Crafting for Sinners

Finished May 24

Crafting for Sinners by Jenny Kiefer

When I heard about this book, I knew I had to read it. Set in small town Kentucky, around a woman, Ruth, who grew up there, it develops into a crazy horror novel with outrageous humour. 

Ruth was engaged to her high school boyfriend until her best friend Abigail asked her what she really wanted in her future and she was forced to look inward. She realized that she was bisexual and decided to be honest with her fiancé about it, but his reaction was less understanding than she expected and they broke up. 

Recently a new megachurch arrived in their town and built not only a church but also a craft store with a religious bent. Given that I work part-time at a craft store, this intrigued me. When management at the store realized that Ruth and Abigail were actually in a relationship, they fired her and Ruth was upset at their bigotry that ignored her ability to do a good job. She'd noticed that they seemed unbothered about shoplifting and she began taking rather than buying for her crafting, the way she was now earning money. When a deadline on a commissioned blanket is changed last minute, Ruth heads to the store for more balls of yarn. 

Shortly after arriving, she realizes that there aren't any other shoppers in the store, and even the usual employees at the front don't seem to be around. As she goes about her task, she finds herself being followed, and accused, and when she accidently injures the man accusing her, she panics. As she moves to the front of the store, she finds herself locked in, and the store is uncompliant with basic safety such as emergency exits. 

As Ruth's knowledge of the store layout benefits her, her diabetes causes her health to become precarious, and she must take drastic action to save herself from what she gradually learns is a more dangerous situation than she could ever have imagined. 

Working with some current issues such as growing traditionalist religious attitude in the U.S., anti-LGBTQIA attitudes, the difficulty of believing what some people are truly capable of, and the health care situation of the U.S., this novel combines humour, horror, and social judgement in a crazy way. It is around half-way through the novel that things begin to get violent. 

Easy Crafts for the Insane

Finished November 12

Easy Crafts for the Insane: A Mostly Funny Memoir of Mental Illness and Making Things by Kelly Williams Brown

This memoir covers a few difficult years in the author's life. During this time she underwent several losses (divorce, breakup of relationship, loss of friendships, death of pets) and physical pain (breaking both arms and an ankle), not to mention mental illness. 

Kelly had been diagnosed and treated for depression at a very young age, and continued to battle this into her adult years, but during this time period, her treatments changed, and she had more severe and new mental challenges. 

All her life, one of her comforts has been crafting and throughout this book she includes several simple crafts for the reader, giving step by step instructions and, in some cases, direction to more information available online. 

She is very open about all her experiences during this time, both how she made bad decisions, and didn't always consider how her actions would affect those around her, not recognizing the pain she caused them at the time, and how they affected her in ways they didn't understand at the time either. 

Luckily, she was able to afford and get the help she needed, a privilege that she recognizes that not everyone going through similar challenges will have and she makes arguments for improving the access to mental health care.

This memoir definitely has elements of humour and the author is more than willing to laugh at herself and her experiences while still acknowledging the serious nature of what she went through.

Eye-opening and very engaging. 

Improper Cross-Stitch

Finished February 6 

Improper Cross-Stitch: 35+ Properly Naughty Patterns by Haley Pierson-Cox

This fun cross-stitch design book is one I had meant to look at for some time. I had at one time had temporary access to an ebook, but it was just a sample and so I put it aside until I could get hold of the actual book. All the projects in here are small ones, and most could be done in a weekend.

The introduction gives some insight into the reason for the book and how it came to be that I found interesting. Then, the first two sections are preparation for beginners. One describes the tools used in doing crossstitch and the other gives the basics of the craft. Less useful to me as I've been doing it for quite a while, but both very well done with good pictures.

The designs are categorized into three sections: Hipster Snark; Ironically Domestic; and Talk Nerdy to Me. As you can tell from these topics, there's a lot of fun going on here. Hipster Snark includes ten patterns, with my favourite one being "Sweet Campfire Dreams", although I really liked the negative text "Nope" too. Ironically Domestic includes twelve patterns, and here my favourites are "I'll Cut You" and "Armed and Creative". Talk Nerdy to Me has ten patterns, and I really liked the "Princess Not in Need of Rescue" and "Grammar Police".

Because these patterns have a text element to them, the book also includes three complete alphabets for you to customize and even create your own designs. They are a sans-serif alphabet, a script alphabet, and a line alphabet. 

There is a section on finishing and framing that gives tips for those who want to do this final part themselves. And of course, along with that idea of DIY, there is a section on designing your own custom patterns with some good advice for creating your own simple designs.

This book is actually a lot better than I thought it might be, with only a few having profanity, and a lot of sly humour. The designs are fun and with the additional advising chapters, easy to customize for your own preferences. 

The Maker

Finished August 16
The Maker: Crafting a Unique Space by Tamara Maynes with Tracy Lines, photography by Eve Wilson

This inspiring book looks at a variety of creative pursuits
The book has a handmade feel, with a thick board cover and rounded corners.
The first section talks about a wide variety of creative pursuits readers may want to explore and gives short descriptions of each. These are; applique, basketry, ceramics, chair caning, embroidery, fabric dying and printing, felting, glass blowing, knitting, leaded glasswork, leatherwork, macrame, metalwork, papercraft, quilting and patchwork, rug hooking, sculpture, shade making, tapestry weaving, upholstery, willow bending, wirework, and woodwork.
This is followed by more in-depth chapters on a number of these. Each chapter includes quotes from people doing this type of work, examples of a variety of work in this area, a short interview with a maker, and complete instructions for a project.
Wall Art includes a project for a metal wall hanging. Objects includes a project for a wire sculpture. Textiles includes a project for a woven table runner. Ceramics includes a project for a no fire clay vessel. Lighting includes a project for a woodworked light box, and Furniture includes a project for a marquetry table top.
These chapters are followed by a discussion on craftsmanship, sustainable making, raw materials for making, space for making, design, and reworking.
The book ends with a list of various tools, with images and some ideas of makers to follow.
I loved the layout, and found that it make trying out some of these creative pursuits very approachable. The projects chosen don't require a lot of financial outlay or specialized tools, and are good starting points for a beginner.

Craftfulness

Finished July 4
Craftfulness: Mend Yourself by Making Things by Rosemary Davidson and Arzu Tahsin, read by Joan Walkter

This short book looks at the mental health aspect of simple craft activities. It talks about how doing crafts is becoming more popular as more people realize we all have creativity within us. We need to be open to new experiences, to learning new skills, and failing at first as we do so.
They cite their own experiences, the experiences of friends, and various research that has been done to show how engaging in a creative pursuit helps us be happier and more engaged with the world around us.
Doing crafts has been shown to help with PTSD, depression, anxiety, and other mental health challenges, and they give some instances of this research and some programs that use crafting to formally address these issues.
They also go through a number of simple crafts: knitting a scarf, creating a pinch pot, making a booklet, drawing, writing, and weaving, to start the reader off. They emphasize the idea of flow, of finding something that really engages you, of being open to trying a few different activities to see what clicks with you, and being aware of the time it takes to gain the basic skills for the that particular craft.
Personally, I engage in a few crafts, and I've been aware for some time of how they help me deal with stress and other issues in my life, but it was interesting to hear about this more broadly.

Crafting a Colorful Home

Finished September 20
Crafting a Colorful Home: a room-by-room guide to personalizing your space with color by Kristin Nicholas, photographs by Rikki Snyder

The book appealed to the creative side of me when I spotted it at the library, and I found several things in it that appealed to me. As the subtitle indicates, it is organized room by room, with a few techniques and projects spelled out for each room or area. These instructions are very well done, with photos for the different steps and clear wording.
I would have liked more photos and discussion on what she's done in her own rooms as some of the room shots showed interesting things that I would have liked to see closer and learn about how/why she did them.
As the title indicates the rooms here have two themes. One is color, lots of it, mixed with thought but not looking too planned. Vibrant colours played across more subtle ones. She does discuss color palettes and layering of colors in the first chapter to get you familiar with good color design practices. The second theme is crafting. A lot of her home has been done by herself from painting to textiles to useful and decorative objects. Nothing here is too difficult for a beginner which is great. She also provides templates for the projects.
The areas she covers are: studio; garden and entryways; kitchen; living room; dining room; library; and upstairs bedrooms and stairway.
As a librarian, I also liked how she worked books into her rooms. It made it feel very cozy and comfortable to me.
Lots of ideas here, and I'll plan to put some into action.