5 comments about The Pocket Hole Drilling Jig Project Book (Popular Woodworking).

1. The color pictures and exploded diagrams are an outstanding introduction and knowledge builder. Mr. Proulx full color pages helped me solve problems and understand better ways to use this great joinery technique.



2. I just love this book. I couldn't believe how easy it was to build one of these tables using Proulx's instructions and techniques. The Kreg jig is fabulous on it's own but these instructions make using it even easier.
   
   I initially borrowed this book from the library but liked it so much I bought my own copy. Considering how expensive wood can be, it's well worth the money to have this to refer to.



3. I notice this situation alot.. sometime in these books they like to advertise easy to follow simple to understand complete instructions.. well this book is better than most I've seen but it still lacks detail on some of the projects.. the truth is most who buy pocket hole jigs are those who have very little woodworking experience and need that extra help in details of the book and plan.. some of the projects in the book are nice and are good starters. the book also brings home the concepts of the pocket hole jig... this would be a great book for a beginner.. however if you already understand how to use a pocket hole jig.. shy away and buy something more challenging.. Danny Proux .. does a nice job with this Book!!



4. A terrific book! Well written, clear, concise, with great color photos that speak volumes. Skip the Kreg TRIM CARPENTRY DVD, and buy this book instead.
   Be well.



5. This has nice projects even someone just starting out will find they want to make. Simple instructions with enough drawings and measurements make it a must have for the new Kreg Jig owner. This will give you enough practice to make a few things and then move on to bigger and better projects with that ingenious jig.

5 comments about Ocean Breezes: Knitted Scarves Inspired by the Sea.

1. I was looking for scarf patterns and feel quite lucky to have found this book. The patterns are clear and very easy to read without losing your place while knitting. The pictures are clear and helpful. I have already knitted one scarf and have casted on for my second.



2. I am somewhat new to knitting, so I love the pictures and the scale of these scarf projects for practicing new stitches. A nice variety of yarns are also presented.



3. This is a delightful collection of ocean-related scarf patterns. I will likely make all of them. Aside from being clever and great to look at, they are well written and essy to follow.



4. This book is just beautiful. One item is better than the last. I am anxious to knit several of these scarves. The photos are just beautiful and since I love the beach, these really appealed to me.



5. The book is absolutely awesome !!! I'm in love with the starfish pattern I'm on my second one However i'm having a problem blocking the seed stitch edge It keeps curling back I've tried all methods I have worn it & upon arriving home the edges keep curling Any advice???

5 comments about The Treehouse Book.

1. This book is just as good as the front cover picture suggests: pie-in-the-sky treehouses. The kind that you dreamed about as a kid? Its obvious from this book that some adults still think about and make their dreams become beautiful structures in reality. If you ever wanted a pictoral book of treehouses representing your wildest imaginations, this is the book for you!



2. This book along with Treehouses of the World are inspirational page after page. If you are a fan of treehouses, this book is a must in your collection.



3. This book has the best pictures and if your looking for ideas
   and inspiration, this is the book to buy.



4. This is the third book from Peter Nelson of Treehouse Workshop. His previous two delved in depth into treehouse construction. This work is more a survey of the many wonderful treehouses to be found throughout the world. It is crammed with quality color photographs and, unlike a previously reviewed work, has a unifying narrative throughout.
   
   Peter starts you off with a very useful section entitled "Choice of Tree". There he briefly touches upon suitability of various tree species to treehouse construction and provides a mini sketch of each tree species with a treehouse. Immediately after comes some very accurate arboriculture advice from Jonathan Fairoaks. It's nice to find a treehouse book that gets this part right for a change.
   
   For me, the real value of this book is in the tour it takes you on of many notable treehouse. I bring this book to meetings with clients so they can see the many incredible things possible. And for those who've never considered it possible that a treehouse could be any more than a small, roughly built box, this book will blow their minds.
   
   What this book lacks is building advice. It's not a "how-to" book. There really is no great "how-to" book out there. Even so, highly recommended.



5. I really liked the whole book, but I especially liked the part about kids treehouses. Some of them were homemade, and some of them were built by an artist. Before I read the book, I was wondering what different treehouses look like. I thought the treehouses with a loft and a ladder would be lots of fun to explore. Some of the treehouses were hotels. One of the treehouses was built by a robber! He had used it as a place to store his disguises. I thought it was a very good book.

3 comments about ArtLab: Fashion Studio O6287 (Artlab).

1. My daughter liked everything about this product. We did have to make some adjustments about the light table usage because the batteries were burning out to fast, but we have a special corner of the play area just for this toy and for posting the completed designs. Good for concentration, fine motor skills and creativity. Just don't tell the kids



2. I bought this for my 9 year old niece for christmas and she loved it! The light box is fantastic. Only drawback I could see with this product is that there seemed to be too few blank papers to use on the lightbox. I used copy paper and cut it into thirds to give my niece an ample supply of blank paper that would fit the lightbox. It was easy enough to do. I highly recommend this for any little girl interested in fashion design.



3. I'm sure this is made for a much older girl, but my going on 5-year old daughter loves this. It's great for her fine motor skills and although the faces and hair she makes on the dolls look like that of a typical 5 year old, she is happy making them and proudly taping the finished dolls on her wall. The wardrobe possibilities are endless. I'm making paper dolls out of the original shape on the light box and she is cutting out the outfits she creates. Such a great product!

5 comments about Origami Jewelry: More Than 40 Exquisite Designs to Fold and Wear.

1. Origami Jewelry: More Than 40 Exquisite Designs to Fold and Wear Very nice presentation. Instructions and diagrams are fairly easy to understand. The pictures of the finished fold are nicely shown. I've been doing origami for 30 yrs and never thought of making jewelry. You always learn new things.



2. I am relatively new to Origami so I found this book a welcome addition to the library, it covers the obligatory choosing of papers, tools to use and importantly for newbies a good solid instructional section on the "basic folds". The jewellery created was quiet nice, a little kitsch for my personal taste, but easily accomplished with a bit of practice.
   
   The big thing for me though came with Metal Clay "paper", I am primarily a jewellery artist and use Metal clay a lot, I love the product of silver sheet clay or paper clay as some people call it as I can fold this like paper in origami styles and then fire it to produce minature fine silver jewellery. Good ideas in the book for me to transfer to silver replicas.
   
   The diagrams were clear, easy to understand and photographed well. Thank you Ayako for a good book.



3. As someone who is a novice I found this book relatively easy to follow. I have been doing origami for a long time, but I am not consistent with it. It is something I love and I know basics, but not something I am constantly working to excel at, even though I wish I had the time to. With a stressful job I needed an outlet and so have taken origami up again to relax and have a creative outlet. I saw this book and thought, wow how cool. I really want to try this. I am more than happy with my impulse purchase. The pictures are clear and concise. She gives you all the basic folds in the front so you don't have to go looking in other materials for them. The author also allows your creative juices to flow. She shows many different project pictures with the same origami shape. This allowed me to take her projects one step further and really make them my own. I have never made jewelry before (other than macaroni necklaces in kindergarten) and she details all the tools and materials you need. Really, if this peeks your interest, the take the plunge and buy it. You won't be disappointed.



4. I ordered this book without high hopes and was pleasantly surprised. Finally, an origami jewelry book that goes through the process step by step with clear photos as a guide. All the questions I had regarding origami jewelry making were answered. In the past, much of my paper jewelry making was based on guesswork.



5. What a creative and practical book! I love origami and have incorporated it into my card making, gift wrapping, decorating, and table setting for years. However, I had never made jewelry with it. The techniques in the book have opened a whole new area of possiblilites for me.

5 comments about A Fine Fleece: Knitting with Handspun Yarns.

1. I love, love, love this book. I'm presently working on two sweaters and planning on knitting 85-90% of the rest. It would be 100% but I don't do hats and scarves. This is the best knitting pattern book I've bought in all of my 66 years. Love it! Can't wait for your next book.



2. I'm a huge Lisa Lloyd fan and have been for a long time, so this book is never going to make it to the shelf, it's going to stay in the pile next to my knitting chair. I want to make every pattern in this book. The patterns are classic, this book will be just as valuable in your knitting library in 30 years as it is today. Everyone always wants The Perfect Sweater, the one to wear on your autumn walk to go kick leaves, and there are a dozen of them in this collection. There are patterns for a variety of yarn grists, and patterns typically go up to about 52".
   
   The beginning section on spinning and wool characteristics is a good intro to new spinners, or wannabe spinners. It was good information to get new spinners thinking about spinning for a big project. I've been spinning for years and it didn't have any new information for me, but reading it got me whipped up to start spinning with one of these projects in mind.
   
   However. The photographs, while beautiful and artsy and fun to look at, leave a lot to the imagination - not a great thing in a knitting pattern book. They're teaser photos - look good in the picture, but if you come to a question in your knitting you won't be able to figure out what you're doing by looking at the picture. I don't think there are more than a couple of patterns with good photos you can really tell what the pattern looks like. I'd expect this would be a struggle for a person who hasn't had a lot of experience knitting cables. I've been knitting them for years and I still need to refer to pictures, it's really a shame they aren't more available. "Harriet" has a diamond lace pattern, but you would never know that the bottom third of the sweater has an entirely different lace pattern. They've pinned sweaters to make them look shaped (a BIG, BIG NO!), but almost all of the sweaters have straight sides. The publisher wants this to be a fashion layout, with fuzzy pictures and beautiful settings, but they don't seem to get that it's an instruction manual and clear pictures of the designs need to be included. And they need to know their audience - spinners like microscopic closeups of yarn!
   
   So overall, I love the book. I am excited to have this collection of Lisa Lloyd's patterns and I expect to wear this book out. A big finger-wagging to the publisher on the photography and thankfully I have the internet available to see some other pictures.



3. When I first saw this book, I thought "Ho hum, another knitting book".
   Closer examination proved how wrong that assessment was.
   
   Yes, it is a knitting book. But it is also a spinning book. Each of the projects included is shown in both commercially spun yarn and in handspun yarn. Since knitting books usually do not include handspun projects, this concept is unique.
   
   The patterns cover a range of classic designs in highly textured knits. There are cabled sweaters, cabled socks, and a cabled scarf. A bit of lace makes an appearance in a couple of the sweater and scarf patterns.
   
   In the text portion, the author discusses the breeds of sheep and other fiber producing animals that produced the fleece she used to create the blends of handspun she used to spin the yarn for the handspun garments shown in the book. There are also notes on spinning, determining knitting gauge for handspun, preparing handspun for knitting, and how to figure out if you have enough fiber for your project. There is much useful information here for the handspinner.
   
   The patterns are well written, the charts are good sized, clear and easy to read, and the garments are beautifully photographed with commemrcial yarn and handpsun versions shown side by side.
   
   I seldom buy knitting books in this price range as there is usually only one or two patterns that interest me. Not the case with this book - I want to spin the yarn and knit almost every single pattern!
   
   If I have one criticism, it is that there is little information given on the specific handspun yarns used in the patterns. For example, tpi and wpi for the handspun yarns is not given.
   
   And, one question: Why is that spindle (pg.16) in a jar with what appears to be some sort of liquid?



4. This book is a treasury of magnificent textured knitting patterns for women(many shaped hourglass, with a few more unisex)...mainly sweaters/ cardigans, although there are a few knock-out scarves and socks, and a bit of colorwork/lace as well.
   
   Most are knit on size 5 to 8 needles, so the yarns aren't ultra-fine (as the book's title may suggest), and are presented in both handspun and commercial natural yarn equivalents, a nice comparison.
   
   The photography leaves a lot to be desired as for seeing the clear patterning of the textured knitting. And the models are often posed holding large items in front of them (which obscures the whole front of their sweater), or are sitting such that you can't see the hem/ waist, or cuff finish of the garment...



5. I do not spin - I bought the book solely for the patterns. Wow - they are all fabulous. I want to make them all!!! I love the fact that she has a couple of topdown sweaters in the book (no seaming). Even the scarves are beautiful. I am going to cast on Rhinebeck tonight with some beautiful dream in color yarn I have in my stash. My biggest problem will be what do I want to make next!!!

5 comments about Knitting on the Edge: Ribs, Ruffles, Lace, Fringes, Floral, Points & Picots: The Essential Collection of 350 Decorative Borders.

1. Great book!
   Well written, well described, really nice ideas.
   Highly recommended.



2. The author wanted to make a single source that collected all her edgings and the book is simply a collection of 350 patterns on edges. The chapters are; ribs, ruffles, lace, fringes, flora, and points and picots. There are some finished designs in the book that I don't believe that anyone would knit, they are simply not fitted, but she definitely fulfils her edge-aim. At first I was pretty bored when looking in the book. Then I realized that I was thinking about several different knits I would like to do, being inspired by the edgings in the book... Therefore, I believe this is is a book for anyone who likes to make own designs and who wants new inspiration to make edges that adds something to the knits. I haven't looked into her other two books on edgings, so I don't know if or how they add to each other.



3. I used to work in a yarn shop. I have saved so many pamphlets and photo-copied a ton of patterns for sweaters, afghans, etc. that I would never make just to have patterns for the details. This book has helped me declutter! I can't believe that she has all of this in one book. Thank you, thank you, thank you! The patterns from "Knitting on the Edge" that I have used have all worked out. I have also easily been able to vary the patterns to work into the piece I was working on. She's made it very simple. And having worked some of the edges in - they really have made the pieces 100% richer looking. (Borrowed it from our library and had to buy my own copy.)



4. The astonishing popularity of knitting in recent years has resulted in hundreds and hundreds of knitting books. Everyone wants to get in on the craze but, as someone who has been knitting for close to 50 years, I find most of them lacking. This book has at best five good, inventive, creative, unique edgings and the rest are just mediocre variations on the same things. Fringe? Did we need a section on fringe?
   
   I'm willing to admit I'm a bit jaded and, while I love finding gorgeous new patterns and stitches to try, I find many of these new books to be spectacularly uncreative. It makes me wonder what the point was other than to cash in on the current hot market. I found one really interesting and creative lace edging, a couple of interesting variations on old themes, but the rest would not likely appeal to anyone who has been knitting for more than a few years.



5. This book offers great alternatives to finish your knitting projects. The stitch directions and well written with photos of each edging included. There are even a couple of project patterns included where the edgings are used. Overall, it is a great book that gives you beautiful finishing alternatives. I think I'll consult this book a lot as I undertake new projects.

5 comments about Crazy Quilting - The Complete Guide.

1. This book is the BEST that I have found on crazy quilting! I have quite a collection of books on this subject and if I could keep only one, this would be it! Beautiful, well illustrated, great explanations. It has all the answers. And to make it even better, it is ring-bound so that it lies flat which makes it so easy to use. This book gets an A+ (from a strict grader)!



2. A lot of information is packed in this compact, spiral-bound book. Its smaller size makes it ideal to pack in a tote. Marsha knows her medium well. Lots of eye-candy, good instructions, lots of useful instruction.
   
   I am a dedicated crazy-quilter, too. Of all the books available on the craft, I would highly recommend this new book. Hers, plus Carole Samples' "Treasury of Crazy Quilt Stitches" are the two must-have books for any serious reference.



3. Excellent book with clear instructions and drawings. I like that the book can lay flat so that one can follow the instructions easily. The size is also great as one can travel with it easily. A great buy, I highly recommend it.



4. I recieved my book promptly and in more than excellent condition. It was securely wrapped and sealed. What more could you ask for? Thank-you so very much for your top notch customer service.



5. THIS BOOK HAS GONE IMMEDIATELY INTO MY TRAVEL-TIME CRAFT BAG!
   IT'S A TERRIFIC RESOURCE AND THE SIZE AND BINDING MAKE IT IDEAL FOR USE ON TRIPS.
   
   THE AUTHOR IS SO KNOWLEDGEABLE AND EXPLAINS THINGS SO WELL THAT I'VE COME TO ADMIRE HER WORK AND USE HER BOOKS FOR REFERENCES WHEN I CRAZY-QUILT, WHICH I LOVE TO DO AT HOME BY MACHINE OR ON THE ROAD BY HAND. THIS IS IDEAL FOR PEOPLE AT EITHER BEGINNER OR INTERMEDIATE LEVEL.

1 comments about Quilt Art 2009 Engagement Calendar.

1. Full-page color photos of award-winning quilts along with descriptions of materials and techniques plus judging results accompany facing page weekly calendar details with smaller month-long views, making for a simply lovely engagement calendar gift. Any seeking gifts for busy quilters will find this the perfect pick.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch

5 comments about Nell Hill's Christmas At Home.

1. Mary Carol tells us right from the beginning that she likes to take things over the top during the holidays, so if you're looking for a few "simple ideas" you may want to go elsewhere. The book is beautifully photographed but you might just be overwhelmed with her "Clark Griswald" excess, so buyer beware! I bought my copy for just a few dollars to add it to my decorating library and it was worth the price of shipping.



2. This is frothy, glitzy decorating, classic with a modern twist.
   I can't say you are going to get plenty of ideas to decorate, especially if you are the crafty, shabby-chic kind of person. But even if you are, and are in the mood for something more "comme-il-faut" this year, then this is a good book to start. I spent a very pleasant afternoon going through its pages. Ms. Garrity has a very comfortable house and the photos do everything they can to showcase it. So gold and red and homey, you will smell the orange-cinnamon upscale perfume oils. And I'll sure return to it again and again when I need something elegant to put me in the spirit of Christmas.



3. Love this book. Great pictures. Lots of interesting decorating ideas. Very sophisticated with a bit of trendy. Definitely inspirational when you are wanting a starting point for decorating. I can't wait to get her other books.



4. 
   I own several of Nell Hill's (ie: Ms. Garrity's) books and even though the photos in this book are as lovely as all the photos in the other Nell Hill books, I wish that Ms. Garrity had added more ideas. The opportunity was there.



5. I was fortunate enough to get this book at a bargain price, but would have paid full price with no regrets! How many books can you say that about? Creative, lush and gorgeous....leaves you wanting more. If only Mary Carol could produce an annual holiday publication!