5 comments about Wild and Wonderful Fleece Animals: With Full-Size Patterns for 20 Cuddly Critters.

1. I only checked this book out from the library, but it is definitely worth buying. (i am actually afraid if i buy it, i will be requested by my kids to make each pattern, which would create huge overpopulation in my house of stuffed creatures--even though they are probably my favorite thing to make!) I made two of the penguins for my children for christmas. As others have said, the illustrated instructions are so clear, and the patterns are included (i traced them of course, since this is a library copy--but the heavy paper they are on and thick lines they are drawn with made this easy). The choices are varied and so cute. I am an intermediate sewist and each toy took me less than an hour after i had collected and cut my materials (it went especially quick making the second one). Such a great deal for so many patterns, too!



2. I cannot more highly recommend this book for people who enjoy sewing stuffed toys. It's also an excellent book for those who are trying to learn how to sew with a machine, as well as anyone who would like to try sewing fleece, or sewing stuffed animals.
   
   I have been making patterns and sewing stuffed toys for thirty two years and I would place this book among the very best on the subject. The full-size patterns are a nice plus. I photocopied them onto regular paper to keep the originals pristine, but the paper is sufficiently heavy for many uses.
   
   As soon as I'm done with this review, I'm going to look for other books by this author.



3. I found this book at my local library first, and simply had to have a copy of my own!
   
   The full-sized patterns are amazing, and the pictorial instructions easily followed. With the majority of the seams being machine sewed, these make practical children toys as well. I have tried the hedgehog and penguin patterns, and both took me less than an hour to complete.
   
   Simple additions of trim will further personalize the toys, making adorable gifts. (For example, a feathery trim sewn in the head seam of the penguin pattern makes a cute Mohawk-style punk rocker, while beaded tassels make a flirty necklace.)
   
   I would recommend this book to any one looking for sweet, fun projects that can be finished in an afternoon.



4. This will be fun to use for making gifts for my grandchildren. Arrived in good time and excellent condition. Thank you.



5. I have been sewing for about 3 years so I am in no way an expert. But, even if you are an expert or just starting out, this book is really great for you! The patterns are simple and straight forward, many of them have under 7 pieces total and some have just three or four pieces. The animals vary in size, so some are a great way to use up some scrap fabric (aka the smaller rabbit, centipede, etc).
   
   I recommend a couple of things: look at the actual pattern before you buy fabric, they are much bigger than I thought some of them were!
   
   Second, the patterns all come on four large foldouts; I just trace the pattern I need and save them so I don't lose the pieces.
   
   Other than those, great book! I have made 2 cats, the rabbit, penguin and the hedgehog.

5 comments about Colorful Stitchery: 65 Hot Embroidery Projects to Personalize Your Home.

1. I ordered this book to learn some embroidery stitches to make Christmas presents. The pictures and directions were great, and I easily learned the stitches to complete my pillows. She bends the rules of "traditional" embroidery and uses the stitches to create something modern and gorgeous. An excellent book to learn beginner techniques. I will be ordering another book to learn even more stitches.



2. This book is not for the experienced crafter. If I had had the opportunity to flip though it before purchasing, I wouldn't have purchased it. With that said, I do think it could be useful for someone young and new to crafting. It has some good basic information and cute projects. I sent it to my 23 year old daughter and she is enjoying it much more than I.



3. I am loving the colorful, hip designs in this book! Nice photographs and well thought out directions. These projects made me want to pick up my needle right away.



4. This book is quite inspiring and cheerful. You begin to think of your ideas after seeing the projects here. I highly recommend this book.



5. I live in a very small apartment so I can't collect books, but this is one I will keep. Easy to follow directions and nice projects. Detailed information on how to make projects that are more complicated like dying fabrics. I received the book and made two projects over the weekend and have plans for a couple of more. This book is inspiring, well written, and COLORFUL! A must have, you won't be disappointed.

2 comments about Artful Applique II: Introducing Scraplique and 12 New Floral Designs (That Patchwork Place).

1. Jane Townswick's ARTFUL APPLIQUE II introduces scraplique and 12 new floral designs that demonstrate how to create applique shapes from scraps. A gallery of quilt art results accompanies step-by-step instructions for piecing a range of flowers and accents any quilter will find an excellent embellishment add-on.



2. The floral designs in Jane Townswick's second Artful Appliqué book are beautiful, natural, and detailed. Never fear, Jane takes you step-by-step through her way of mastering this realism. While advising beginners to consult one of her previous books or another reference book for the basics of appliqué, she introduces many fantastic techniques to throw into your appliqué bag of tricks.
   
   In this volume Jane introduces Scrapliqué, a technique for creating mosaic-like fabric compositions for your motifs without having to stitch tiny pieces together. There's also information on unit appliqué, where you can stitch an entire flower before stitching it to the background. Jane explains several advantages to this strategy.
   
   The book has sections on color blending, free-form stems and branches, and a unique way of stitching sharp points. There's a gorgeous gallery of quilts and 12 floral blocks with step-by-step instructions and photos. You'll find anemone, camellia, iris, lady's slipper, pansies, sweet peas, and more!
   
   A rich resource for the appliqué enthusiast.
   
   Kay Mackenzie
   Author, Easy Applique Blocks: 50 Designs in 5 Sizes (That Patchwork Place)

5 comments about Heartfelt: 25 Projects for Stitched and Felted Accessories.

1. A well done book complete with time, patterns, supplies and photos to complete a project out of recycled sweaters.
   
   Author has produced a great book for those starting out in felting of old wool sweaters.
   
   Some items are cute as a bug in a rug... whatever that is LOL... but just as cute as can be.
   
   One thing...you have to like to embroider as there is quite a bit of that. As for myself I will modify and do needle felting instead of the embroidery. Well at least not as much as the author as I want the project to take less time than the amount put into the embroidery.
   
   As an artist who sells her work time is important. I can not spend 5 hours on one item no matter how cute it is unless it is an item for a friend etc. but not for selling.
   
   The photos, patterns, time and supplies needed is great.



2. This is a fun and creative book, loaded with lots of ideas even for beginners! I love felting and love this book!



3. This is not an ordinary felting book. It does have projects that can be done by a beginner, but mostly offers projects and ideas for intermediate/advanced crafters. Owning an embroidery machine is also an advantage for many of the projects. I really like this book, it offered ideas to do things with felt that I hadn't tried or even thought of trying. If you've worked with felted wool already, this is a great book.



4. super easy transaction--received book in excellent condition and packaged well. would do biz with again!



5. I bought this book after borrowing it from a friend because of the variety of projects and ideas for embellishments. I am a fairly experienced knitter and have felted other projects.
   
   What this book provides: a collection of creative patterns that makes use of recycled woolen clothing or machine-knitted swatches. The author says hand-knitted "fabric" can be used, but may prove disheartening to see how small it gets once felted. (I plan to handknit my stuff, anyway.)
   
   What this book does NOT provide: A detailed set of hand knitting instructions, like the number of skeins to buy, size of needle, how many stitches to cast on, how to make a stockinette stitch, how big a swatch to knit. Those details are left to the individual knitter.
   
   I do recommend the book, tempered with reservations about its audience.

5 comments about The Harmony Guides: Knit & Purl: 250 Stitches to Knit.

1. What a great book! It gave me great ideas for gifts this holiday season. I didn't have to search for patterns to make each gift individualized. I just flipped through the various stitch patterns and everyone received something just right for them. Pricing for the book was excellent.



2. I got this book over a year ago and have found that it has a good selection of knit and purl stitches, but not enough variety for me to consider it a great reference book. I have reached for it a handful of times for ideas during the past year. I recently got 101 stitches to knit by the same publisher and found that selection more interesting because it has stitches from all their books (cable stitches, lace, etc.) and it is made of portable cards.



3. I really do like this stitch pattern book. It sticks to mostly the basic knit and purl stitches, and doesn't get wild and exotic---if you need to know how to do any of your more common and useful stitches, they are probably here. The pages have plenty of space and are clear, which is a nice change from many stitch books. I love the comments thrown in here and there---it makes the book feel more homey and less clinical, as if you have a friend teaching you the stitches. The book just looks good---it's well designed.
   
   However, it's not perfect. The pictures of each stitch pattern are very close up. That could be useful, but some patterns really don't show themselves unless you can see them over a larger repeat. There is room for two pictures on the pages, and that might be nice in some cases. Also, here and there there is a cable instruction or other more complicated stitch component thrown in, which could be frustrating to those really only looking for the basics. And another pet peeve of mine---please tell me the minimun number of cast on stitches! If a pattern says something like it need 16 + 9 stitches, and I cast on 25, don't all of a sudden have a row that requires 34 or 43 stitches, unless you warn me!
   
   I don't mean to complain about this book a lot, though. I really do like it, and I think it would be a great book to have around when you are looking for a stitch pattern to try.



4. Skip this stitch dictionary and get one or all of the Barbara Walker Treasuries.
   
   While this book provides some interesting stitch patterns, it doesn't stack up to other stitch dictionaries. There seems to be no organization to the various stitches, and there's no index to the book. Though there is half a page in the introduction devoted to how to read the charts, and though some of the stitch patterns tell how to interpret special symbols in the charts, the book has no charts. The color pictures are clear, but they're often too close up to give readers a good idea of how the stitch patterns would look in a garment. All the stitch patterns are worked in the same yarn, which is an understandable editorial decision, but, I think, the wrong one. Lastly, there's no descriptive text.
   
   I give it two stars only because there are some attractive stitches I haven't seen in other stitch dictionaries before, but this book isn't nearly as good as it could have been or ought to have been.



5. Ordered this book for my wife. Was very pleased with purchase price and speed of delievery. 100 % happy with all aspects of shopping on Amazon.com and will continue to do so in the future.

5 comments about Embroidery Stitches: Over 400 Contemporary and Traditional Stitch Patterns.

1. Easy to follow stitches, well-illustrated and described. Perfect for crazy quilting beginners and intermediate level crazy quilters, as it gives some interesting ideas for using the various stitches in motifs.



2. An excellent book for the beginner or experienced stitcher. Well illustrated with clear directions.



3. Wow! This is one of the best books on embroidery stitch patterns I have ever seen. The photos and instructions were clear and well written. I must admit, I reached for fabric and thread almost immediately to try out some of the more unusual stitches. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning new and/or traditional embroidery stitches.



4. Before I purchased this book, I was hoping for some detailed instructions on embrodery stitches. The book has some detail, but not enough. The most basic stitches are detailed, but then when the patterns get more involved the visual step-by-step instructions disappear and there is only the written instructions with a picture of the stitch, and unless you are very familiar with embrodery jargon, you could get lost. I was wanting to duplicate the embrodery stitch on the front cover and the instructions just weren't explicit enough, so I had to stare at the picture to figure out how the pattern was accomplished. It would also be more helpful if the book had some sort of index. You have to go page by page to find the pattern you want. For instance, I just wanted to find out what a whipped back stitch was, and I had to go through the pages one at a time to find the diagram. I don't recommend this one for beginners unless you can figure out how to do something by looking at the pretty pictures.



5. Personally, I don't believe this is a very user-friendly book.
   
   Perhaps it's the size of the book/color choices used in the samples/how everything seems to be crammed in/how the second half of the book is done with ribbon/etc, etc, etc, but maybe that's just me.
   
   I would recommend trying to find this at a bookstore and previewing it before purchasing.

5 comments about The Artful Ribbon: Beauties in Bloom.

1. I have not found too many things I could duplicate in this book. This kind of ribbon art is a little more complicated than I expected.
   It's still a nice book. A person more experienced with working ribbon would probably enjoy it more than I.



2. I hsve not tried any of the projects yet but the directions are incredibly clear and the book is also beautifully illustrated. This is new to me but with the great instruction and stunning pictures, can't wait to begin creating these blooms.



3. Great book that I would recommend to anyone wanting ideas to make flowers out of ribbon.



4. This is the first time I've tried ribbon work and had no difficulty following the directions. It was so easy to understand what to do, and how to do the flowers. Mine all came out lovely at the end!
   
   The illustrations are beautiful and inspiring and there are no set projects and directions as to which color/size of ribbon to use and how to put your finished flowers together, it will really work your imagination and creativity - I really like that aspect of the book! I also like her Ribbon Width formula (RW) better then if I was given a specific width of ribbon, because I can use any ribbon from my stash to make flowers out of.
   
   There's nothing to stand in the way of your imagination here, yet you'll get enough guidence as a beginner to know what to do, what supplies to buy and what they look like! The only thing I had to research on the internet is the type of ribbons and where to buy them from (she has a list of suppliers at the back of the book but they are all mailing addresses, no websites because the book came out in 1996). It took only a short time to find suppliers on the net who sell a variety of good quality ribbons like Soft Edge: silk, velvet, pleated and hand dyed ribbons and Wire Edge: rayons in variegated, ombre, organdy. But this was only a small inconvenience.
   I was sorry to see this book is out of print - buy a used copy like I did, you won't regret it!



5. This is a ribbonwork book that demonstrates how to create dimensional (3D) flowers with ribbon.
   
   AND WOW!, WOW!, WOW! - WHAT A BOOK! The Artful Ribbon is worth buying just for the gloriously beautiful photos which are high quality. BE WARNED though - you won't be able to resist having a go at one of those gorgeous flowers once you have even peeked at the inside pages.
   
   Beginners this is definitely a book for you, but any skill level will enjoy this book. Candace Kling's ribbon width formula (if you can call it that - recipe perhaps? ) is wonderfully and excitingly simple.
   
   Definitely a book worth having!

5 comments about Spin Control: Techniques for Spinning the Yarns You Want.

1. I was really looking forward to this book. I'm would have bought it sight unseen because of the publisher's pre-release hype, but I'm glad I didn't and first ordered it from my library.
   
   Let me be clear: This is a beautiful book. There is much material here for a new spinner, and I would certainly recommend it to any newbie. Great information about the properties of different fibers, and excellent instructions on basic spinning techniques, all presented very nicely. But for those who have been spinning for a long time, it only skims the surface of "techniques for spinning the yarns you want." That surface is fine, but there's nothing new here for those of us who've been spinning for years. I was just under the impression that there was a finally a new truly advanced book out (and I just love new books!).
   
   I'm glad I had the book for a few hours, but that's about it. So, 3 stars for me. For a beginner, maybe I'd even give it 5 stars.



2. I had looked forward with anticipation to this book and it was exactly what I thought it would be. The writing style is friendly and encouraging for anyone wanting to try a new technique. There are plenty of spinning techniques to try. Lots of great information about sampling and the part about predrafting is just right. Not drafting before you spin as much as improving the prep for a more enjoyable spinning experience.
   The photographs are lovely and helpful.
   This is a book for beginners to intermediate spinners looking for ways to improve their spinning.
   Beyond the intermediate stage there is lots of good reference material here. This book will be on the shelf next to my favorite spinning books that I go to again and again.



3. Given the positive review by Spin-off magazine, I expected to find information not covered by other sources. Good for beginners but nothing new for more experienced spinners seeking to improve their technique.



4. I'm kinda new at spinning and I also have a lot of questions about how I can improve the way I spin and improve the yarn I make. And this book is a large part of my improvement!



5. Like many spinners, I really looked forward to this book, and so far I have enjoyed the eye-candy, and read the text with interest.
   Fortunately, I'm not a newbie spinner, because some of the basic editing and proof-reading errors can only confuse the inexperienced, who will not recognise the errors as such at all.
   This is embarrassing for the publishing house concerned, as well as the author, and dooms the book to be one of those you read, then return to the local library or put up for resale on ebay.
   This is a pity as its written in a friendly and enjoyable style, and is thorough in setting out basic procedures, something we often forget about. The pictures are great, and I appreciated the section on sitting correctly at the wheel, as well as the illustrated detail on the great debate about woolen and worsted.
   The best feature of the book? The knitted samples from the different drafting and spinning techniques used, particularly as I am not an experienced knitter. This alone would have earned the book 5 stars if it wasn't for the sloppy and rushed editing. Read before you buy!

5 comments about First Book of Modern Lace Knitting.

1. I asked the lace knitting group I belong to what would be a good book to start with learning lace knitting and many answered,FIRST BOOK OF MODERN LACE KNITTING by Marianne Kinzel.I looked it up on Amazone and found it right away and also found the, SECOND BOOK OF MODERM LACE KNITTING and had to purchase both. Very good books to have if you are just starting out with lace knitting. Iltcrft



2. This book is a "must-have" for anyone looking for lace that is a little more challenging. Many people will have to re-learn some of the knitting terms (pins vs. needles) but it is definitely worth the effort.



3. This book is full of beautiful patterns with the great detailing that make lace knitting so enjoyable. Some of the book is not written out line by line, the patterns are adaptable and flexible. If you are looking for a great resource book with patterns that will get your mind working, this is the book for you. If you're wanting straight patterns to follow then you might want to pass this one up for now. Definitely a great addition to any lace knitters library.



4. Interesting book - focus is on doilies, and tablecloth type stuff. A bit much for a beginner at lace.



5. This is a collection of exquisite knitted lace designs by Marianne Kinzel. The patterns are in very fine thread lace and mostly use knitting needle sizes around 2.00 mm or finer.
   
   The sizes of the pieces range from doilies to tablecloths and bedspreads and every lace knitter should have this book and Book 2 in her collection.

5 comments about Hats On! 31 Warm and Winsome Caps for Knitters.

1. I own this book and have made three hats from it so far. The patterns are easy to follow for an intermediate knitter. Ms. Schurch does not provide a lot of technical explanations regarding two-color technique. If you are not familiar with this type of knitting you will need to rely on other sources for tips and explanations. I am a moderately experienced knitter and really like this book. The patterns are wonderful, varied, and interesting. I really enjoy looking at, wearing, and knitting multi-colored items and this book is perfect for that. So far I have not found any mistakes and the patterns can be knit relatively quickly and inexpensively. Usually one ball of good quality yarn per hat. I anticipate knitting many more hats from the book as they make great gifts and this book's patterns are a pleasure to make.



2. I love all the different hats and want to knit all of them. The great plus is no two hats have exactly the same shape, some patterns are from exotic places like Turkey or Siberia so different techniques are used which is a great way to learn.
   
   The book can be used as a reference and motifs from other sources can be adapted to the basic shapes. It's a great reference book with instructions for 4 different sizes throughout. Hats off!



3. This is one of my favorite knitting books of all time. I've knitted three of the hats in this book and they've all turned out beautifully. I've got a waiting list from friends who want one, too! Charlotte Schurch does a great job rounding up traditional hats from around the world, but her Nordic ones are my favorites. You can see my Hats On! creations on Ravelry at julieandcompany.



4. This one book includes patterns for many hat styles. My favorite, and I have many.



5. The patterns are classic, and in Norway we all have hats like this. So the book is very useful. I have observed that the Norwegian sweaters and patterns are coming into fashion again, so this book can get a new life. My fifth star would have been shining if the author had used thicker yarn, 23-26 st per 10 cm is more "normal" for this kind of garments. It makes them warmer and the pattern easier to knit.
   Tips: Some patterns show a section of a hat to repeat: Easily you can knit mittens using one section of a hat -- with my gauge!