Val Pierce's passion for knitting began when her father taught her to knit at the age of five. Later in life she began home knitting for yarn manufacturers, and since then she has made a huge range of items, from evening dresses to teddy bears. She later began designing items of her own, and before long Val's designs were appearing regularly in national knitting and crochet magazines. She also teaches knitting, as well as a range of other needlecrafts, to both adults and children. Val lives and works in Shropshire. www.crossedneedles.co.uk
Like the other booklets in this series, Mini Christmas
Crochet is a book focused on projects, not techniques. The
book opens with a biography of Val and a short introduction
highlighting Val’s love of Christmas and the joy of handmade
gifting and decorating. She notes that all of the patterns in the
book “can be made quickly and easily using scraps and oddments of
yarn,” which is definitely true. As the title and introduction of
the book suggests, it focuses on small “stocking stuffer,”
ornament, and decoration projects that can be pieced together
quickly by both newbie crocheters and time-strapped pros. After the
intro, the book has a short Hints & Tips section. Val notes that
most of the patterns are made using cotton threads and a U.S. Sized
B-1 (2.25 mm) crochet hook, but larger hooks can be used if you
choose to substitute a thicker yarn. She also shares the tip that
you should be stuffing projects as you go. The book continues
on to the patterns, which are written in US pattern abbreviations.
9 patterns are for ornaments (which include both stuffed,
amigurumi-style ornaments and motif ornaments), 5 are for Christmas
characters (including a snowman, animals, and an angel), 2 are for
table decorations, and the remaining 4 are for a Christmas cracker,
gift wrap, a magnet, and a table-top tree. The patterns don’t
indicate a difficulty level, but most use simple stitch
combinations so should be within the reach of any beginner
crocheter who can crochet in the round. At the same time, a more
advanced crocheter could work on these projects while watching
streaming shows or during errands.
Each pattern uses a large, styled photo of the project as well as a
photo of the project against a white background with easy-to-read
text. The booklet is a larger size that the original version but is
still slender enough to fit into a project bag for portability.
Though it’s a paperback, you can spread the spine easily to read
and crochet at the same time. This book is ideal for crocheters who
love making handmade holiday gifts, wrap, and decorations, or those
who enjoy small, portable projects.
The down sides: Unfortunately, all patterns aren’t listed on
Ravelry, but you can see many of the patterns on the book cover.
The book uses only pattern abbreviations and no stitch diagrams, so
crocheters who prefer visual patterns may not enjoy this book as
much.
Overall, this is a fun book for a Christmas pattern collector who
would like some projects for crocheting on the go.
- Underground Crafter Dec 2017
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