I've not been posting on the blog for a few weeks, but I have been reading a couple of Love Inspired Historicals (regencies...I love them). I'm also working on the third installment of Lisa Tawn Bergren's Grand Tour series, "Glittering Promises." For some reason, it is taking me a while to get through this, but it is pretty good so far.
Anyways, besides reading hystericals (whoops...I mean historicals!), I enjoy knitting. Even though I'm not really into crocheting, "The Crochet Workbook" was posted on the "Read Now" list at NetGalley, and I couldn't resist taking a look at this. The book was written by Sylvia Cosh and James Walters, and was originally published in 1989 by Dover Publications.
Now, as I mentioned before, I'm not a crocheter. In fact, my tension while attempting to crochet is best described as...limp and loose. But the introduction says that the book is, "intended for...existing crocheters who are looking for a new dimension to their work, and also for people who may never have picked up a crochet hook before." This is because this book is about freeform crochet, which is essentially spontaneous crocheting without a pattern. Unfortunately, I am both unexperienced in blogging and crocheting, so even though I've seen samples of freeform crochet, I don't have a sample photo to upload into this blog entry. I also don't mean to burn the crocheting community, but I had always thought about crochet as boring granny square blankets and some really horrid looking vests that I had the misfortune to lay eyes upon. However, there have been some freeform crochet creations that can only be described as works of art.
The Crochet Workbook is truly just only a workbook. It does describe various crocheting techniques with accompanying diagrams and photos of sample items but does not include individual patterns that one could duplicate. This is not too much of a surprise when one considers that the book is trying to encourage spontanaeity in the practice of freeforming. It does describe in general how to generate various shapes, but again, there is no set recipe/plan/pattern for reproducing any pictures of crocheted items in the book. There is more detail provided for a few projects including a cape and coat, but in general, the book is more about guidelines to use when doing freeform crochet. There is a chapter about drawing creative inspiration for freeform crochet. The teacher in me was tickled pink to see the mindmap/concept map included in the book.
If someone is interested in freeform crochet but would like to be handheld more through the process with suggested projects that do follow conventional structured patterns, then one might consider looking at Jonelle Raffino's and Prudence Mapstone's, Freeform Style: Blend Knit and Crochet to Craft Fiber Art, by North Light Books. However, The Crochet Workbook has its appeal, especially since it does try to encourage its readers to strike out on their own with freeform crochet. I would definitely consider adding this publication to my library as a technique book.
Other comments regarding this particular galley: I previewed an e-book, and it became apparent that this book was scanned as it was riddled with spelling errors likely due to optical character recognition not picking up the correct letters. I also read this e-galley on my computer's Sony reader library program, so my magnification options were rather limited. After a certain magnification (medium), the photos disappeared. I could see the text and photos in their entirety only under the small magnification setting, but I couldn't read the text because it was so small. I needed to switch between settings to be able to see the diagrams and photos and read the accompanying text. I prefer hard copy books for my crafting library, though, especially for a technique/methods book, so I'd probably opt to buy a hard copy of this as opposed to an e-copy.
Disclaimer: An e-copy of "The Crochet Workbook" was provided by NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this blog entry are mine.
