Needle Felting: Succulents

Find Your Winter Project

by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian

On cold winter days, many people like to have a project to work on at home: a puzzle, a quilt, a piece of furniture.  The library is hosting a workshop where you can learn a new artistic skill, plus we have several new books that could help inspire or guide your winter do-it-yourself project.

On Monday, January 22, Jen Anfinson will be teaching a calligraphy workshop from 6 to 7:30 p.m.  The class will cover techniques and styles of traditional and modern calligraphy. It’s open to adults and teens age fifteen and up, and all supplies and equipment will be provided. The class is free to attend, but space is limited.  Sign up at the library’s front desk or call us at (320)693-2483. 

On to the books you can check out for your artistic inspiration:  

Those who enjoy drawing and painting may be interested in If You Can Doodle, You Can Paint: Transforming Simple Drawings into Works of Art by Diane Culhan.  This book encourages the artist to explore their personal style by doodling, sizing up these small drawings, and adding color with pencil and paint.  The book is intended to be an unintimidating way to move step by step into creating full-sized paintings.

For a book to take your drawing in a very different direction, look for Designing Creatures and Characters: How to Build an Artist’s Portfolio for Video Games, Film, Animation, and More.  Author Marc Taro Holmes has worked on art for video games such as Dragon Age Inquisition and Baldur’s Gate.  The book focuses on creating and developing characters visually, whether with pencil and paper or with digital art.  One of my children used this book to get started on some character design that she has continued to build on through sketches, so I would say it is inspiring.

 

Hello Tokyo: 30+ Handmade Projects and Fun Ideas for a Cute, Tokyo-Inspired Lifestyle is a craft book for those who enjoy Japanese culture.  Perhaps you have a young person in your life who is into manga or anime and would enjoy exploring whimsical Japanese decorating and papercrafting. The author, Ebony Bizys, is an American who lives in and blogs about Tokyo.

On the more serious crafting side, Heirloom Wood: A Modern Guide to Carving Spoons, Bowls, Boards, and Other Homewares is a basic woodcarving book.  Author Max Bainbridge discusses wood types and basic tools, then moves on to detailed projects to make for the kitchen.

If you’re making a piece of furniture rather than a cutting board, the book Joinery may be what you need.  The editors of Fine Woodworking magazine have put together a comprehensive resource for choosing the type of joint you want, designing and cutting accurately, and solving your mistakes.  Joinery is where you can tell if a piece of furniture is made really well, and this book claims to be able to improve the skill of the builder whether they’re a novice or have plenty of experience. 

Sewing Happiness: A Year of Simple Projects for Living Well is a combination sewing-pattern book and memoir.  When author Sanae Ishida developed a chronic illness and lost her job, she turned to her old hobby, sewing, to find success at something.  She ended up discovering her passion. The book contains twenty projects, including household items and children’s and women’s clothing. 

Sometimes it’s actually a good thing to have a chance to work on creative projects indoors during the winter, without feeling guilty that the lawn isn’t getting mowed or the garden isn’t being weeded.  Hibernate a bit and find something that makes you happy this winter.

Sign up for our free wreath-making workshop!

A Time to Make Christmas Gifts

by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian

The season is here for coming up with Christmas gifts.  I was a huge Tasha Tudor fan as a child, and I remember pouring over her book A Time to Keep: The Tasha Tudor Book of Holidays again and again and again.  The November section says, “That’s the month we made Christmas presents.”  Her beautiful watercolors on that page depict people weaving cloth, working with wood, and weaving baskets.  We are past November now, so there isn’t much time before Christmas to be making things.  But for those of you who can still squeeze in some time for gift-making, we have some interesting books that can help you make a variety of handicrafts.

Our library has a substantial collection of knitting books.  Among our newest are Little Aran and Celtic Knits for Kids, Knitting with Icelandic Wool, and Metropolitan Knits: Chic Designs for Urban Style.

 

The Aran and Celtic knitting book features 25 patterns for babies and toddlers.  This includes scarves, socks, mittens, and other items. 

The second book sounds preposterously specific, but apparently Icelandic wool, or lopi, is a well-known type of yarn with wonderful qualities.  This book contains 65 patterns for clothing items: mostly traditional sweaters but also hats and mittens.

Metropolitan Knits is a collection of sophisticated and classic clothing patterns.  In addition to sweaters, it includes a few smaller projects: scarves, hats, and cowls.

If you prefer sewing to knitting, we have a really unique new book: Shadowfolds: Surprisingly Easy-to-Make Geometric Designs in Fabric.  The book is basically an origami book for use with fabric.  Customer reviews say the instructions make it easy to use.  Projects in the book include a pillow, a book cover, a purse, and many other distinctive items.

For the jewelry makers, we have a new book called Chinese, Celtic & Ornamental Knots for Beaded Jewellery.  The British author (hence the spelling of the title) explains how to create over forty pieces of jewelry based on knotwork and beading, with step-by-step photographs and diagrams.

If working with duct tape is more your speed, check out our new little paperback, Go Crazy with Duct Tape.  Kids especially may enjoy making jewelry or covering a tin, a photo album, or a water bottle to make a customized gift.

Now maybe some of you are like me: none of these sounds like something I want to do.  Every female in my family enjoys making some kind of fiber craft or other artistic creation: they sew, or knit, or scrapbook, or draw... and I just don’t.  But I love to cook and bake.  If making food gifts sounds more appealing to you, too, take a look at our large cookbook collection. 

One gift-specific book we have is Gourmet Gifts: 100 Delicious Recipes for Every Occasion to Make Yourself and Wrap with Style.  The author focuses as much on the presentation as the recipes, with hazelnut brittle wrapped in a faux bundle of letters, caramelized orange slices packed in small round tins, and jars of salsa wrapped in traditional Mexican tissue paper. 

And if you don’t have time before Christmas (I’m with you there), stop in to look for these and other craft and cooking titles after the holidays.  There will be plenty of winter left to work on fun indoor projects.