Book At Bedtime

I often have a couple of books 'on the go' - fiction, and nonfiction depending on how tired I am. If I'm really dozy, I like to thumb through something with pictures - but if I'm not at all sleepy, I go for something with words and a plot. Here's a quick rundown of some of the books I have read this year thus far...

Having read "Crisis" by Felix Francis before Christmas, I grabbed three more of his in January - "Guilty Not Guilty", "Triple Crown" and finally "Pulse"  The first two follow the usual Francis pattern [single bloke, mid thirties, plot involving horse-racing, all sorted out in the end, everyone happy ever after except the bad guys] I'd score them both *** for sheer predictability, and sending me to sleep as desired. However Pulse does not fit the pattern - except for some horses. I won't say anymore for fear of spoilers. I felt FF wanted to write about a particular subject [possibly because it had affected his own family?] Maybe he wanted to help other people understand but I don't think it worked. If you like the Dick&Felix books, then by all means give it a try - but don't expect it to be anything like all the others! Instead of a soporific, it was an annoyance. I kept muttering "No, I don't think that's how it is!" "I think he has that bit wrong!" under the duvet, and disturbing Bob's reading.  Therefore I rate it just **

Non fiction - following my visit to Textile Treasures, I borrowed "500 Simply Charming Designs for Embroidery - easy to stitch monograms and motifs" This one lived up to its title. In 6 parts - Home and Hobby, Nature's Living Things, Special Occasions, Tasty Things To Eat, Letters and Numbers, Borders and Lines.[and each part had 4 or 5 subsections] Each design was shown finished, and with a clear diagram of the stitches used. There were suggestions for how to use the designs-on cards, on homewares and clothing etc. 

My favourite idea was the row of wash care symbols on the back of a shirt. A good resource. 

I'd rate this *****

"An Encyclopedia of Stitches" covers twenty two different types of embroidery -from 17th century Stumpwork, and ancient Indian Shisha mirror work, through to Tudor blackwork and Norwegian Hardanger stitching, via simple cross stitch, smocking and 16 more techniques. A wonderfully comprehensive volume, written by 8 different experts.

For every category there is an introduction with notes on history and development. Then notes on materials needed, and clear instructions on basic stitches. Finally a project piece demonstrating the work.

This was a beautiful and inspiring read. 

I was introduced to shisha work in the 60s by my art teacher, and came across it a lot when I worked in Leicester. Now I understand how it is done!

But I really got this book out because in the index I spotted the words "Norwich Stitch" I learned about this stitch in the Textile Treasures Webinar. I've yet to go and see the sampler piece in the Museum of Norwich. Nobody knows where the name comes from [some people call it Waffle stitch, although there are other stitches in embroidery, crochet and knitting with that name] Norwich stitch is complicated but I like it, and hope to include this 'local' one in my next embroidery project. Watch this space...

I'd definitely rate this book a full ***** for the breadth of information, clear instructions and doable projects. 500 motifs is a good resource- but this encyclopedia has a wider range, and if I were actually buying a book, I'd go for this one!