It’s amazing when one cool package on my doorstep trumps another for blogging rights. Yesterday, I was all set to blog about some books that I had had on my list to review for some time… Then, I got a package from my sister-in-law with the note “We never miss an excuse for sushi!” on the box. I’ll write more about that later, but let’s just say amigurumi were involved.
Today, I was going to write about said package, when a slim envelope that said “Rush Delivery” was waiting for me when I got home from teaching middleschoolers. (They started making lace today, so cool!)
It was an advance copy of Get Hooked: Simple Steps to Crochet Cool Stuff,
True to form, Kim–who wrote a comprehensive crochet how-to guide, Teach Yourself Visually: Crocheting”— has included lot of great introductory information using helpful photographs instead of drawings to illustrate techniques–Three simple projects teach the basics, and then it’s on to some wild projects including a sushi-roll pillow-Cecily’s punk gloves–and my favorite–an amigurumi-style monkey key fob. The patterns progress in difficulty, and include color-work, motifs like flowers and hearts, and even a crocheted skirt.
The illustrations are bright and cheerful and will surely be a draw to the teen audience the book is written for. (But I often find kid and teen books to be better intro to crochet and knitting books for folks of any age than the “adult” ones because the authors really slow down and think about how to communicate new techniques.)
I’m anticipating lots of oohs and ahs when I bring this book to my kids crochet class tomorrow.
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crochet, kids, review, book, fashion, CrochetMe
Of course, it lives up to all the hype–there are great photographs that make learning new techniques so much easier than following the much more common line drawings that appear in most books. They’ve covered pretty much every type of crochet you could imagine. Also, Kim and Cecily created patterns to highlight the techniques and stitches. There’s an adorable one-piece sweater, a sexy spider-woman belt, and a tunisian tie that I’ve added to my project to-do list (who knew I’d ever want to crochet a tie?). 
