Book Recommendations for Crafty Folks, Gardners, and Knitters

I indulged myself, as is tradition, and made a rather large purchase of books on my recent birthday. A little gift to myself. I've had some time to sit down and at least turn all the pages and in some cases read quite a bit and I've got some recommendations.

First up, I've been dreaming of putting in an organic vegetable garden ever since I moved here to Austin. I've also been dreaming and scheming about some major landscape changes to the back yard. It's got great bones - a patio, a covered porch, and lots of shade - but I want it to be spectacular. Spectacular and dog friendly. It is their domain after all. I found these books: Dogs in their Gardens by Page Dickey and Dog Friendly Gardens Garden Friendly Dogs by Cheryl S Smith. The later has a ton of very useful information about materials, safety, and plant suggestions. She shares not only her gardening know-how but also some very practical advice on managing the dogs in the space. The former is strictly a picture book, but it does have a lot to offer in terms of inspiration. I recommend them both.

Second to indulge the book artist in me - I've been fascinated by pop-up books and their forms and structures lately and have been planning a new series of small artist books that will involve screen printing and pop-up structures. I ordered a fantastic book - The Pocket Paper Engineer How to Make Pop-Ups Step-by-Step by Carol Barton of Popular Kinetics Press. I've been familiar with Carol's work as a book artist for several years as she is quite accomplished. This book is great! Not only does it offer clear and concise tips, instructions, and tools list it has projects. There are several pre-printed pages which you cut, score, and fold, to make pop-up cards, and pockets within the book to store your finished cards. Very clever!

And of course I had to also indulge the knitter in me. This time rather then go for a book of patterns, which I seem to have quite a collection of, I went for instructions and encyclopedic references. Knitting in Plain English by Maggie Righetti and The Knitter's Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes. Both are staples to any knitter's reading diet and every knitter's shelve should have them.

That's it! Quite a haul I know but it was my 40th birthday so I went all out. All books are available from Amazon and I've included links in the sidebar. Happy reading!