Crafting is more than a hobby; it’s a means of self-expression. These new releases offer amateur artisans a way to wear their hearts, and their art, on their sleeves—and socks, and caps, and everything in between.
The Art of Knitting Hats
Courtney Flynn. Page Street, Sept.
Flynn builds from beginner-friendly beanies to intermediate hat patterns with ribbed or folded brims in her debut. Though she prefers bold, high-contrast combinations for her own projects, each pattern also includes recommended color substitutions.
Charming Colorwork Socks
Charlotte Stone. Page Street, Sept.
The 25 patterns in Stone’s debut are inspired by “the nature and culture” of her home base, the hills above Zürich, Switzerland. The knitwear designer, who has 55,000 Instagram followers, evokes a variety of moods and motifs—“Vitamin C” socks conjure winter citrus, for instance, while russett “Coffee Break” socks are self-explanatory.
Embroidery
Natalie Chanin. Abrams, Oct.
Chanin follows 2017’s The Geometry of Hand-Sewing (in which “her tone throughout is as measured as her grids,” per PW’s review) with a mix of artistic photos and tutorials on her Alabama Chanin brand’s most used techniques. Short essays delve into the history of the brand, its sustainability ethos, and the DIY community that has sprung up around it.
Knitting the National Parks
Nancy Bates. Weldon Owen, Aug.
Outdoor enthusiast Bates shares her hat patterns inspired by the landscapes of each of the 63 U.S. national parks. For instance, birch bark–inspired colorwork (plus an optional leaf-green pom-pom) represents the trees of Acadia National Park in Maine, while warm shades of orange, red, and pink stand in for the spires of Utah’s Bryce Canyon.
Lotta Jansdotter Everyday Patterns
Lotta Jansdotter. Abrams, Oct.
Building on 2015’s Lotta Jansdotter Everyday Style, the author, a Swedish designer living in the U.S., again offers a capsule wardrobe of flexible, unisex patterns.
Instructions for the six garments and three accessories include multiple customization options, such as pockets, trims, and different hem lengths.
The Magic of Pockets
Jess Driscoll. Microcosm, Oct.
“Clothes with pockets should not be so rare,” Driscoll writes in her debut. After explaining why they in fact are (“Spoiler alert: it’s about patriarchy and capitalism!”), she lays out six types of modifications to make clothing more functional, such as a hand-sewn patch pocket for absolute beginners, or a more complex on-seam inside pocket.
Retro Crochet
Ashlee Elle. Rocky Nook, Aug.
In her debut, crocheter Elle (61,000 Instagram followers), details 19 projects inspired by the bold, bright patterns of the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s. Projects include smiley-face earrings, a neon cardigan that riffs on Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and a Clueless-inspired pastel floral beanie.
Sewing Love
Sanae Ishida. Sasquatch, Aug.
This “must-read for crafters of all levels” by the author of 2016’s Sewing Happiness is a primer on stitching a capsule wardrobe. “The real gold,” according to PW’s review, “comes in an in-depth section that teaches readers how to create and customize their own patterns based on their personal measurements by drafting paper pattern pieces and sewing up a muslin to test them out.”
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