I am always slightly edgie when a publisher sends me a book to review.  That’s because I only will post reviews of books that I like.     As an author myself, I KNOW how much hard work and heart and soul goes into writing a book. I am not willing to post a negative review. So, when I get a book that has me doing a huge happy dance, the way this one has, I am a very happy camper.
I absolutely LOVE
‘Super Finishing
Techniques for
Crocheters:
Inspiration, projects
and more for
finishing crochet projects
with style’ by
Betty Barnden
published by
St. Martin’s Griffin.
This book is just plain …read more

After I posted about upcycling paper streamers by spinning them into paper yarn, my friend, Susan, told me about a really neat book:
Paper Yarn:
24 Creative Projects
to make
using a variety
of techniques
by Uta Donath,
Eva Hauck,
Petra Hoffman
and Claudia Huboi,
published by
St Martin’s Griffin.
I had no idea that there are so many paper yarns available on the marketplace! I REALLY need to find explore this more!
The projects are made using a wide variety of techniques:  weaving, crochet, knitting, sewing, wrapping, kumihimo, braiding and decoupage.
I love the shoulder bag that uses woven bands in combination with felt. Yum.
And, the box with woven sections and interspersed with …read more

Here’s one of my ‘Desert Island books’: The Complete Encyclopedia of Needlework by Therese de Dillmont.
I have had this wonderful
book since my student days.
Long ago and far away,
a friend said to me:
“I just bought a book
that I think you’ll like
but I don’t much.
Wanna trade?’
I took one look, snatched it from
her hands and clutched it to
my heart.
Books have come and gone from my book shelves, but this one is not going to be leaving my collection.
I can’t find the original
date of publication for
this wonderful compendium
of needlework techniques,
but it looks to me like
it was published first
in the late 19th C or early
20th …read more

How could I have not heard about this glorious tapestry before now?
My dear friend pulled this incredible book
out of her bag and asked:
Have you seen this?
Quilt of Belonging-
The Invitation Project
by
Esther Bryan
and friends,
published by
Boston Mills Press
2005
is a spectacular book
that chronicles the creation
of a 263 block tapestry
of needlework techniques
made by people
who have immigrated to Canada as well as the many numbers of indigenous peoples who were here before immigrations began.
Esther Bryan is a fiber artist who conceived of this dazzling project and co-ordinated the vast number of people who were integral to creating the Quilt of Belonging. She tracked down an immigrant …read more

Every once in awhile, you find a book that just knocks you on your keester.
Interweave’s Compendium of Finishing Techniques (Crochet, Embroidery, Knitting, Knotting, Weaving)
by Naomi McEneely is one of those keester-izing books.
First of all, it’s beautifully assembled.
Inside the hardcover is a coil bound book
that lays perfectly flat wherever you open it.
The illustrations are beautiful,
the photographs are great.
Ms McEneely has put together a
fascinating collection of finishing techniques
that is timeless and an essential
reference book for any fiber artist
or yarncentric crafter of any and all descriptions.
And, she’s written it beautifully.
The title says it all.
She has researched all kinds of ways of finishing crochet, …read more

When I am choosing books to write reviews about for Hankering for Yarn, I only write about the ones that I really enjoy.
So, writing a review of this book is really easy for me, because I absolutely love Kirsten Glasbrook’s book: Tapestry Weaving. It’s published  by Search Press and is a real keeper.
Ms Glasbrook teaches all the
basics of tapestry weaving,
with beautiful photographs
of each element .
As well, there is
a totally gorgeous
gallery of her
spectacular  tapestries.
I love her  use of color,
and the recurring motifs in
her work.
She writes in a pleasant and generous manner and I suspect that she’d be  a real treat to …read more

Yesterday,  I posted pics of  an improvised drying rack for hanging tatting shuttles after I have varnished them.
Lynn posted a comment saying that she uses  a pasta drying rack for drying her lace bobbins.
I thought that this was a great idea, and filed it away in the- hmmmm… ‘clever… file’….
When we dropped in on a garage sale,
I spotted a wire basket
that gave me an aha moment…..
I thought…
it’s not a pasta dryer
but ….
this will work
BEAUTIFULLY
for drying  the tatting shuttles.
So, that’s my ‘yay’ for the day.
And, now, there’s another totally excellent book that I want to give the thumbs up to….
‘Tatting with …read more

Today, a friend and I were ‘chatting’ on Skype, and we were both multi-tasking.  My typing can be ‘interesting’ at the best of times, and when I get distracted, sometimes, the typing can get downright challenged!
We agreed that multi-tasking isn’t always the most efficient way to do things!
Efficient or not, I do tend to be a multi-tasker.
Earlier in the day, I had been multi-tasking like mad.
I was working on a couple of projects at the same time,
including finishing up the varnishing on
on a whole bunch of tatting shuttles
that I have carved over the last several months.
Usually, I varnish just a …read more

First of all, I need to make something perfectly clear: I only write reviews of books that I really do like.
And, I really like these two books- very much indeed.
They are:
‘Weaving made Easy: 17 Projects Using a Simple Loom’
by Liz Gipson
published by Interweave books.
And:
‘Creative Weaving
Beautiful Fabrics
with a Simple Loom’
by Sarah Howard and
Elizabeth Kendrick
Published by
Lark books.
Normally, I would write a review of each book separately,and on different entries.
But, they are both such excellent explorations of rigid heddle weaving, that I couldn’t separate them into
two days…. so I decided to write about them together.
I think that both books are destined to become …read more

Jane Patrick, the Sales Manager of Schacht Spindle Co, and former editor of Handwoven, is the author of a truly lovely book that is a delight to weavers and not-yet weavers alike.
Time to Weave , published by Interweave Press,
feels like a glass of cool water while you are reading it.
It strikes me as being a very Zen book….
The designs are mostly executed off loom,
and are  elegant, timeless and spare.
There are a few designs that are woven on small
looms – I was so pleased to see designs using 3 of my
most fave looms: Harrisville’s Peg Loom, Schacht’s Mini,
and Schacht’s School Loom.
These …read more