5 stars!
I love the library! I can't believe something like this institution exists and citizens are allowed to take advantage of all it's benefits. My favorite is when I can make an account on the library's website and request books. Then I wait for an email saying I can pick them up. It's like Christmas! Or shopping! Except everything's free! And you don't need a receipt to return it, even though you've used it.
I borrowed this book a couple of weeks ago. It's
Hat Heads: 1 Man + 2 Knitting Needles = 50 Fun Hat Designs by Trond Anfinnsen. I read some reviews online that were mixed, mostly complaining that all the instructions were for the same style hat just with different stripes, circles, colors, etc. I, however, have no complaints. I feel like Goldilocks finding the right chair. If you're a semi-beginner at knitting, this book is just right when it comes to following directions that venture you into that world and it's terminology, like "k2tog." Whaaaaat...? Yea, that's right. And there's also "p2tog." Not to mention "CC," "MC," and "yo." "Yo" is no longer a greeting to me now that I used to say in high school, it means "yarn over," as in to wrap the yarn around the needle.
Back to the book...Great pictures. Great designs. Great idea (The Norwegian author, also known as the "Knitkid," made a different hat for people he knew in his hometown of Stavanger. Every other page features a big picture of the person wearing the hat, a description about him/her, and next to it is the directions on how to make it.) If I was this creative, I would loooove to make a special hat for everyone I know too!
The trial: I let my husband pick out his favorite design in the book (which is the picture above), and I made it for him! The bottom picture is the finished product. I tweaked some directions because I was missing one of the size needles, but it still turned out satisfactory. Handsome handsome! mmuah!
I once saw this great idea for wall art on the internet once but cannot find it again. Some person had arranged vintage matchbooks in rows and simply framed it. But it turned out uber awesome! My husband and I found a huge jar of old matchbooks at an antique store several weeks ago, and we bought three frames. We decided to arrange the matches in rows of color for the biggest frame and just used double stick tape to set them in place. However, one matchbook has come undone now, so we might have to go back and use a dab of glue.
"Think small." Our absolutely favorite matchbook because of it's shape, simple design, and mostly because the ad was reference in Mad Men. :)
The finished product! It was actually very easy to make. The fun part was digging through the matches and picking our favorites to be put on display.
We also made two more wall hangings, so the pictures could be displayed altogether as a set. Some of the matchbooks had such interesting colored matches like the ones above. I opened them to expose the colors and funny messages inside when they were framed.
Daniel really liked the idea of grouping the beach scene matchbooks together. A pretty cool theme.
