Conscious Crafts: Knitting: 20 Mindful Makes To Help You Reconnect Head, Heart & Hands
By Vanessa Koranteng and Sicgmone Kludje
I received a free copy of Conscious Crafts: Knitting from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.
In Conscious Crafts: Knitting, co-founders of the Black Girl Knit Club unpick the meditative nature of the knitting process and its empowering skill set for creating, well-being and mindfulness.
Making is mindfulness made practical, and knitting is an iconic craft proven to have a therapeutic impact on well-being. The co-founders of the Black Girl Knit Club, Sicgmone Kludje and Vea Koranteng, have curated 20 modern makes, ranging from plant pot cosies to throws and snoods, to introduce the basics of knitting. Covering fundamental stitches and techniques including casting on, knit, pearl and moss stitch, Sicgmone and Vea show how these can be adapted for different projects as well as repurposing used textiles into your own upcycled yarn, all whilst embracing the restorative benefits of craft.
Packed with inspiring ideas and practical guidance, Conscious Crafts: Knitting gives you the simple skills to get started with this fulfilling craft, and explores how the joy of creating your own unique makes can nurture your well-being. Clean photography, contemporary step-by step illustrations and mindful mantrasare neatly knitted together to celebrate the art of knitting for a handmade future.
The projects: tea cup coasters; desk and bathroom mats; cushion cover; mug holder; throw; wall hanging; plant pot cosy; festive reef; head band; mittens and scarves with tassels; snoods; clutch and purse bags; phone case holder.
The techniques: moss; sticking; rib; knit; purl and arm kitting. Upcycled yarn.
The Conscious Crafts series places mindfulness and well-being at the heart of making. Picking out proven meditative crafts and bespoke authors, these practical, contemporary guides are an inviting introduction to reconnecting head, heart, and hands. Also available from the Conscious Crafts series: Pottery, Quiltingand Whittling.
Summary from Goodreads.
If you are interested in knitting and are looking for some easy patterns that you can use either around the home or for yourself then Conscious Crafts: Knitting is here to guide you into this new world.
Before you are introduced to any patterns, an entire chapter is dedicated to how to knit. This includes how to cast on and bind off, the knit and purl stitch with their congenital variations, how to do some basic stitch patterns like the garter and stockinette stitch, as well as how to change colour in a project.
The patterns in Conscious Crafts: Knitting are separated into two different sections. ‘I am grateful for the home that I have’, this section covers patterns that are for general around-the-home items. These include cushion covers, place pot cozies (like the one on the cover of the book), dish clothes and knitted blankets. ‘my confidence is my best accessory’ has patterns that are for wearables. Patterns such as fringed scarves, basketweave bags and rib twist headband are some of the patterns that you can make for yourself.
While the selection of patterns included are good, nothing has stood out for me to make aside from the plant cozies, and unfortunately I do not have any indoor potted plants to make any for. If you do find any of the patterns within interesting then I am sure that you will find this book helpful.
3/5
Have you read Conscious Craft: Knitting? What did you think? Let me know in the comments.
Check it out on Goodreads here.
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