Nov 13
We all love to crochet, judging by the number of recent publications. Here is a book that provides you with beautiful crochet trims and edges to adorn clothing and homeware. The book starts with a colourful trim selector. You will find all about the basics, materials, tools and a crochet refresher course included. The main body of the book is taken up with 75 trims. These are divided as follows: single coloured lace; multi-coloured lace; floral trims; autumn harvest; winter holiday; creatures and children. The biggest sections is the laces both single and multi-colour and this is the best section in my opinion. Finally trims are shown in use on a number of inspiring ideas. This is a beautiful book and I can easily envisage myself using about 50 of the trims in my own designs. The trim is shown in colour and both written and graph instructions are given. Photography is very good. Caitlin's other books are also to be highly recommended.
* Karen Platt Yarnsandfabrics.co.uk/crafts *
Feb 14
Here's something for both knitters and crocheters. You can add crochet lace edgings to almost any project - clothing, accessories and homewares - to make it even more appealing. Caitlin offers 75 solutions, with both simple and ornate edging patterns to suit all types of project, and all skill levels too. there are geometric patterns, repeated pictures and chains of leaves and flowers, all with instructions for turning corners and ideas for where you could use them.
* Knit Today *
June 14
This book contains 75 trims for all occasions worked in thread crochet, which produces a fine, delicate pattern and is suitable for different applications such as decorating clothes, homeware and gift-wrapping. Divided into three sections - Basic instructions, Technical instructions and Projects, the middle section gives way to a huge variety of motifs - from pretty edgings to holiday and seasonal themes. Difficulty ranges throughout but the most difficult stitch included in the Basic Instructions is a double treble. The complexity comes from the combination of stitches used to create the patterns but you are given full illustrations of all stitches at the beginning so that you can refer back to them for clarification. I decided to try one of the patterns after taking inspiration from the Waddesdon Lace exhibition (see Exhibitions in this issue.) There was a piece at the exhibition hanging underneath a splendid chandelier that looked like laceedged glass pendants. Using a piece of Stix2 Heavyweight Acetate, I punched holes along the curved edge, blanketstitched into the holes and then crocheted along the edge using size 10 Lisbeth Cordonnet thread. It was the length of an A4 sheet, so there were a lot of tiny stitches, but it was very intricate when finished. The patterns are great for any kind of edging but I think would also be well suited to textile pieces for dimension, use in collage or printing, or edging for handmade felt pieces. As you can adjust the size of yarn and hook, you can adapt the patterns to suit the purpose.
* Workshop On The Web *
