Crochet with One Sheepish Girl: Easy Lessons & Sweet Designs for Wearing, Living & Giving

The first book from Crawford, creator of the popular craft blog OneSheepishGirl.com, continues her sweet, pastel-colored, slightly kooky aesthetic, with more than 20 project ideas for crocheting. She begins with a thorough overview of crocheting basics, a helpful launch into the rest of the volume. While there are some attractive wearables here, including a clever crochet make-over for a purchased shirt's collar, the majority of designs are for home d%C3%A9cor items, from a set of ombre baskets in three sizes and an adorable Cottage Tea Cozy, which looks like it dropped in from a British cartoon. The book's whimsy is very charming, so it's disappointing to see that more thought wasn't put into making it user-friendly. There are no step-by-step photos, not even for the quite demanding three-dimensional gift boxes, and there's no guide to how difficult each project is. The book opens with a complex Granny-square scarf, for example, and is followed by a simple bow. Crawford's got a creative, engaging style; this book could have done a better job in teaching readers how to copy her. Full color photos. (Oct.)