Currently Reading

The library van manages to furnish me with some interesting reading these days. The fiction shelves leave much to be desired, but the creative soul is well catered for by the Orkney Libraries service.

This time around I have been delighted by a couple of books that I picked up in fairly arbitrary fashion, and I will be adding at least one of the current haul to my Amazon wishlist for permanent ownership.

Nicky Epstein’s Knitted Embellishments from Interweave Press has an extensive range of knitted motifs and borders that even the averagely inventive brain could deploy in a myriad ways. Many of the patterns are not to my personal taste but there are sufficient good ideas in there to make this book worth my while and I would quite like to have a copy. I particularly like the section of decorative ribbings and can see me stealing many of them for interest detail in otherwise average socks. I’d give this a three sheep rating, I think

Felted Knits by Beverly Galeskas, again from Interweave Press, is a cracking little book full of advice on the art of felting knitted items. A range of useful patterns (bags, gloves, hats, slippers, cushions etc.) are simple enough to allow the inventive reader scope for enhancement and embellishment and will provide a springboard to individual designs once confidence levels have been raised. A five sheep  “must have” – for me, at least.

The third book I found to be interesting but less useful – it offered me no more than I had gained from my two day wet felting course last year. How to Make Felt by Anne Belgrave (Search press) has lots of clear step-by-step photographs and would be a good read for the felting virgin. I can’t say that I found it particularly inspirational; the designs shown held little appeal for me, apart from the lion head mask. The book failed generally to engage me but gets an honourable mention here because I recognise its value to the go-it-alone beginner. Worth one sheep, perhaps.

I must make a little sheepish icon…

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