Crochet Me

The first review covered it all, really. But I wanted to add that I had anticipated this book for many months and I wasn't disappointed when it arrived. INCREDIBLE book. INCREDIBLE. I was giddy flipping through the pages. It's pure eye-gasm (and crochet-gasm!) Nice job Kim.

I recently started crochet after teaching myself to knit three years ago. I bought this book on a whim and it's paid off. There are several patterns on my to crochet list and the patterns are easy to follow.

First off, the cover is what had me hooked. I love the sweater on the front and the lacy sweater at the bottom. The projects are mostly new, creative, and fun! There isn't a cheesy striped scarf in the entire book, which is a great plus for me. So many of these books pack in scarves and cheesy jewelry. Even if they include tons of projects, there are very few you'd choose to make. Not so with this book. There are very few projects I wouldn't want to make, probably the cocoon bag, thigh highs, and mini wrap are my least favorites, but here's a list of the projects to help you decide: "Babydoll Dress" - this is just an adorable dress that would look great over jeans. Author gives suggestions on lengthening sleeves or modifying dress length to suit style. Definitely on my to-do list. "Icelandic Turtleneck" (includes arm warmers) - super cool turtleneck worked completely in rounds. Uses a stitch I'm unfamiliar with, but I'll learn. "Victorian Shrug & Wrap" - this is the teal sweater from the front, the shrug is the top half and sleeves, you add the lacier part to create the wrap. Directions could use some work where it separates the instructions for the shrug from the wrap instructions, but it includes both a diagram and the stitch pattern in graphical form. "Mini Wrap Skirt" - a slightly tapered rectangle with some ribbing. More for a younger person and meant to be worn over leggings. "Messenger Bag" - very cool felted bag. It has circles cut out of the front flap so you can see through to the colorwork on the interior pocket. One of the few projects that doesn't have a diagram with measurements, which is a bummer. Probably due to the fact that they put in a color chart for the interior piece. I really would have liked measurements for this so that it would be easy to modify the size. Otherwise, it's just lovely. "I'm a Convert Sweater" - this is the two-toned green sweater on the front. Not quite as pretty as you'd think from the picture. I think it would have been prettier if the bodice was worked from top down instead of side to side. Still, it's a nice top. "Style Moderne Jewelry" - I'm not a big crochet jewelry person, but even I have to admit that this set of necklace and bracelet is pretty nice. It would look elegant with a nice dress. I'm definitely going to make the bracelet. "Mesmerize Sweater" - the lacy webbed sweater from the front. Holy cow! This thing is just gorgeous!!! Beautiful swirly designs with a loose bodice and kimono sleeves. I'm in love. Of course, with all that beauty means a fairly complicated pattern, so it's not for the faint of heart. You make a few round motifs, then modify them with row work to add shape. There is a lot of FLO/BLO to keep track of and gauge swatch and project must be blocked. Still, if the result of all that hard work is something this beautiful, I'm in. "Shades of Plaid Scarves" - I've never liked plaid until now. They did a great job creating a mesh panel with woven chains. They even inc