Drawing on decades of experience as a knitting instructor and designer, Maggie Righetti offered step-by-step directions on avoiding common mistakes and getting out of tricky spots.Now, in this completely updated and revised version, Righetti gives readers what they've asked for: advice on making all different garments, working with new patterns and different kinds of yarn, and even an introduction to her own legendary history. Neither aggressively hip nor bafflingly encyclopedic, Knitting in Plain English offers basic principles that will make any project---from a basic blanket to an intricate sweater---rewarding.Having Knitting in Plain English on the shelf is like having the gift of your own knitting teacher available to help at all times with any thorny problem.

    Includes a special help! section for the inevitable mishaps, and shows how to correct errors.

    A collection of patterns for knitting toys.

    This classic book tells of George Dyson's rediscovery of the Aleut baidarka (sea kayak) and his far-ranging travels with his boats.

    Clear descriptions with hundreds of drawings of small scale casting.

    The patterns range from variations on the basic stitches to intricate and colourful textured fabrics. A concise clearly illustrated introductory section explains the basic techniques of crochet from start to finish, including hints and tips on how to follow a pattern."

    Nearly lost in the early twentieth century when machines took over the manufacture of most lace, the craft is now being rediscovered by enthusiasts who recognize it not only as one of the most durable, serviceable, and beautiful forms of lace but also as a type that provides a unique opportunity to be creative.This inexpensive volume presents authentic motifs and grounds used by the most skilled Irish needleworkers of the late nineteenth century. Collected and edited by one of the best-known experts of the time, Thérèse de Dillmont, it offers patterns, complete instructions, and/or detailed photographs for 30 motifs, 12 intricate grounds, and various traditional footings and borders.Crocheters can use these versatile motifs of delicate raised flowers, leaves, sprays, and more to transform ordinary bedspreads, doilies, tablecloths, and clothing into works of art to be treasured for years. Make your own unique designs for new curtains, fancy collars, delicate cuffs, and so much more. Each of these motifs can be altered in shape, enlarged, diminished, or combined in new patterns — there's virtually no limit to the results you can produce.Beginners should practice making individual motifs before attempting an entire piece of lace, and experienced crocheters may want to follow the directions exactly before experimenting to form new motifs. With practice, you can invent your own patterns just by employing these authentic, elemental motifs and their complementary grounds. A new introduction relates the history and technique involved in Irish crochet lace, and a conversion chart translates outdated terms.

    With the simple instructions and ready-made cut-out patterns attached, anyone can have fun making their own original and delightful pop-up greeting cards.

    This work presents the work of 60 artists who have combined craft and art with the glamour of haute couture. 170 garments - each the product of intensive labour - are featured.

    Whether they stitch, quilt, weave, work in macrame, hook rugs, knit, crochet, or experiment in mixed media, the artists will benefit from the authors' techniques for solving color problems. Color and Fiber is divided into three sections. The first section presents essential terminology, ideas, and definitions about light and color as preparation for the problems, projects and ideas which follow. The second section describes how light, dye and pigment work with fibers because individual fibers, yarns and fabrics differ in their responses to light and color. The ability to solve color problems depends on the artists' understanding of the fiber's light and color relationships. The third section presents the practical applications for the information gained in the first two sections. Besides color mixing and special effects such as iridescence and opalescence, this section examines projects that artists or classes can do to understand color's part in determining spatial effects, emotional impact and color systems.

    But page after page of visually stunning quilts prove with a vengeance that experts can be wrong.... Highly recommended." --Library Journal "More than anything else, the book provides a fascinating record of women's efforts to create beauty even when every hour and cent had to be spent merely to survive. It is also a tribute to families who have recognized and treasured those efforts through the generations." --Angleton Times The patchwork or pieced quilt is one of the few truly indigenous American art forms, and in the Lone Star State it has long been cherished. But most early Texas quilters were not aware that they were shaping an artistic heritage for the future. They quilted for simpler, personal reasons: to keep their families warm during bitter winters in poorly heated dugouts, to add a bit of color and cheer to drab cabins on the plains, to pass lonely hours far away from distant family and friends, to welcome a firstborn child, or to plan for the arrival of long-awaited guests. Some women quilted for their own gratification: the pleasure of piecing cloth that met neatly and evenly, the satisfaction of quilting tiny, precise stitches that held the cloth and enhanced the design, the contentment of binding and finishing a quilt that represented a piece of the quilter's life and heart. In quilting, Texas women (and the occasional man) took part in an artistic heritage that reflected the needs of life in a new land. In Lone Stars: A Legacy of Texas Quilts, 1836-1936, over sixty of the finest quilts made in Texas or brought to Texas during that periodare beautifully documented in full color and glowing text. Selected from more than 3,500 quilts analyzed during an intensive two-year search in twenty-seven cities and towns across Texas, these treasures reflect the highest order of design and technique. Because they are prized family heirlooms or from private collections, virtually none of these quilts has ever before come to public attention. Unknown until now, they are masterpieces of quilt art and significant historical records. The photographs show the full quilts, details, and, in some cases, their makers. The text describes the characteristics of each quilt--physical description, sizes, fabrics, colors, pattern name, quality of workmanship, artistic merit, and overall design concept. Placing the quilt in perspective, Lone Stars also relates the family history and provenance of the piece~stories told about the quilt and its maker or owners--and looks at quilting in Texas and its relation to the tradition of quilting as practiced in other regions. A useful as well as lovely volume, Lone Stars adds immeasurably to our knowledge of Texas' rich cultural and artistic heritage.

    Traditional techniques and new shortcuts make caning with wicker, rattan, raw-hide, and other materials easy. Useful charts detail how much fiber to buy and what standard lengths are available. “An excellent purchase for any size library.”—Library Journal.

    First comprehensive study of Mary's needlework - heavily illustrated and in color.

    

    The volume includes 50 classic tatting patterns (illustrated with over 40 photographs and line drawings) for doilies, edgings, baby caps, collars, yokes, and more. Basic tatting how-to's for beginners, too.

    Brilliant drawings, superb patterns, exploded diagrams and complete step-by-step instructions spur you on to make a Gallivanting Gorilla, Ornery Lobster, Sub on the Lookout, Cantankerous Triceratops and 26 other rambling, rambunctious, animated marvels.

    Demonstrates over four hundred embroidery stitches, including line, border, filling, motif, edging, hem, and insertion stitches, and suggests appropriate uses and threads for each stitch.

    More than 110 full-color photographs.

    Reproduced directly from a rare Victorian-era album of transfer patterns by William Briggs and Company Ltd., these designs are among the finest of the period are are ideally suited for embroidery, textile design, woodworking, leathercraft, metalwork, and a host of other design and craft uses. Included are floral borders, corners and centers, wreaths, delicate sprays, allover patterns, lovely compositions with birds and butterflies, and more. Among the floral favorites in this volume are the Apple Blossom, Azalea, Begonia, Cornflower, Forget-me-not, Fuchsia, Iris, Lily of the Valley, Narcissus, Primrose, Snowdrop, Strawberry, Tiger Lily, Tulip, Verbena, Violet, and many others. The designs are conveniently arranged according to type and an index of uses suggests specific kinds of projects for which each type of design is especially suited. Also included are complete, easy-to-follow instructions on how to transfer the designs to cloth or other media and concise descriptions of embroidery stitches. Whatever your craft or design need and whatever your level of expertise — from beginner to expert — you are sure to find this inexpensive volume an invaluable source you will turn to again and again.

    It includes lesswell-known native basketry in addition to the more common forms. This colorful book combines basket manufacturetechniques, raw materials, forms, and decoration with information on native lifeways. More than 175 regional and tribal stylesare documented in an easy-to-use and beautifully illustrated format. Readers will be able to identify their own Indian baskets. The book's standardized terminology, identification keys, glossary,maps, and bibliographies add to its broad appeal. Hundreds of baskets were photographed for this volume in color and inblack-and-white. Many are from the famous and unparallel collection of the Peabody Museum of Harvard University where theauthors began their basketry research in the 1970's.

    There are 160 glorious pages, jam-packed with bright holiday ideas for thoughtful, original decorating and gift giving.

    Since then it has gone through many printings, and has become a well loved source book all over the world. For every occasion of the Christian Year - from the traditional celebration of Michaelmas and Martinmas to making an Advent Wreath, from wassailing to the full story of St Wenceslaus - A Book of Feasts and Seasons remains an essential part of the family library. In today's fast moving world it gets harder and harder for people to keep in touch with their Christian history and customs. This book allows families, schools and church groups to do just that, and to have fun while doing it. Joanna Bogle is a well-known Catholic journalist and broadcaster. She often appears on the television station EWTN.

    Each pattern has been thoroughly tested to ensure that the average crafts person can easily create most animals.

    

    

    They include designs for the Mezuzah, mizrach, hallah and matzah covers, tallit bags, yarmulkas, holiday tablecloths, a Torah mantle, paroket, and chuppah. The ritual use and history of each object is explained.

    Teaches the basic skills and fundamentals of weaving using complete instructions for beautiful and useful projects.

    Photographs.