Uncommon Crochet: Twenty-Five Projects Made from Natural Yarns and Alternative Fibers

This is a very interesting book. It definitely goes outside the box. It has some very nice projects made with a variety of unusual materials. I especially enjoyed reading about all of the alternative materials that can be used in crocheting - materials that I would never have thought about using prior to reading the book. Now I look at everything I encounter from a new viewpoint - "Can I crochet with this?"

I like that this book contains a lot of info regarding materials and crocheting techniques (even felting) with "uncommon" materials. This is great for beginners like me for that reason; the designs are inspirational, colorful, functional - love it.

...you know what I mean, particularly if you grew up during an era when mom (or grandma) crocheted orange-avocado afghans and toilet roll covers. Now, I see the kitsch is back again with an entire BOOK of crochet recently published devoted to roll covers, and other such silliness. But...crochet deserves so much better than to be a fiberarts punchline. Holetz is making interesting choices here for her crochet media - as in, "I've seen plenty of shopping bags crocheted from plastic store bags, thanx." It's nice to see a little imagination with bags crocheted from gift-supplier raffia (meant to be bows but reasonably priced), also luxe/pricey material such as leather cord. LOTS of leather cord go into an elegant decor basket that is Martha-Stewart exquisite. - that is, if that's how you want it to be. Me, I'd haunt the thrift shops and see what opportunities for interesting crochet-able material present themselves. I'll bet this author would do/has done the same. In any case, the projects she has planned out almost beg for substitution and experimentation. (Example: for the aforementioned basket, I have a ton of cut suede "fringe" from some long-ago project that I am daisy-chaining together into "barbed wire" - it will be different, but attractive, and I don't mean in a "look what I made at camp, mom!" kind of way.) A beautiful book that respects a too often dismissed or "dumbed down" craft.

This book has patterns that use materials such as leather twine, wool, etc.....you will not find any arcyllic in this book, which is why I bought it. For something different. . I love the paper it is printed on, and the photos are gorgeous. All of the projects are very creative. Although, most require you to do more than just crochet though.... a lot of the projects require sewing in fabric liners, or sewing fabric to the items, and I hate sewing! 6 of the patterns also require felting. But, the reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 is because of the variety. While the projects themselves are beautiful, and interesting 12 of them are some type of bag/purse--that is almost half of the patterns! There are 4 patterns for some type of a basket, 3 patterns for vases (which are really just decorative rather than functional), and then a few random items: pin cushions, a non-functional sake set, faux sushi and a wire flower. The inside flap of this book leads you to believe there is a better variety than there is, and even says there are projects for "jewelry". There are not any patterns for jewelry in this book, unless you count the one wire flower pattern that you could use as a pendant or pin. Overall the book is beautifully done, and has a lot of instructions/how-to's, etc....might be good for a beginner. I just wish I had known beforehand that nearly every pattern in this book is for some type of a container--whether it be a vase, basket, bag or even sake set --- almost all of the patterns are for some type of a container. Will keep for my crochet library though because there are some inspiring ideas.