Twenty to Make: Tatted Snowflakes

About Jennifer Williams

Jennifer Williams trained as a domestic science (home economics) teacher but her interest in textile crafts started when she was only six years old. Her tatting designs have been published in tatting and lace magazines and are displayed at various textile and lace exhibitions. Jennifer is a member of the international guild, the Ring of Tatters. Visit her website for patterns and technique tutorials: www.cariad-tatting.com

Rachel Hyde - Myshelf.com

Paracord is the latest material to be pressed into service for making jewelry, bags, belts and more. Once used for parachutes in WWII, it has come into its own as a beautiful and versatile craft material.

You don't need much to start making any of the items in this book. Just some cord, a lighter to seal the ends and workbasket basics. The book starts fairly immediately with the projects and you learn the knots as you go along. Start simply with a basic bangle and progress through necklaces, lanyards, string bags, straps for cameras and watches, mats, coasters, a dog lead, even a hammock and especially the old 70s macramé favorite, the hanging plant holder! Projects are grouped into three categories: jewelry, accessories and home/garden, and each one has staged instructions, usually with photographs showing how to do tricky parts. These are easy to follow and have a page sized photograph of the finished item, list of what you need and even a list of the knots you need to be able to tie. Many of the projects recycle the sort of old bits people often don't throw away, such as a belt buckle, watch face and even some copper tubes. At the back is a list of the knots with drawn diagrams: I personally prefer the photographic variety and some of the colors chosen to depict the stages are very pale. Yellow and pearl gray are not good choices on white! This aside, this is the best book I have seen to date on this new craft and is sure to garner many more fans of this new craft.