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Search Press was nice enough to send me several of Val Pierce‘s books to review when I interviewed her several weeks ago. I’m reviewing another of Val’s books in the Twenty to Make series, Mini Christmas Crochet (Twenty to Make) and I’m also hosting a giveaway for my review copy of the book, so read on for more details!
Book Review
Mini Christmas Crochet (Twenty to Make) is part of Search Press’s Twenty to Make series. I am not really in the target audience of this book, since I grew up in a multi-faith family and never inherited the tradition of creating Christmas decorations from my grandmothers. (I’m am not much for seasonal decorations, in general.)
The book includes twenty patterns for crocheted Christmas decorations. All of the patterns are made using crochet cotton thread and a 2 mm (US size B) crochet hook. The book aims to be bilingual (U.S. and U.K. terms) and includes a key at the beginning, as well as parenthetical translations. The ornament patterns are Pine Cones, Festive Wreath, Dove of Peace, Glimmering Snowflake, Christmas Stocking, Wishing Star, Christmas Bell, Christmas Pudding, and Christmas Bear. The character projects are Rudolf the Reindeer, Good Fairy, Baby Penguin, Cool Snowman, and Little Angel. The table top decorations are Christmas Cracker, Tabletop Tree, Yuletide Coaster, and Festive Napkin Ring. The other projects are the Snowy Fridge Magnet and the Poinsetta Gift Topper.
In general, the projects remind me of the types of decorations my maternal grandmother used to make for the holidays – very traditional crocheted items made primarily using reds, golds, and whites with some greens and other winter colors added in. Most of the projects include additional embellishments, such as buttons, ribbon for the ornaments, or holly berry embellishments, and quite a few projects are stuffed.
The target audience is advanced beginner to intermediate crocheters comfortable working with thread (or willing to make larger projects by substituting yarn) who decorate for Christmas and/or give away decorative gifts. This could be a fun book if you are participating in a yarn related Christmas swap or “secret Santa” exchange. The book itself, like the others in the Twenty to Make series, is a slender, short paperback which is very portable, but it doesn’t lay flat for you to read while crocheting. The projects are quite small (as the title suggests) so they can be made with a minimal amount of crochet cotton.
If you like making relatively traditional Christmas decorations (or have people on your gift list who like to receive them), it would definitely be a good book to have in your hand this time of year. If not, you will probably not have much use for these patterns.
Full disclosure: A free review copy of this book was provided by the publisher. Although I accept free books for review, I do not accept additional compensation from the publisher, nor do I guarantee a positive review. My reviews are based entirely on my honest opinions. This also post contains affiliate links. You can read my affiliate and review disclosures here.
Giveaway
I’m giving away my review copy of Mini Christmas Crochet (Twenty to Make)
To find more blogs participating in Blogtoberfest 2011, visit Tinnie Girl. For Blogtoberfest 2011 giveaways, visit Curly Pops.