Koncocoo

Best Fiber Arts & Textiles

Yarnitecture: A Knitter's Guide to Spinning: Building Exactly the Yarn You Want
In addition to teaching you the techniques you need for success, Moreno also offers 12 delicious original patterns from prominent designers, each one showcasing hand-spun yarns. Showcase your handspun yarn with 12 original patterns for mittens, socks, shawls, sweaters, and even a necklace, from Moreno and other leading knitwear designers, including Kate Atherley, Adrian Bizilia, Julia Farwell-Clay, Rosemary (Romi) Hill, Bristol Ivy, Kirsten Kapur, Amy King, Laura Nelkin, and Lynne Vogel.
Reviews
"I had no idea what I was missing other than I was spinning tons of fiber but not knitting much with my hand-spun yarns. Every spinner in my monthly circle has purchased this book and not a single one had anything but raves for it. These rave reviews include newbie spinners and those spinning for 10+ years."
"This book provides the much needed bridge between "I can spin yarn" and "I can make that with my own yarn!""
"This book has been very, very helpful!"
"Jillian is my kind of spinner--she knows the details but doesn't sweat them, making spinning the relaxing experience it should be."
"The best book on spinning fiber that has been published to date."
"I've just done my first skim through the book, and can't wait to read it all the way through."
"i didn't learn anything new myself, at least nothing memorable that i haven't seen elsewhere before, but there are still some neat patterns in here anyway for handspun sweaters and other projects."
"Wonderful book with some fresh takes on yarns to spin as well as tips for making the yarn that is appropriate for you project."
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The Geometry of Hand-Sewing: A Romance in Stitches and Embroidery from Alabama Chanin and The School of Making (Alabama Studio)
To simplify learning, the book also includes two plastic stitching cards die-cut with the grids on which every stitch in the book is based. Natalie Chanin is the founder and creative director of Alabama Chanin and author of Alabama Stitch Book , Alabama Studio Style , Alabama Studio Sewing + Design , and Alabama Studio Sewing Patterns.
Reviews
"And of course it's an elegantly designed book with beautiful photography, elevating the craft for all of us who love it."
"Without them I think learning and practicing the various stitches featured in the book would be a more laborious process."
"Clear detailed instructions and the grid is a wonderful way to practice stitches!"
"One class that particularly inspired me was a linen bellpull on which I learned over 100 different hardanger, hemstitch, insertion and surface stitches. Patterned Stitches. I own hundreds of needlework books which cover just about every technique imaginable but I just haven't sat myself down to get started. If you want to embroider a pretty border around your shirt cuff, it's not just a question of what decorative stitch but how big the stitches should be. I also recommend these books in sort of same theme of expanding your repertoire of stitches and learning to design: Rebecca Ringquist’s Embroidery Workshops: A Bend-the-Rules Primer. Stitch Sampler: The Ultimate Visual Dictionary to Over 200 Classic Stitches. Embroidery Stitches Step-by-step by Lucinda Ganderton (several editions are available on Amazon). The Embroidered Garden: Stitching through the Seasons of a Flower Garden by Kazuko Aoki. Bead Embroidery Stitch Samples - Motifs."
"I strongly recommend Natalie's online Craftsy class and buying her maker supplies from her website, as they are superior products that yield the best results, in my opinion. My friend and I took a weekend workshop from Natalie in Florence, Alabama several years ago and it was a wonderful experience."
"As a beginner, I was mystified by the question of how to create even, consistent stitches as I learned about hand embroidery."
"This one is incredible -- the best so far -- with detailed instructions for working stitches from either left-to-right or right-to-left, photos & diagrams (including photos of the back of the work!"
"I just recently discovered Alabama Chanin, and have quickly become a Natalie Chanin fan."
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Japanese Knitting Stitch Bible: 260 Exquisite Patterns by Hitomi Shida
The knitting projects include: A classic hat made using large patterns An elegant scarf in lacy patterns The ever-popular fingerless mittens Thick socks that can be made using various patterns A feminine collar using round stitching And much more! "You will be stunned by the complexity and beauty of these unique motifs — and the intensity does not diminish as you page through the book. "Roehm translates the imaginative work of Shida, one of Japan's best-known hand-knitting designers, into English for the first time. Shida gained an international following with the Japanese publication of a book of couture knitting patterns a decade ago, and here presents hundreds of other patterns, adding scallops, yokes, and edgings to her offerings … For intrepid knitters looking for a challenge, the pages of stunning stitches will prove well worth the effort." "…experienced knitters will be tempted to give it a go after paging through the handsomely photographed knit swatches, each of which is accompanied by unlabeled charts. "An exquisite book full of new stitches with spectacular results."
Reviews
"The book is divided into chapters, each with its own small project: Lacy Patterns, Overall Patterns and Crossing Stitches, Pattern Panels, Pattern Arrangements, Round Yokes and Edgings. This is a must have book for anyone who enjoys designing their own knits, loves texture and is a stitch pattern enthusiast."
"I could spend the rest of my life knitting patterns from this lovely book. It takes a bit of time for the eye and mind to decipher the symbols."
"It is a book I go to so often, Sometimes for a pattern idea but often just to browse as the work is so exquisite."
"This was a Christmas present for my sister who loves to knit lace, the more complicated it is the happier she is."
"Bought for my sister, who is an experienced and creative knitter, and she was very happy with it."
"Waited for publication."
"The intricate patterns are amazingly lovely."
"This book was purchased as a gift for my daughter."
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Best Fabric Dying

Eco Colour: Botanical Dyes for Beautiful Textiles
From whole-dyed cloth and applied color to prints and layered dye techniques, India describes only ecologically sustainable plant-dye methods. Notes about history and practical applications (say, the production of indigo and the creation of natural blues through woad plants) are balanced with charts of traditional dye materials and specific details about processing, including plant oddities such as eucalyptus and St. John’s wort, different effects froma range of techniques (for instance, hapa-zome, or beating color into cloth, as well as the familiar resist )and mordants (the stuff that fixes or makes color permanent).
Reviews
"There is so much information in here, I've sticky-taped certain sections."
"India Flint's techniques are easy and unique.The book is replete with the information you need about a variety of plants and mordants. I'm not sure that I could say that this is "the only book you'll ever need" for natural dyeing - but is the only book you need for her "bundling" technique."
"This is my go-to guide on eco-printing."
"I found this book to be a great inspiration to play with what grows around me to coax out color on cloth."
"Wonderfull book, I was just hoping for more DIY advices, but I like the book a lot, the photos are great and I like reading all the way along the intire book."
"Fantastic read my a fantastic artist, good reference."
"was hoping for more clarity and the photos were kind of dull."
"Usually satisfied with more abstract instruction, I went ahead and ordered it -- expecting still to find outlines of generic procedures, some suggested effective combinations of mordants and plant materials, and a bit of orientation for those of us whose prior dying experience has been limited to commercial synthetic dyes on the stovetop."
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Best Fashion

The Curated Closet: A Simple System for Discovering Your Personal Style and Building Your DreamWardrobe
Is your closet jam-packed and yet you have absolutely nothing to wear? "it never hurts to take inventory of what's in your closet already in order to make good decisions when you're staring at a pile of "yeses" in the dressing room. [she] is dedicated to helping women curate their perfect wardrobes using all kinds of handy charts, infographics, and lists that make the process less emotional and more data-oriented." – Glamour.com "Fans of the author's blog, Marie Kondo devotees, and anyone who's tired of having a full closet but 'nothing to wear' will treasure this superb resource." "Lifestyle blogger Rees’s first book, based on the blog Into Mind , is a fun and practical guide to discovering one’s personal style. The goal is for women to easily choose an outfit that they like every single morning, to wear a large portion of clothes from their closet, and to be able to dress for their own lifestyles. “In a world inundated with fast fashion and rapidly changing trends, it’s easy for our closets to become graveyards of misguided purchases. Anuschka Rees’s The Curated Closet is a smart, straightforward manual that encourages readers to discover what they like and to develop a wardrobe that makes getting dressed easier. She has a master's in social psychology from the London School of Economics and has spent years studying the intricacies of human decision making, which she's used to develop her unique system of personal style-defining techniques.
Reviews
"I'd be a bit lost on color, personalized style words, and garment basics without the prior read of Bobbie Thomas, The Power of Style (similar approach with clearer guidance on personal style & color palettes), Nancy Nix-Rice, Looking Good Every Day (required text for FIT NY Image Consultants), and Jennifer Scott, Lessons From Madame Chic (light-hearted stories underscoring and explaining personal style, quality, upkeep, yep, no quizzes her either). Having read those books, Anuschka is exceptional at the final mechanics of building and updating a wardrobe that meets YOUR needs and style personality. Madame Chic -- put me in the proper mindset. Looking Good Everyday -- provided the nuts and bolts. The Power of Style -- prompted detail work on my style personality, color palette, and clothing details. The Curated Closet -- solidified my rules, set my outfit formula, and established an on-going "curating" approach."
"For years I did the whole “buy whatever I like on clearance” routine – only to wind up with a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear, because nothing matches or it turns out a shirt I loved for 30 seconds in a dressing room (that was on sale of course) just doesn’t fit quite right at home. Less focused on having a minimalist wardrobe (although that’s part of it), this book teaches the reader how to develop a personal style that works with your budget and how to be a smarter shopper. One of the biggest mistakes I was making was just having a general idea of a piece I needed –say a blue shirt- and then going shopping and finding something (on sale) that more or less fit the bill. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that finds themselves with a closet full of close and nothing to wear, or who is ready to develop a personal style and become a smarter, better shopper."
"She asks you to take pictures of your outfits for two weeks and then looks at your FAVORITE outfits, that you felt the best in, and helps you analyze them to figure out WHY you love them and then build your whole wardrobe around those elements. This is different from every other challenge I've looked at, which have you look at all the clothes you WORE and build your wardrobe around the pieces you wore, which is NOT the same as building it around your favorite outfits."
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Best Knitting

Crochet One-Skein Wonders®: 101 Projects from Crocheters around the World
With projects organized by yarn type and weight, you’ll be crocheting lacy shrugs for the springtime and heavy-duty beanies for the snowy winter months. There is no longer any excuse to point to a stash of unused yarn and say, “I don’t know what I’m going to do with these fibers.” Thanks to Durant, who pioneered the franchise of One-Skein Wonders, and her collaboration with Eckman (of The Crochet Answer Book, 2005, among many others), any needleworker can add another 100 possible projects to the ever-growing inventory of “gotta makes.” With classifications by yarn weight, which is an easy-to-use differentiation, the seven chapters offer at least one item in every conceivable craft category, including jewelry, home decor, belts, women’s wear, doll clothes, men’s scarves, toys, and baby apparel.
Reviews
"Particulars about the book: 1) All skill levels are covered, but most projects are geared more toward those who already know how to crochet, not someone just learning. :-) The side of the book's pages is color coded so you can find each yarn section quickly. 3) First rate photos. 4) The patterns are clear and the font is easy to read. Rounds are clearly labeled and helps are given for specific areas of each project. Keep in mind though that a satisfactory finished product will depend on the coloration of the yarn. 6) Charts are included for motifs and some of the stitch patterns. 7) A good variety of projects. Speaking of projects, here is how they break down: Home items (9), Jewelry/accessories (7), Scarves (13), Cowls (7), Shawls/Cape (3), Adult Hats (7), Shrugs (2), Baby items (16), Stuffed Toys (7), Gloves/Mittens (6), other head items (6), Purses/Bags (10), other containers (3), Doll items (2), Belt (1), Hanky (1), Slippers (1). So, as you can see, not just hats or scarves (yeah!)."
"Bought for a friend beginning to learn to crochet."
"Purchased 2 as Christmas gifts and once my aunt's and cousins saw them I believe I should have purchased at least 4 more."
"so many patterns I will not use - but ok."
"Also, those baby booties on the cover are stellar - I made a pair and they came out perfectly."
"The patterns are easy and fun to make."
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Best Craft Dye

Wen Redmond's Digital Fiber Art: Combine Photos & Fabric - Create Your Own Mixed-Media Masterpiece
Create mixed-media art quilts starting from your digital photographs. ( Down Under Textiles, Issue 25 ). Wen Redmond has been experimenting with different styles and techniques for many years, and this book distils her work with digital images and various materials. The book is helpfully divided up into sections such as using fabric or paper as substrates, using Pre-Coats (such as InkAid) and basic Digital Photography printing before moving onto more experimental chapter, using acrylic mediums, overlays, creating textured surfaces for blending or printing over and using nonporous substrates. Inkjet printers can be used to print on a variety of substrates, and mixed-media artist Redmond shares how best to combine printed fabric or paper with paint, photographs, and art supplies such as gel medium to create one-of-a-kind works of art. This stimulating guide to combining digitally altered photos and surface materials to create mixed-media designs centres around artist Wen Redmond's passion for photographs and fabric. With stunningly illustrated ideas for digitally printing/layering images onto fabric, paper and other surfaces suing a variety of techniques, it is jam-packed full of information covering computer software and scanner/copier techniques, layering and blending images, printing processes and paint methods. Whether you're interested in photo quilting, fabric and paper art, digital and mixed-media art, photography or art and design, you can't fail to be inspired by the transformational approaches in this book. Wen Redmond, a distinguished quilter and mixed media artiest, experiments with manipulating and printing digital images on a multitude of substrates including fabrics and paper. Showing complete familiarity with the tools, techniques and products she describes, Wen's inspirational combination of textiles and digital images will surely motivate the adventurous-spirited reader to compose, create and print innovative textile art too. Wen Redmond is a mixed-media artist whose work embraces digital printing, surface design, fiber art, and collage.
Reviews
"gets into detail about using the computer to make digital fabric art."
"Wonderful instructional material."
"Easy to follow and the photos are wonderful."
"This book is filled with wonderful images from this talented artist."
"Great guide for working with digital photos to create art quilts - many great pictures for creative motivation."
"I own a few of Wen Redmond's pieces and love her book too."
"Lots of digital collage techniques to work with."
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Best Rug Crafts

Hook, Loop 'n' Lock: Create Fun and Easy Locker Hooked Projects
Create Fun and Easy Locker Hooked Projects. Today, Theresa is the general manager for Princess Mirah's crafts, a division of Bali Fabrics where she oversees the development, production and promotion of a line of crafts for the needlecrafts, paper crafts and mixed media markets.
Reviews
"New project for me."
"These were all great books."
"I liked this book easy to follow I wanted to learn how to do this and am sure this book will teach me!"
"Have tried one project so far and liked the way it turned out."
"Written very clearly - some different techniques using other medium besides material."
"Great resource book for lockerhooking."
"Great book and easy to understand."
"excellent visuals and pictorial descriptions.... clever alternate ideas to floor mats."
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Best Embroidery

The Geometry of Hand-Sewing: A Romance in Stitches and Embroidery from Alabama Chanin and The School of Making (Alabama Studio)
To simplify learning, the book also includes two plastic stitching cards die-cut with the grids on which every stitch in the book is based. Natalie Chanin is the founder and creative director of Alabama Chanin and author of Alabama Stitch Book , Alabama Studio Style , Alabama Studio Sewing + Design , and Alabama Studio Sewing Patterns.
Reviews
"And of course it's an elegantly designed book with beautiful photography, elevating the craft for all of us who love it."
"Without them I think learning and practicing the various stitches featured in the book would be a more laborious process."
"Clear detailed instructions and the grid is a wonderful way to practice stitches!"
"One class that particularly inspired me was a linen bellpull on which I learned over 100 different hardanger, hemstitch, insertion and surface stitches. Patterned Stitches. I own hundreds of needlework books which cover just about every technique imaginable but I just haven't sat myself down to get started. If you want to embroider a pretty border around your shirt cuff, it's not just a question of what decorative stitch but how big the stitches should be. I also recommend these books in sort of same theme of expanding your repertoire of stitches and learning to design: Rebecca Ringquist’s Embroidery Workshops: A Bend-the-Rules Primer. Stitch Sampler: The Ultimate Visual Dictionary to Over 200 Classic Stitches. Embroidery Stitches Step-by-step by Lucinda Ganderton (several editions are available on Amazon). The Embroidered Garden: Stitching through the Seasons of a Flower Garden by Kazuko Aoki. Bead Embroidery Stitch Samples - Motifs."
"I strongly recommend Natalie's online Craftsy class and buying her maker supplies from her website, as they are superior products that yield the best results, in my opinion. My friend and I took a weekend workshop from Natalie in Florence, Alabama several years ago and it was a wonderful experience."
"As a beginner, I was mystified by the question of how to create even, consistent stitches as I learned about hand embroidery."
"This one is incredible -- the best so far -- with detailed instructions for working stitches from either left-to-right or right-to-left, photos & diagrams (including photos of the back of the work!"
"I just recently discovered Alabama Chanin, and have quickly become a Natalie Chanin fan."
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Best Stuffed Animal Crafts

Edward's Menagerie: Over 40 Soft and Snuggly Toy Animal Crochet Patterns
With just two weeks to go before baby Edward's due date, yarn enthusiast Kerry Lord picked up a crochet hook for the first time and a new obsession began. Kerry Lord is the designer and founder of the TOFT Alpaca Shop, a modern British knitwear company offering exclusive knitting and crochet patterns, alpaca yarns and workshops.
Reviews
"However, there are several negatives that kept this from being one of my favorite books. The author happens to be fortunate enough to have grown up on an Alpaca farm and be an owner of a luxury yarn co. All the animals derive their wooly huggable appearance from the texture of alpaca yarn, which is not available to everyone and is not especially practical for children's toys. I thought I might use the patterns to create my own versions, but it is simply too much frustration and there are many other books and patterns available that are much easier to use."
"Great directions that are clear and concise."
"The patterns online are great but inconsistent in size."
"Fantastic book and patterns."
"My girlfriend loves this book and has made several of the designs that are included in the book."
"ABSOLUTELY LOVE and will be ordering Kerry Lord's other book so I can crochet some wonderful looking birds for my grandbabies!"
"I have found a couple pattern errors and agree with other posts that there could be more pictures for direction and details."
"I wasn't crazy about having to flip back and forth for the directions, but the book would be a million pages long if they hadn't written this way."
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Best Spinning

In the Footsteps of Sheep: Tales of a Journey Through Scotland, Walking, Spinning, and Knitting Socks
In the Footsteps of Sheep details the completion of a mission the author, a Welsh-born Scot, set for herself: to travel and camp throughout Scotland, find cast off tufts of wool from 10 Scottish sheep breeds, then spin the wool on her spinning stick while walking (or waiting for ferries), and finally design and knit one pair of socks to represent each breed...all the while writing about her adventures and taking plenty of photographs. The author is an intrepid Scottish woman who, after earning a medical degree and raising her children, packed her rucksack with bare necessities, and set off to camp and walk throughout Scotland. The photos of the seascapes are lovely, the author's cozy camping locations romantic (even the cold and rainy ones), and the steep cliffs and rock outcroppings plunging into the sea are dramatic and exciting.
Reviews
"The inclusion of so much information about the routes walked, the various locations, the types of sheep, and similar plus the patterns, and the gorgeous photographs makes this a very valuable book for anyone interested in knitting, socks, or Scotland!"
"Beyond that, each chapter detailed her adventures camping, visiting, spinning, and knitting - which prompted me to pick up the needles, knit some socks, and dream of traveling to far off lands!"
"I also agree with some of the reviewers that since this is a book about her journey gathering up wool and spinning there were no photos to show that-a little thing but should have been included and disappointing as it is the premise of the book Other than that I love this book and would highly recommend."
"I'm not sure quite what I was expecting from this book, nor why it didn't quite live up to it, but I finished it somewhat disappointed."
"Lost one star for not offering a hardback version, or at least a more durable cover."
"Beautiful photos and interesting travel journal with knitting patterns thrown in."
"The patterns are good to have but the walk, the stories, the people & the sheep were worth the cost of the book."
"I have wanted this book since it was published in 2015."
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