I realize that the squares are to be whip-stitched together rather than SC'ed together.....and I don't have a yarn needle. Double ugh!

Now what am I doing.....going through the two books that I found trying to find the next pattern to make because I have nothing else to work on until my American Flag blanket has been set aside for two weeks and I get a yarn needle for my Christmas blanket.

But the problem I'm having now is that I have so many patterns to choose from and a very limited color pallet available for making it right now without having to stop by the store or the other issue is that I have the colors needed for one blanket but not the right size hook.

Oh, the hard life we crocheter's lead. :)

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Crafty Books - Top Ten Catchiest Titles

by Kelly

Crafty books that caught my eye... 

  1. Not Tonight, Darling, I'm Knitting
  2. It Itches
  3. Simple Times : Crafts for Poor People
  4. Stupid Sock Creatures
  5. Things I Learned From Knitting:...Whether I Wanted to or Not
  6. Crochet Liberation Front
  7. Subversive Cross Stitch
  8. Stitch 'N Bitch: The Happy Hooker
  9. Anticraft - Knitting, Beading, and Stitching  for the Slightly Sinister
  10. Knockdown Knits: Thirty Projects from the Roller Derby Track
 I can't personally vouch for any of these books except for Simple Times - Crafts for Poor People. That one I have read.

I especially liked the page about 'Most Common Crafting Accidents', because, when I was learning how to embroider two years ago, I cut my finger very badly with a pair of embroidery scissors. As I was standing in the bathroom, applying pressure and waiting for the bleeding to stop, my husband came in, and asked with concern, "What happened to you?"

My answer? "Crafting is more dangerous than it looks."


For more strange crafty books, click here
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