The Crafter's Companion is done! I can't wait to see it; the suspense is killing me. Here are my projects in the book if you'd like a peek: embroidered felt sewing box and machine embroidered felt desk tray. ...
Got Bazaar Bizarre at the library this week. It's a book spinoff from the Bazaar Bizarre craft fairs. I had high hopes for it, but ended up underwhelmed. Way too much hipster irony crafting going on in this book. Honestly,...
FYI for Tivo-ers of Crafters Coast to Coast: they've changed it's name to That's Clever for some unknown reason. It's the exact same show, though. I'm so annoyed; I'd been missing the new ones until my mom told me about...
What to say about Martha's new show? I'm going to keep watching it, at least, hoping for some good craft content. The shirt-folding trick was neat the first time, but did we really need to see it twice? It seems...
The library got a copy of Todd Oldham's Handmade Modern (his site has zooms of lots of the projects). I know him from his column in ReadyMade, which is kind of hit or miss, but usually fun to look at....
I finally got my hands on a copy of Make today. It's a DIY technology magazine. Pretty neat. Their first issue came out a while back, but at $14.99 I didn't spring for it myself. It's a nice mix of...
Just by chance today at the library I grabbed 3 books with knit or crochet flower patterns: Vogue Knitting from Fall 2004 and Holiday 2004 both have patterns. The Fall 2004 has 2 patterns with flowers. One of them is...
Good haul of craft books for Christmas. One sister got me a pile of thrifted craft books. There are some really good ones (in a good way), my favorite being Storybook Favorites in Cross Stitch by Gillian Souter, and some...
Better Homes and Gardens Hip Knits just barely failed the check-it-out-of-the-library test. There just weren't any projects that called to me. I liked a few of them: a granny square bag (crocheted despite the book title) and a few simple...
Grrr. My worst fears are being realized. Now that Martha's in jail, the whole thing's going downhill. Living, Everyday Food, and Weddings are still holding out, but I fear Kids is a canary in a coalmine. I get home from...
Oh boy, a new craft show: HGTV's Crafters Coast to Coast. The one episode I've seen so far was promising. Kind of corny production values, but some decent projects. There was one part with a knitter/felter named Betsy McCall (after...
Found a neat magazine that my library subscribes to: Ideas Para Tu Hogar. Unfortunately, there's not an awful lot on their website. It's kind of a Spanish-language Martha Stewart. Lots of pictures and craft projects. I plan on browsing more...
I remembered more books from the California library that I've been wanting to find again: Diana Lampe's Embroider a Garden and Embroidered Garden Flowers. They're kind of old school flower embroidery, bullion stitches and stuff like that, but she really...
I am coveting Sew Easy, not to be confused with Sew Fast Sew Easy, which I am also coveting. I saw it today at Barnes & Noble. It said it was published by them, so I'm not sure if you...
Thread Painting by Liz Hubbard is one of my favorite inspiration books. Unfortunately, I got it from the library back in California, so I can't check it out any more. It's out of print, and the used copies are more...
Hand Knits for the Home, by Caroline Birkett is a really nice book. It's a nice skill-building book. Most of the patterns are for pillows, which would be a great way to try a new stitch. I like the intarsia...
I just got the Treelets book from Blissen by the amazing Jill Bliss and Shinpei Tanaka. I love all of her designs, and since the poppies poster was sold out, I went for the Treelets book. It's pretty cute. Neat...
Time for a rundown of all the knitting books I've been looking through lately. I even broke down and bought one for my mom for a (late) mother's day gift. I had originally planned to get her Erika Knight's Simple...
I generally like the "... for the First Time" crafting series. Origami for the First Time by Soonboke Smith is not one of the best in the series, but it's OK. Most of the projects are just not my taste....
I forgot to decline my Crafter's Choice Book of the Month last month and inadvertantly ordered Better Homes and Gardens Beautiful Cross Stitch. I was going to send it back, but it turns out that it's a pretty nice book,...
I got The Urban Knitter by Lily Chin from the library today. I had high hopes because she's one of the only knitting designers I've actually ever heard of. Unfortunately, in the whole book there's not a single pattern that...
Well, I finally found Rescue Magazine at Borders. I got both the holiday issue and the new one. Eh. The blip about it in the newspaper made it sound much more crafty. Instead it's some sort of lifestyle magazine that...
I got the ubiquitous Stitch 'N Bitch by Debbie Stoller for Christmas. I have to say I'm a little disappointed in it after all the people raving about it so much. It doesn't have enough color pictures, and the puns...
Good trip to the library today. Simple crochet by Erika Knight is my new favorite crochet book. It's very nicely done, with lots of color pictures and neat patterns. My next crochet project is definitely going to be the boxes...
Creative Backstitch by Helen Hall is not a book I'd use much. I got it out from the library on the basis of the cover picture, hoping it would have some nice designs. It's mostly disappointing, though, without much that...
Pauline Brown's Encyclopedia of Embroidery Techniques is a good book for your library to have. I'll probably check it out again if I ever get serious about doing that embroidered picture I want to do one day. The books has...
The Yarn Girls' Guide to Simple Knits by Julie Carles and Jordana Jacobs is the knitting book I have been looking for. I am a new knitter, and the patterns in the book look reasonable. I like simple sweaters anyway,...
I recently bought the paper marbling kit from Martha by Mail. It looks kind of complicated, like it takes 3 days to make a sheet of paper. I got The Ultimate Marbling Handbook by Diane Maurer-Mathison at the library today....
New category for the craftlog: crafty book reviews, mostly to keep track of all the lousy cross stitch books I run across. I got an armful of craft books at the library today. Beading for the First Time, by Ann...
