Big Book of Scrap Crochet Projects

Overall, I am pleased with this book. While I would not make everything in here, there are enough projects that I like to make the purchase worthwhile. Many of the projects are rated as beginner. I like quite a few of the projects in the kitchen chapter--lots of cute hotpads, coasters, and dishcloths here. The rug chapter has some nice projects too--though I think a couple would lend themselves better to afghans than rugs. The sweaters are nice--especially the Dawn to Dusk Sweater and the Hooded Jacket. These are not "cutting edge" fashion, but are nice and classic for those of us who don't want to be "hip" or "funky". The Girl's Scrap Poncho is nice too. There is a thread crochet chapter, but this really isn't my interest, though if you like that, there were 13 projects included. The Bazaar and Toy chapters have quite a few cute projects (especially the Toy chapter). The afghans are nice, though the two I liked the best use a double ended crochet hook--something I've not tried yet. Overall, it's a nice book. I still rank Crochet From the Heart and Crochet for Caring and Sharing as my favorites. If you can only get one, you may want to check those two out before you buy anything.

I would have given this book 3.5 stars if I could, but realistically, that would have been because I have an extensive crochet book collection and when I purchased this book it was solely for it's value as a scrap project book. Now that that's put into perspective, I think that the average crocheter would give this book 4 stars. As far as scrap projects go, this book was lacking the substance I was looking for. Most of the projects call for worsted weight yarn or size 10 crochet cotton so you will have to be creative if you are looking for projects to use up the scraps of some of your fancier and different weight yarns. I was hoping to find a lot of projects that would give me creative ideas on how to combine my various scraps into one piece without making it look like a scrap project but only a few projects delivered. I must say however, that the projects in this book are endless (over 80!) so you will most certainly find enough interesting projects to get your money's worth. It is also noteworthy to mention that nearly every chapter features a pattern that requires you to know how to use an afghan hook or a double ended crochet hook. Because there is so much variety, I thought it would be helpful to take you through chapter by chapter:KITCHEN: There are some really cute projects in here but as far as I'm concerned, kitchen projects are basically scrap projects to begin with, so if you already have many patterns for these things, this will only add more of the same thing to your collection. I found it odd too that they would include place settings because though you may have enough scraps to make one setting, you most certainly will not have enough to make 3 more matching ones! RUGS: There is a nice pet bed project in here that does a great job of making a scrap project not look like one at all. The remainder of the projects are strictly rugs. Some are cute and country-like, some more elegant and a few scream of tackiness.FASHIONS: There are fashions for everyone but the baby in this chapter and I must admit the patterns, though not the most fashion forward (with some exceptions) aren't all that bad. The one pattern that most impressed me in this book can be found in this chapter. It is a ladies sweater pattern that combines only 4 ounces each of 10 different yarn shades and 8 oz of the main color yet the colors are all creatively blended so you would never guess that the finished product was made of scraps. This is exactly the type of project that I would have like to have seen more of. It is also noteworthy to mention that nearly every ladies pattern is suitable for the plus sizes as the bust measurements on the biggest sizes range from 51-53 1/2 inches. The downside though is that not all measurements are given and there are no diagrams. THREAD PROJECTS: There's nothing all that new in here except for some frameable threadwork. I am not particularily fond of doilies and runners using up multitudes of colors so this chapte