Crafts Hobbies Books

It's another winner from Kaffe Fassett! Like a garden, the variety of quilt patterns and luscious fabrics featured in this book are sure to inspire quilt artists of every skill level. Although I do not quilt (yet), I have learned to look at color in a different way with each of Kaffe's books. It is a feast for the senses! I especially enjoyed Jane Brocket's description of the creative process that went into the design of her "Allotment Quilt."

Although my taste can differ wildly from his, I never tire of looking at Kaffe Fassett's designs and getting a peek at how his mind works. I have all of his books, and this latest strikes me as a return to some of his strongest ideas. His multi-layered wall-of-color quilts are amazing. You think about color differently after seeing them (even if you think about color a lot). Old familiar pieced patterns have the power to surprise, when interpreted by Fassett.

As always, Brandon Mably and Liza Prior Lucy make beautiful contributions to this collection, and there is a beautiful quilt by newcomer (to KF's books) Jane Brocket. Fassett has an excellent eye for others' work, too.

I was disappointed when this arrived. It is only a leatlet and very incomplete in it's instructions. You may want to find something more complete.

Fabulous motifs - Excellent directions - Great photos - and now so many ideas swirling through my head! A must for any who crochets!!!

Lots of patterns in one place; nice color illustration and easy to follow patterns. It was a nice starter book; hope there will be a sequel with MORE patterns to make.

I bought this book because the cover was pretty, really - and that's not a bad reason at all, because the excellent color pictures continue inside. But there are many other reasons to like the book.

I crochet a lot of baby afghans and wedding afghans and shawls, and yeah, I got tired of the plain old granny square oh, about 30 years ago - but I keep on doing it because it's easy to do and because it's a great way to use up scraps of color. Well, this book gives me lots more ways to use up small quantities of leftover yarn, and many of the motifs are as easy as granny squares, so I'll be able to do a couple to learn them, then do them on autopilot, where I don't need to look at the pattern any more, or even at the yarn - so I can do them in the dark, at symphony concerts and movies and on long car rides. Motifs are also handy for those kinds of times, because you don't have a single huge crocheted something that you have to haul around with you and that starts taking up the seat next to you once you're more than half done.

Some of the circular motifs will become coasters without any sewing together needed, and they can also become the bottom of bottle cozies or can cozies ("koozies"), or, in a larger gauge and larger hook and cotton yarn, become trivets for your table. But the hexagons are my favorites - not only do they make good coasters, but they make lovely bedspreads with edges full of little points, like prairie points - make one just slightly larger than the top of the bed, so that the points just hang over the edge. Motif #54 is every bit as easy to do as a granny square - think of it as a granny hexagon - and think of producing a crocheted throw or spread that resembles a "grandmother's flower garden" quilt pattern! If you want fewer color changes so you can make these while watching TV or otherwise doing two things at once, motifs 31, 32, and 33 have only two colors.

The triangle motifs require a bit more fudging and stretching to make them have exactly straight edges and fit together the way quilt pieces would; I plan to use these triangles more in a freeform manner, with circles and odd shapes combined to make a large regular shape out of many small irregular ones.

And - surprise! - there are squares as well, and things that have four corners although not straight sides, such as motif #94, which would fit in a square but is sort of a four-petalled flower.

And the irregular shapes - well, my favorite is the oval #125, which looks just like a miniature braided rug, and so will make lots of cute little "mug rugs" as coasters.

In short, a wealth of ideas, motifs from easy to advanced, sure to provide lots of satisfaction even though there are not any complete patterns for afghans or garments.

I have been crocheting for quite a while now, and have accumulated many books. This one is very appealing to the eye. I love the spiral bound, it makes looking at a pattern book much easier. It's a very good read for a beginner as well as a pro. There are a lot of good tips, and suggestions on color, and stitch change.

Very useful book!

I absolutely loved this book! as a visual journaler I am always looking for inspiration. This book has so many examples of interesting journaling styles that immediately started getting my juices flowing!

If you are looking for a step by step book, this is not it. If you want to see other people's pages or to get inspiration, get this book, you won't be disappointed.

I highly recommend this book! It is filled with page after page of glorious visual journaling -- so many different styles and techniques -- definitely something for everyone. This is a book not to be missed and a must-have for your library.

Even if I didn't have 3 of my own jouranl quilts in this book I would still give it a 5 star rating! I see something new every time I pick it up. It's been a huge inspiration to me and my on-line yahoo group, Fiber Art Traders, [...]. Bravo Dawn for a job well done!
Normajean Brevik, Fiber Artist and Writer

I've really enjoyed this book so far, and will be using it for the examples when I teach a Art Journaling workshop coming up. It's mostly pages straight out of artist's journals, but at the beginning has a few pages of questions and inspirations to get you started in your journaling process.

I teach art journaling to middle school children of many abilities. I cannot tell you how wonderful this book is, so delicious with the variety of entries. They were so excited to see it.... I found each group gathered around me to get a better look.

I know the artwork, writings, styles of presentation, colors, and excitement from this book have influenced the young writers/artists I teach.

The children love it.

Sinceramente no me gustó, a pesar que soy fanatica del programa, y a mi parecer el programa es bastante bueno, sin embargo el libro no lo es, las recomendaciones no me parecen acertadas en algunos tipos de cuerpo, además busqué el mio y solo puedes aprovechar 3 paginas, no más, las combinaciones y las propuestas no me gustaron, si quieres un libro de estilismo y con buen gusto recomiendo mejor alguno de los libros de Trinny & Susannah.

This book features many real people with different body shapes (men and women), and shows you how they should dress for work, casual and formal. The good thing about it is that it photographs real people instead of using drawings, however this is also one of its limitations.

It is most likely that the reader, no matter much how closely she/he can identify with one of the models in the book, her/his body shape is still very different from that model! Myself for example, I am a petite, I am an hourglass shape (with shoulders and bottom same measurement, bust slightly smaller and a well-defined waist) and a size 0. The "matching" models would be either 1) Petite, Curvy, who is a size 6 to 8; or 2) a Petit, not curvy, who is a size 0 but a complete rectangle without curves...

There isn't much information given to each body shape either. Although it gives you reasons for why a model is dressed such ways, it does not state alternatives. For example, it says that you should wear cap sleeve to make your shoulders look broader, but it does not say what other sleeves you can wear; or it says as a petite size 0 (not curvy), you should wear white matching suit for work (as opposed to black) to increase impact, but it does not say what shapes of jackets, skirts or pants you can wear, and what colors other than white.

In conclusion, I will suggest "The Science of Sexy" by Bradley Bayou (see my other review). It is the best of the best!

Lucy Chen

I love the show , so I bought the book , but there really was only about 2-3 pages that really pertained to me , I could have read those at the local book store and saved the money.

This has been the best book on clothing I've seen. They are NOT here to tell you your style like "classic," "bohemian," "Victorian"... What they do is tell you how to deal with your body shape. They steer you toward the best style clothing for your body shape.

There are women and men of every shape in three heights: petite, average and tall and everyone is dressed in a black swimsuit (for women) and boxers (for men).
You determine where you fit in the shape category and height and then read the advise to look your best.

It is very straight forward and concise which is a huge help for just getting the facts.

You can glean from the other body shapes as well but clothing for your shape is right there in a nutshell.

I liked this book the first time I read it, and liked it more when I reread the sections that most applied to me. It's packed with concise observations and recommendations, delivered in a friendly, humorous, vibrant style. I haven't seen any other books for men that address the obvious differences in men's bodies and what works best on those who are short, tall, barrel-chested, big-waisted, etc. etc. At most there is a paragraph or two; most of the advice only applies to average height slim men. I found that several of the types applied to me most directly; but "universal tips" are found throughout the section for men, so all of it is worth reading. Some of the tips in the section for women also apply to men. I would actually like Clinton and Stacy to write another book organized differently, in which they could systematically take up questions like "what colors go together?" (for the clueless newbies among us) and color theory more generally, color considerations and skin tone, different kinds of fabrics, and just clothing issues thematically.

One thing I've noticed in the several books I have read on style is how often an author contradicts himself or lays down rules that other authors contradict, or just generally states rules without much rationale that seem really idiosyncratic to me. I didn't see a single statment in Clinton and Stacy's book that fell down in this regard, and that's high praise.

I'm a very difficult person to buy presents for, and normally end up with things I don't really want. I was given this book and have really enjoyed reading it and the projects in it.

There's enough here to keep me entertained for many weekends, and I highly recommend it as a present for others!

What great fun!! It's the baking soda volcano and the soda bottle tornado -- TIMES 100!!!! This book is rife with clever ideas that will leave you hankering for more time in the kitchen! Between sending my husband out for supplies and bringing my creations over to my neighbors, I don't think I've had this much fun in the kitchen since the renovation of 2002 - when I was literally sledge hammering my way through the bane-of-my-existence formica that had been drilling holes in my psyche for over a decade. THAT is the kind of fun this book restores to your kitchen-weary soul!

This book is everything you hope...and more! Amy Butler is known for her beautiful fabric and fresh ideas but I have a stack of her books on my shelf that I have loved to look at, but have never been inspired to make something from immediately. This book is the complete opposite! Each project is one that you will really want to make and is full of patterns, not just ideas. The projects themselves are unique and are not basic items that you could figure out on your own. I made the soft book for a baby shower gift and it was a huge hit! The kimono pj's are next on my list. You will love this book!

This little book will not disappoint. It is filled with beautiful pictures and patterns for any skill level - and, oh yes, inspiration! This book has truly taken my sewing and crafting to the next level. Once you make one of Amy's projects, you realize that you now have the tools and techniques to put the pattern aside and create something of your own. Wonderful, wonderful book.

Great ideas and pics in this book. I am in the process of making three of the projects. THe instrucions are easy to follow and not to mention her material is terrific.

I have Amy Butler's "In Stitches" pattern book, and have loved it! This book is very similar in layout, and I love the coil binding so it lays flat. Don't be overwhelmed...sometimes her patterns seem long, which in your mind equals complicated. But they are long because they are written so detailed which make them easy and fun to complete. I love the cute little patterns for baby (especially the kimono top and pjs) and the bags for mom. Another fabulous book from Amy Butler.

This is another beautiful Amy Butler book! I love some of the projects in here and can't wait to make them for my baby and toddler:) But even if I never use it I still love looking at the photography. My only wish is that two of the projects had a picture of the whole finished piece. There are two that don't have that and I'd like to see what it is that I am going to make before I make it!

This book is quite handy to keep in your knitting bag. It is a quite decent reference about knitting technique, and I do refer to it when I am home. (
It has no knitting stitch patterns in it however.) It does have an awkward approach of requiring each piece of info to be the answer to a question, but it really covers many technique questions quite well, and I am happy to use it as a references when it is near.

My biggest complaint about it is that it is quite heavy, even though it is small. They have made the cover out of some sort of heavy plastic, and the pages are thick which adds to the book's size/weight. I often leave it out of my knitting bag simply due to the weight, which contradicts the idea of a small knitting reference. By chance, I encounterd the French translation of this book, and it is sensibly made it out of much lighter weight materials and thinner paper. (Too bad my ability to read about knitting in French is non-existent.)

The Knitting Answer Book: Solutions to Every Problem You'll Ever Face; Answers to Every Question You'll Ever Ask I love this book. I am a long time knitter who needs good directions and don't always get them. Hopefully, this book will fill the need to help me interpret some of the questionable directions I have found in pattens and make knitting a more enjoyable and productive hobby for me.

I've been knitting forever, and have lots of books and magazines on the subject. This book is now my ultimate resource for clear instructions and tips for nearly every step of a project. There is no wasted space; every single topic is concise and logical. The question-and-answer format was a little annoying at first, but there's a good index in the back. BUY THIS BOOK before stocking up on more expensive, larger books that may not have the clear answers that this one does.

As I am teaching myself to knit and crochet, many questions keep popping up during my projects. Though I have purchased a multitude of books, I find that only this book has the answers to the perhaps "offbeat" or unusual questions that I generate.

I admit that I carry this book in my knitting bag, and use it often, but I find it very frustrating to do so. I'm surprised at how highly it is rated by so many knitters. I bought it to be a reference quide that would be informative and thorough--more than a glossary, but still small enough to be carried in my knitting bag. It is thorough, informative, and compact, but as a reference guide it is lacking. For me, as a reference guide, the question and answer format is clumsy and gets in the way of finding information. That's not a big deal and I would overlook that if the index was robust and enabled me to look things up quickly, but that's the frustrating thing about this book. I'm not a novice, but I'm not always sure exactly what an abbreviation means or maybe I need to brush up on a technique I haven't used in 6 months or I wonder if there is a better way to do something. So I go to the index with a keyword in mind, but too often, it's not there; I have to think about what broader topic would include the information I'm looking for and work backwards. Given the way the information is organized, that isn't always easy and I've found myself skimming chapter after chapter to find something that should be an easy thing to look up.

As I said, I wanted more than just a glossary and when I do find what I am looking for I appreciate the detailed instructions and clear illustrations. I'm impressed with the amount of info in such a small book and there are lots of answers here. The problem is that most of the answers will only be found if you sit down and read the book chapter by chapter. If you have a specific question in mind, it will be hit or miss trying to find the answer. I realize that this book can't be all things to all people, but I have to think that because it is small, at least one of the intentions is that it be a portable reference guide. If that's true, then the content needs to be a lot more accessible. If the index was beefed up, I would recommend this book with 4 stars and feel that it's worthy of taking up space in my crammed knitting bag.

There is a good variety of shawls using different techniques; lace, aran and knit and purl. Also a little shoulder caplet with ruffles. I really like the book, but if there were just one improvement it would be to show the stitches close up, and to give both a front & back view. It's a little book, meant to be handy to stick in the knitting bag and go...but I wish I had some diagram of how to do some of the special stitches like the "make star". I can get through it on the text explanation alone, but a few extra pages would have made it a perfect little book.

Most of the 22 shawls use yarn in the #4 category and only two of the shawls are for experienced. Most of them fall into the easy and/or intermediate skill level. The designers are familiar to everyone. Only one shawl is super bulky. All the shawls are knit. There are many beautiful unusual projects. My favorites are:beaded leaf lace shawl, wave pattern shawl, zigzag lace shawl, cabled wrap (cover), textured zigzag shawl, wave and leaf shawl and flowers and snowflakes shawl (back cover). This is one of the better books in this series and highly recommended.