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Newest Crafts Reviews (view source)
Revision as of 11:59, 30 November 2023
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[[Category:Crafts|*]]
[[Category:New Reviews|Crafts]]__NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->{{Frontpage|isbn=0811771741|title=InstaKnits for Baby|author=Melissa Leapman|rating=4|genre=Crafts|summary=Melissa Leapman's ''InstaKnits for Baby'' gives us a collection of knits from toys to blankets. Some will be quick knits - others are of the 'long, cosy afternoons in front of the fire' variety. The projects are divided by the time they'll take to complete - less than five hours, five to ten hours, ten to twenty hours and more than twenty hours. All the projects are attractive, modern and useable. I perhaps show my age when I wonder about 'social-media-worthy projects' but that's me being picky.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1635866243|title=The Knitting Pattern Writing Handbook|author=Kristina McGrath and Sarah Walworth |rating=4.5|genre=Crafts__NOTOC__|summary=''I quickly discovered that putting words and numbers on a page wasn't enough. Creating a pattern that was correct, clear, concise, and consistent required a great deal of trial and error, patience, and perseverance.'' (Introduction byFrancoise Danoy)
A friend recently showed me a knitting pattern for which she'd paid good money. The first line of the instructions began: ''Cast off 100 stitches...'' It was clear that no good could come of this - the instructions didn't get any better - and (finally) PayPal obliged with a refund when the seller refused as she couldn't afford the repayment. The pattern looked pretty, but the creator didn't have the basic knowledge and skills to enable her to connect with her knitters. She should have read ''The Knitting Pattern Writing Handbook''.}}{{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=1529507987|title=The Repair Shop Craft Book|author=Marion BatailleWalker Books and Sonia Albert (Illustrator)|rating=4.5|genre=Children's Non-Fiction|summary=I love ''The Repair Shop''. It's my go-to programme when I want to be cheered up. After a hard day, there's nothing better than watching experts repair treasured items without ever mentioning what they're worth. You see, the value is in what these possessions are worth to the people who own them and the memories they hold. No expense appears to be spared and the experts spend as much time and effort as is required to achieve the desired result. Regular viewers know the experts and they're all brilliant at explaining what it is they're doing. But how did they start?}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0760379912|title=Abc 3dSuper Easy Quilting for Beginners|author=Editors of Quarry Books
|rating=4
|genre=Crafts
|summary=WowI learned patchworking from necessity: old or outgrown clothes needed to be turned into something new and usable when I was in my twenties. This is an ABC book It would be a while before it became a pleasure rather than a chore but I've never felt completely at home with quilting. I needed something a differencelittle more stylish than my usual buttons or knots. The publisher ''Super Easy Quilting for Beginners''s notes say seemed like a good place to start. So, how did it stack up?}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0760379874|title=Super Easy Knitting for Beginners|author=Carri Hammett|rating=4.5|genre=Crafts|summary=I learned to knit in the nineteen-fifties: itwasn's "astoundingly beautiful" t a choice, it was a requirement. Girls learned to knit and to embroider and boys did wood and metal work. My knitting wa accompanied by a lot of criticism and quite a few tears: it iswas a long time before I realised that there was pleasure to be had in the skill. Marion Bataille Nearly seventy years later it's careful, ingenious alphabet pops up from the pages to amaze and entrance only thing that keeps my hands at all who looksupple. From A, The turning point was a proud pyramid on booklet published by Patons which gave all the inside cover, basics and some patterns. I've been looking for something simple to recommend to people who'd like to Z, standing on its side at master the end, each letter of our alphabet has a personality of its ownskill. E morphs into F So, V mirrors itself and becomes W, and U is a cascade of parabolas. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0747595798</amazonuk>how did ''Super Easy Knitting For Beginners'' work out?
}}
{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Pamela Brooks0760373531|title=How to Research Local HistoryCozy Knits: 30 Hat, Mitten, Scarf and Sock Projects from Around the World|author=Sue Flanders
|rating=5
|genre=Crafts
|summary=Find out all about Just occasionally you encounter a book of knitting patterns that seems to meet your houseevery need. Right now, village or townit's bitterly cold and we're in the sandwich filling between two storms: I need socks, the subtitle of this book announcesscarves, hats and mittens. In my viewThey have to look stylish, it tells you much more than keep me warm and be so cheerful thatthey make me feel better. For any historianIf that sounds like a lot to ask, have a look at ''Cozy Knits'': it has thirty designs for those necessary items and not just in I don't think that there was one of them which I couldn't see myself wearing. We start with an introduction by Nancy Bush which gives some of the field history of purely local studies, this volume is probably as near to indispensable as they comeknitting. It's not essential but it's a nice extra.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845282760</amazonuk>
}}
{{Frontpage|isbn=0760373558|title=Nordic Knits|author=Sue Flanders|rating=4|genre=Crafts|summary=I was so delighted by Sue Flanders' [[Cozy Knits: 30 Hat, Mitten, Scarf and Sock Projects from Around the World by Sue Flanders|Cozy Knits]] that I didn't need any persuading at all to pick up her ''Nordic Knits''. This delivers forty-four patterns inspired by textiles and local traditions from Norway, Sweden and Iceland. There are a few sweaters or jackets but the majority of patterns are for smaller items such as mittens, gloves, hats and bags. All are bright and cheerful and very cosy.}}{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Adele Ramet1635864070|title=Writing for MagazinesKnit 2 Socks in 1|author=Safiyyah Talley
|rating=4
|genre=Crafts
|summary=From being an avid reader (If you've ever started knitting a pair of socks, finished the first one and maybe a passionate either got bored by the idea of doing the same thing all over again, or started on the second sock and lost the first before you finished it, this is the book reviewer) to writing for magazines yourself you. Where is it that single socks go to hide? Safiyyah Talley has developed a pretty logical progression. Yet like any other competitive field system that allows you to knit two socks in lifeone, itdivide them up and have a perfectly finished pair of socks. Sounds good? It's a very hard one to get into – clever and doubtless getting harder all the timewell-thought-out.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845281616</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=1529393930|title=Making a Living: How to Craft Your Business|author=Michael OkeSophie Rochester|rating=5|genre=Crafts|summary=''Starting a creative business has never been easier.'' ''If not now, when?'' I know that I'm not alone in having wondered whether or not I could turn my hobby into a business. There's a lot of motivation to do so: I make more items than we can sensibly use and there are a lot of people who have been delighted to accept what I make as gifts. Selling would offset the costs, which can be quite considerable and it could be fun to do, couldn't it? But where to start? What do I need to think about? Well, the first thing anyone who is considering turning a crafting hobby into a business should do is to read ''Making a Living''.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1635862353|title=Times of Our LivesThe Sandalmaking Workshop|author=Rachel Corry|rating=34.5
|genre=Crafts
|summary=A sandal-making workshop? I am currently writing my autobiography as a long-term project and something to leave for my childrencouldn't really believe it, so mainly because I 'd always thought that you'd need more equipment than the average home was interested likely to be able to receive ''Times contain but I was intrigued. Rachel Corry started sandal making accidentally - a small fire destroyed some of Our Lives'' by Michael Oke, which is advertised as ''her shoes. One pair had come apart and she could see how the essential companion for writing your own life storysandal was constructed. Then she realised that she couldn't afford to replace all her shoes. Could she combine these two facts to create a new and worthwhile craft? She showed quite a few people her first pair and they all either wanted to know how to do it - or if she'|amazonuk=<amazonuk>185703970X</amazonuk>d make them a pair. A new career was born.
}}
{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Judy Reeves1783784350|title=This Golden Fleece: A WriterJourney Through Britain's Book Knitted History|author=Esther Rutter|rating=5|genre=History|summary=It was December and Esther Rutter was stuck in her office job, writing to people she'd never met and preparing spreadsheets. The job frustrated her and even her knitting did not soothe her mind. January was going to be a time for making changes and she decided that she would travel the length and breadth of the British Isles with occasional forays abroad, discovering and telling the story of Dayswool's history and how it had made and changed the landscape. She'd grown up on a sheep farm in Suffolk - '' a free range child on the farm'' - and learned to spin, knit and weave from her mother and her mother's friend. This was in her blood.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=Chou_Make|title=Make and Play: Nativity|author=Joey Chou
|rating=5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=I always feel a slight disappointment for children at Christmas when they're presented with a tree to decorate with a box of ornaments and a nativity scene (sometimes quite precious, so it's Not To Be Played With) which is set up Somewhere Safe. Where's the imagination, the creativity, the sense of pride in that? How much better to have a child create their own nativity scene, which they can then play with? That's exactly what they get with Joey Chou's ''Make and Play Nativity''.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=099334030X
|title=Can You Draw the Dragosaur?
|author=Peter Lynas and Charlie Roberts
|rating=4.5
|genre=Crafts
|summary=You're going to get a hint of what this book's about very quickly. When you see the title page, you'll find out what the book's called and that it's been written by Peter Lynas. Then we move on to who has done the illustration - and there's a gap. ''You'' are going to put your name there. It's ''your'' responsibility to provide the pictures for this book about one of the largest creatures ever to roam the earth. There's some help available, but your name is on the title page - and you have work to do!
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1635860334
|title=Why We Quilt
|author=Thomas Knauer
|rating=4
|genre=Crafts
|summary=I've often wondered about the story that patchwork quilting began as a way for women (and myth would have it that it was always women) to make an extra blanket out of material which would otherwise go to waste. This undoubtedly ''did'' happen but when you think about it, you need an awful lot of material to make a quilt and the time could have been better spent if all that was required was bedding. Like Thomas Knauer, I've come to the conclusion that it began as an art and has largely continued down that same road with fluctuations in popularity over the years.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1419726625
|title=The Mitten Handbook: Knitting Recipes to Make Your Own
|author=Mary Scott Huff
|rating=4
|genre=Crafts
|summary=I love mittens - they're so convenient and much easier to get onto (and off) cold hands than a pair of fiddly gloves. They're not something you regularly see in shops, so I knew that if I wanted new pairs I would have to knit them myself. Well, actually, that's my rationalisation of the situation: in truth, I love knitting mittens. They have just enough technique to make them satisfying, plenty of quick work and a pair of warm mittens in a few days. Patterns, though - where do you get them from?
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1621137775
|title=Handbag Workshop: Design and Sew the Perfect Bag
|author=Anna M Mazur
|rating=4
|genre=Crafts
|summary=I have always written really – diaries every day for yearslove handbags, lettersbut I resent paying the prices demanded by manufacturers of 'good' bags. Additionally, storiesI often find a bag I like but the colour/shape/size/capacity/internal layout isn't ''quite'' what I had in mind, poems… Ciao so I end up spending rather a lot of money and Dooyoo fitted into this perfectly and increased compromising. The solution is to make my confidence, as I received better feedback over time, gaining crowns here own bags and Premium Fund payments on Ciao. whilst I am not a particularly was confident personabout sewing fabric bags, I have quite low self-esteem at timeswas nervous about using leather, but I love writing not least because leather isn't very forgiving when it comes to mistakes and believe it is my one talent's usually more expensive than fabric. I think everyone has something they are good atneeded help. Anna Mazur's ''The Handbag Workshop'' came to me free through NetGalley in return for an unbiased review. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1577311000</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Paul Bryn Davies 1632506386|title=Dragons in Watercolour (Fantasy Art Series) The Knitter's Dictionary: Knitting Know-How from A to Z|author=Kate Atherley
|rating=4
|genre=Crafts
|summary=This is where my love I've been knitting for well over sixty years, following patterns of the fantasy art range of books from Search Press continuesvarying complexity with success... So far I have reviewed [[Painting Fairies in Watercolour 've knit Aran sweaters, socks by Paul Bryn Davies|Painting Fairies in Watercolour]] and [[Painting Unicorns in Watercolour by Rebecca Balchin|Painting Unicorns in Watercolour]] the dozen and I'm pleased currently knitting blankets for a charity to say that this book lives up sell. There hasn't been an occasion when I've been stuck and people have often come to my expectations as ''me'' for help when ''they've'' been stuck. Would a knitter's dictionary really be of any help to me? I was surprised by just how much as the last books didI got out of it.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1844483827</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Emma Callery 1440248850|title=The Calligraphy HandbookModern Patchwork Home: Dynamic Quilts and Projects for Every Room|author=Vivika DeNegre (Editor)
|rating=4
|genre=Crafts
|summary=I chose to try and learn calligraphyThe problem with a craft which is largely based on traditional designs is that what results from your labours is also traditional, as or - depending upon what light you shine on it was something - old-fashioned. Vivika DeNegre has curated a collection of patterns from today's top designers. As a word of warning, if you read ''Modern Patchwork Magazine'' you may well find that would enhance all my many other craft projectsthere's nothing new in the book, but if you're new to the magazine this could well prove to be a delightful collection from the back catalogue. So did this book help me?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184448307X</amazonuk>
}}
{{Frontpage|isbn=Pallant_Star|title=Star Wars Millennium Falcon Book and Mega Model|author=Katrina Pallant and Neal Manning|rating=4.5|genre=Crafts|summary=One of the unexpected results of making a rough-and-ready sci-fi film back in the 1970s, was that George Lucas left a whole generation capable of spelling Millennium. In amongst all the iconic inventions for the film, his design team left him – and us – with a very loveable, very fast and very asymmetrical space ship. How is it balanced when the cockpit is stuck out one side? What is that dish-like array doing on what seems to act as the top? And where can you get your own? Well, beyond the rarity and great cost of the Lego model, I can at least provide one answer to those three pertinent questions, and that answer is… here.}}{{newreview Frontpage|isbn=McLelland_Press|title=Stash-Busting QuiltsPress Out and Decorate: Unicorns|author=Lynne EdwardsKate McLelland|rating=4
|genre=Crafts
|summary=It's the weekend and I've been indulging myself. There's something about a unicorn which appeals to me and a little bit of research into a book of press-out unicorns, clouds and rainbows seemed like the ideal way to spend a Saturday morning. You get twenty designs in the book and they're all decorated with pink foil: even if you don't want to add any further colouring they're still going to look great, but because the pages are a substantial card you have the opportunity to use crayons, felt tips or even paints to add your own personal touch.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=V&A_Embroidery
|title=Embroidery: A Maker's Guide
|author=Victoria and Albert Museum
|rating=4
|genre=Crafts|summary=I have got a frighteningly-large stash of fabric. There are shelves full of it here in the workroom. Some of the drawers in the bedroom are used for fabric and letIn ''Embroidery: A Maker's not even mention the boxes up in the attic. IGuide''ve started being we get a bit secretive about exactly how much I have and when I intend brief introduction to use it. "Ohthe craft by James Merry, yesembroidery artist," Iinformation on the tools you'll say "I know exactly what I'm going need, materials you can utilise and a guide to do with that" and hastily change the subjectstitches you'll be using. If you're at all serious just thinking about doing patchwork starting embroidery and not certain which type will suit youbest or someone who'll s experienced in one area but wanting to branch out this book could be nodding your head an ideal starting point. There are over 230 glorious photographs (of items from the V&A collections) and probably muttering "The attic! I never thought illustrations covering 15 styles of embroidery and giving all the attic!"|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0715321943</amazonuk>information and designs you'll need for 15 projects.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=V&A_Patchwork
|title=Patchwork and Quilting: A Maker's Guide
|author=Victoria and Albert Museum
|rating=4.5
|genre=Crafts
|summary=Patchwork is a magical craft: you can take relatively small pieces of material and turn them into another piece of material with an entirely different pattern. Quilting converts a topper and a backing fabric with some wadding in between into a fabric of an entirely different weight. Combine the two crafts and you have something more than magical, occasionally fashionable but always deeply satisfying. But where to start, when there are so many different styles of both crafts? One answer is to read ''Patchwork and Quilting: A Maker's Guide'' which looks - as the cover says - at styles from Italian trapunto to Korean jogakbo and then delivers fifteen projects inspired by the V&A collections.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=BM_Origami
|title=Origami, Poems and Pictures
|author=The British Museum
|rating=5
|genre=Crafts
|summary=Sometimes you find a delight of a book. On an afternoon when it was unseasonably cold and decidedly wet I discovered ''Origami, Poems and Pictures'' and I was transported to Japan. As the title suggests we're looking at three celebrated arts and crafts: the ancient art of paper folding, haiku poetry and painting. I'll confess that it was the origami which caught my attention, but I was surprised by the extent to which the rest of the book caught my imagination. We begin with something very simple: a boat and in case you're worried, all the entries have a degree of difficulty (from 'simple' through to 'tricky') and this one is at the lowest level.
}}
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