Saturday, January 06, 2007

I heart the library

There are some great craft books out there to inspire and to help those "to do" lists grow. Like any of us need more to add to our list! But, oh, my! There are some fabulous projects that I can not wait to try.

I am not going to write a book review, and I was going to take photos of the inside of the book, but my husband pointed out that it would be violating copyright laws and I don't want to do that. So I'll list the projects that I would like to attempt:

Crochet bath mat
Circular Zipper Pouch
Felted Clutch
Felted Bowls
Felted Striped Tote

I am looking forward to trying out some of these projects because it would give me some practice following a pattern and expanding my knitting and crocheting skills. I am fairly new to both, and it would be fun to work on a few projects and see if I can muddle my way through to completion. (This is a huge step for me...I rarely follow patterns. I tend to make things up as I go because patterns intimidate me so.)
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This next book is fun to look through and made me wish I was better at knitting that I am. I enjoyed reading some of the stories and laughed out loud more than a couple of times. They also have a blog that I will be visiting, I'm sure.

Projects that I would like to try from this book are:

nesting felted square boxes
dishcloths
spiral knit rag rug
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And when I checked out this last book my husband said, "You're checking out that book again???" It's a good one. Love looking at all the quilts in here.


{sorry, you can't search inside...I got this picture from amazon :)}

So there are some of my picks for good craft books. What are some of your favorites?

Gratitudes:
1. My warm house
2. Mild winter
3. Craft inspiration overload!

2 comments:

Roxanne said...

Those look like lots of fun and good inspiration! Now you just made me very curious about the projects inside!! Fargo is currently building a new library, so for the next 2 years all we get is a little tiny branch library that has about 3 knitting books, which I have read already! Hopefully its worth the wait. You asked about felting...I would reccommend 100% wool yarn, or at least 75% and up in the wool content. It can be rather pricey, so save up those coupons! I have a really cool book on felted purses, just let me know if you would like to borrow it. Another option that I have been trying out and loving, is to get wool sweaters from the thrift store and felting those (just machine wash on hot). Then you can cut them up just like fabric...they don't fray or come apart. When I felt sweaters, I just let the washing machine go through a full cycle, when felting something I have knitted though, I stay pretty close and check it often so It doesn't go too far. Oh, one other thing, don't buy superwash wool...basically just check labels, if it says hand wash in cold water, you've got a winner!

Didn't get to Gopher while we were in St. Cloud :( The guys were sheetrocking the basement, so we had all the kids. Lee and Sydney and I had to come back last night so he could work all day today, so I'm sure I am missing out on the shopping today - oh well, its probably for the best, I really need nothing. [I keep telling myself that, but its just so much fun to shop...thank goodness for thrifting so I can keep up with the habbit and not go broke!]

Annie Crow said...

Love, love, love the Gee's Bend book. I ended up breaking down and buying a copy for myself. I think I feel much more aesthetically akin to the quilts and process here than pretty much any other stile of quilt.