My new books

All my books have arrived now so I thought it was time to do a quick review. I ordered them from The Book Depository which offers free shipping worldwide. All my books arrived very quickly and the prices were excellent.

First we have Sock and Glove by Miyako Kanamori. This is a lovely sweet book. The photography is lovely and the patterns easy to follow and would be manageable to hand sew. There is some assumption that you already know how to sew in this book. Overall a very inspiring book, and I'm sure I'm going to buy some socks and/or gloves for these projects soon.

Next is Plush-O-Rama: Curious Creatures for Immature Adults by Linda Kopp. This was a great book to read through, the introduction goes through various materials and techniques and there is a wide range of creatures to make, all with their own personalities. There are some great designer bios as well. The only negative would be that the templates need enlarging, but that is a small quibble. It's also full of inspiration for creating your own monsters as well!

Then there is Bend-the-Rules Sewing by Amy Karol, which is beautifully presented, full of inspiring designs, clear instructions, and lovely writing. It goes through sewing basics initially and then has a range of projects, all appearing nice and simple. I'm looking forward to trying some.

Next is Crochet Me by Kim Werker, which is a very empowering book. You don't often get crochet books that you get to the end of reading and go "Yeah! I crochet!" but this one manages to do that. As well as the essays throughout there is a lovely range of projects, and I've already ordered some wool to start some of them (it doesn't count towards your stash if you buy it for a specific project).

Second last is Amigurumi: Supper Happy Crochet Cute by Elisabeth A. Doherty and I must say, the patterns in this are adorable. There is a range from crochet food, animals and humanoids. There are instructions for the crochet stitches, embroidery and also some hand exercises which I think is a fantastic idea.

Finally we have the Harmony Guide 300 Crochet Stitches. This book is obviously designed to be very functional and gets straight into the crochet without any non-instructive text. The stitch patterns are packed in, all with clear photographs and some with charts. It's definitely a good base for different crochet patterns and motifs.

Books, books and more books

On the weekend the Australian Bookcrossing Convention was in Melbourne, and it was lots of fun. I've been pretty lucky because last year it was in Adelaide and this year in Melbourne, next year it's in Brisbane so I may use it as an excuse for a holiday (the only problem with that is getting the books home again)!

Anyway, as well as being an opportunity to pass along books (and free up space for new ones) it's a great place to pick up new books, like these...


...there are actually another two books which didn't make it into the photo because they're being read by me and my mum. I think I may be busy for some time...

This large number of books is by no means an excuse to not buy craft books, I have however decided to get the Crochet Me book, so I might wait until next week to finish the competition and order books. Yay, more books! (I think I may have a problem)

Bloggy Competition

Recently we've had someone away from work for a bit, so I've been working extra hours which has left me a bit tired and grumpy. Anyway, I've decided that because of that I deserve some craft booky goodness...and that's where you guys come in.

I've come up with a bit of a list of books I'd like to get (but unfortunately I can't get them all) so I'm looking for feedback on where best to spend my money. Either let me know which books are fantastic (or which one's you've heard are fantastic), which one's overlap a bit (and so I should only pick one), or any other books that you think I should add to my list. I'm aiming to get a bit of a range of crafts.

1. Books I'm almost definately going to get:

Bend-the-Rules Sewing: The Essential Guide to a Whole New Way to Sew by Amy Karol
I've heard really great things about this one.

2. Books I'd love to get:

Amigurumi!: Super Happy Crochet Cute by Elisabeth Doherty
They're very cute...but I've got an excess of soft toys at the moment. Although great gifts.

Sock and Glove: Creating Charming Softy Friends from Cast-Off Socks and Gloves by Miyako Kanamori
Again, lovely and cute.

Crochet Me: Designs to Fuel the Crochet Revolution by Kim Werker
Ok, so it's not actually out yet. That shouldn't stop comments should it?

A Crochet Stitch Dictionary
I didn't actually find anything specific, so suggestions of good ones would be really appreciated. I'd probably like something with a nice range, clear directions, inspiring pictures.

3. Books I'm not quite sure of (but that still look lovely):

Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing: Patterns and How-To for 24 Fresh and Easy Projects by Lotta Jansdotter
I'm just not sure how many sewing books I should buy right now because I don't sew as often as I'd like to.

Sublime Stitching: Hundreds of Hip Embroidery Patterns and How-To (Spiral-bound) by Jenny Hart
I've got a few embroidery books and there are great resources on the internet for different stitches, so this would mainly be for patterns, although I've heard they're not as unique as the individual Sublime Stitching Patterns.

Plush-o-Rama: Curious Creatures for Immature Adults by Linda Kopp
Because now I'm on my third toy book. But still cute!

Best comments* will win a bookmark so leave a comment, along with your preferred bookmark and I'll probably draw it (and order books) next week, so you've got a little while to think about it.

*Best comment may be based on most useful, most funny or simply picked randomly.

Oooooooh, exciting

Yesterday I got home and there was a notice to pick up a parcel from the post office. I was a little confused because I was sure that I'd recieved all the parcels I was expecting (yarn x2, beads, surprise from Meshell, bits for my spinning wheel), but I was a bit excited because it was a surprise. My only thought was that it might be some shoes that I'd left in Adelaide.

Anyway, I had to pick up my parcel from the evil post office (one of three near me) which is also a quilting shop (see why it's evil? But I resisted) and it was a book...



...called Not Your Mama's Stitching and here's the REALLY exciting bit...

I'm a contributor. Yay!

In case you're confused I knew I was a contributor and was going to get a copy of the book, it just didn't register when I got the notice.

70s crafty goodness

I got this book the other day, and it's just fabulous! I'm not sure if there are any projects that I'd actually make, but I love it just for the tackiness value.

First we have the cover, and while the frog and toilet roll holder and blanket (which isn't actually in the book, I guess it was too tasteful) aren't too bad, it slowly gets worse with the poodle doorstop (the blue thing, which is apparently useful as well as ornamental) and the tulle rabbit (this book has an entire section on tulle). The tulle rabbit's description actually states that 'everyone who sees him will want you to make one for them' and 'no one will pass without comment'. Probably, but I'm not sure that they'd be complementary comments. I'm also questioning why you'd make a soft toy out of something that's not all that soft?


Then we have another tulle creation, perfect for the man in the house, this toilet and cistern cover. To be honest, I'd think a requirement for bathroom things is normally 'easy to clean' but I guess sometimes you need to sacrifice practicality for style.


And finally, we have this adorable monkey string holder. I can't say much about this one apart from "I'm scared".

Bookcrossing Convention

The 2006 Australian Bookcrossing Convention was on in Adelaide this weekend and I went, and had lots of fun. I've ended up with 13 or 14 more books, a DVD, a CD, and lots of new friends.

I released quite a few books (nearly 30, some at the Convention, and some on the streets of Adelaide) and I've got a few good catches.

This is my favourite:

I saw someone stop outside my place of business, and gathered around it, then I went outside to see what they where looking at and found the book. This morning on Sunrise they had been talking about book crossing and now I am experiencing it, I think that's great I will definetly read the book and leave it somewhere for someone else to befriend it.

CAUGHT IN KENT TOWN SA AUSTRALIA

But I also like this one:

Found at the Adelaide BC Convention. (Actually, picked up on the sea - wall at Glenelg) I've been looking for this book for years!

It's lots of fun passing books on!

The Waves

Since Miss Meshell's recommendation of Virginia Woolf I've read the waves, and so I thought I'd write a bit of a review of it.

I really enjoyed this book. The unusual style of writing makes it a good book for reading slowly, savouring all of it. This is a good thing for me because often I tend to get caught up in books (anyone else suffer from 'one more chapter' syndrome?) and read until the early hours of the morning, before I have to get up for work the next day. I think if you read this all at once, you'd miss out a bit on some of the beautiful imagery, and so it was nice to be almost forced to put the book down before I got overwhelmed with it.

The style of writing also lets you enter the characters minds and also view each character from several different perspectives. I think this is a book which I'll discover more of re-reading.

Lots of books...and they're all mine!

I had a surprise day off last week. Seriously, I was at work and my boss came and told me to take the rest of the day off. Which was nice, because the weather was lovely and I think this week is going to be pretty busy!

Anyway, as well as going to the beach for a bit, I went to Harbour Town, which is Adelaide's factory outlet place. They have two book stores. This is bad, because I always have to look in bookstores, and if they have cheap books I find my wallet opening.



So far I've only read 1 1/2 of these books (plus the two library books I borrowed later that day). I'm trying to read a bigger variety of books than just fantasy (you can't tell from this picture can you?) and I've been reading some 'classics' lately and really enjoying them. Anyway, MissMeshell mentioned a while ago that she's really enjoying books by Virginia Woolf, and as I'm always open to suggestions for new authors, I bought The Waves by her, so if I don't enjoy it I know who to blame! (Just kidding!)

Hopefully these will last me a couple of weeks at least.

Look what I got!

That's right. It's a NEW craft book. The Happy Hooker. I was in my local bookstore buying a birthday present for my dad (after I bought him a, to be honest, cheap and nasty, card and he responded with "Oooh, a bought card" (subtext "Lindsay has spent some money on me rather than making a card") I don't worry about making gifts, which I know would be unappreciated), when I saw The Happy Hooker and snapped it up.


I'm really impressed with it. All the instructions are really clear, and it's fixed a few errors I was making after self-teaching myself. The patterns are really good too and although I haven't made anything from it yet, I'm definately planning too!

On another note, I think I've finally got my template sorted out now, but if there are any problems could you leave a note in the comments section?

More new books

I've moved from op shop to op shop in my search for new books (not just craft books, but they are a favourite!).


More new books 

I'm absolutely thrilled about the Needlecraft book. I was house sitting at the end of last year and the start of this year and they had a copy there, and I have to confess I briefly thought "They won't miss this" but that was a BAD thought and was quickly banished. I just spent a lot of time there flicking through the book. It's really fantastic. It's more on techniques than patterns and it's got some great crochet stitch guides as well as embroidery stuff (I know, I just got a big embroidery book), so I'm really glad I managed to find a copy. I'm accumulating quite a collection of craft books now...as well as yarn, beads, ribbon, embroidery thread, paper and other random bits and bobs.

By the way, my car hasn't been cleaned yet (it's not actually that dirty) but one of the girls from work pulled out the grass. To be honest, I'm a little disappointed.

New craft books

Ooooh look! I bought these at the Lifeline Book Fair that was on when I went to the Gold Coast and I'm so glad I had room left in my suitcase for them (and the novels I bought too).


New books 

The Encyclopedia of Embroidery is a wonderful book. It has detailed illustrations of different embroidery stitches and techniques as well as examples of embroidered art which makes the book more interesting. Techniques include cross stitch, applique, machine embroidery and more. It also has a number of patterns as well, and was just an enjoyable book to read.

The Complete Crafts book has a wide range of projects with clear instructions for all of them. The variety of crafts was very impressive.

New crafty books

I got a couple of new books from a local op-shop (thrift shop for some).

 

The 'Stitch by Stitch' book is from the 80s and as well as a few crochet patterns (some quite good ones), it's got some knitting stuff, embroidery and sewing. To be honest the best part is laughing at some of the photos...like these very attractive dresses!
 

The 'More Crochet' book is from the 70s and so also includes some pretty amusing pictures. While this isn't the worst pattern I'm just amused by the drugged out looks on the model's photos. Drugs and crochet, who knew?
  

Books

Because I've been tired and haven't got my camera out for a bit, I thought I'd talk about something I love apart from crafts, books.

I'm a voracious reader, and start to go a little bit nutty if I don't have a good book to read. My favourite genre is fantasy, I find I can really lose myself in a well created world. I've actually banned myself from reading in the morning before work because I then spend the whole day wondering what happens next.

So because of my love of books, and reading, I've been journaling all the books I've read this year at bibliophil.org. It's really good, you can see who else has read the same book and what they rated it. Plus there is a wish list feature, although I haven't spent much time on that. There have been a few books I've read that the site couldn't find, but overall it's pretty good. So if you'd like to see what I've read this year (and a few more) click here.





Another booky thing is BookCrossing. It's pretty cool. You register books, and then give them away. I've left a few in shopping centers, on trains, stuff like that but I've only had one that's been found and journalled, but hopefully there will be more. I was lucky enough to get a whole box of books from another BookCrosser soon after I moved to Adelaide so that's kept me from going too insane but I'm about due to release some more. I've given a few straight to friends, but no one has journalled anything on the website, but hopefully I'll get some finds. The one 'catch' I got was very exciting.



My bookshelf is here

New Book

I bought this book from an op shop for $1 and I'm pretty impressed.

Home Handicrafts Book  

While it does have some shockers...


My eyes! 

There are also some pretty good projects.


This is pretty cool 

And some pretty amusing pages too.


I'm easily amused 

That one's my favorite!