Happy Cinco de Mayo, to all my pals who celebrate. You do know that Hispanics and Latinos are the biggest growing segment of the US population, no? (Minority-wise.) Thank you for being here. You make our very strong and resilient country that much more wonderful.
So, back to "Book Babble." I find it interesting that I asked my friend Betsy to interject on Thursdays regarding ebooks, since, although I do read quite a bit, my books are usually of the old-fashioned, printed variety. But it turns out that although Bestsy does download most of her reading material--fiction, non-fiction, best-sellers, etc.--much of it is also technical info dealing with the home-spun crafts that so many of us are into now. Knitting, tatting, candle-dipping, blacksmithing. (Okay, that last one's a bit of a stretch. When was the last time you forged a shoe for your horse?)
So, back to "Book Babble." I find it interesting that I asked my friend Betsy to interject on Thursdays regarding ebooks, since, although I do read quite a bit, my books are usually of the old-fashioned, printed variety. But it turns out that although Bestsy does download most of her reading material--fiction, non-fiction, best-sellers, etc.--much of it is also technical info dealing with the home-spun crafts that so many of us are into now. Knitting, tatting, candle-dipping, blacksmithing. (Okay, that last one's a bit of a stretch. When was the last time you forged a shoe for your horse?)
As an artist and crafts-person myself, I can attest to the value of tried-and-true methods for getting something done. Betsy's teaching me a bunch about what's out there in the public domain, available to anyone with an internet connection, or even a library card (the librarians are nice--they'll print anything you want out for you). Here's today's post courtesy my Knitting Knut friend Betsy:
I have many books in my personal library and quite a few of them include patterns and techniques for the crafts that I enjoy. Knitting and spinning are my favorites, so the majority of my craft books deal in those areas. Sometimes I get the urge to try something new, and I’ve found that the internet is a great resource for tips and techniques, as well as patterns. You can find information on just about any craft out there, and usually plenty of freebies in single patterns or small collections.
I create my own pattern books with downloaded patterns using binders with page protectors. This way, I don’t have to punch holes in my patterns (I tend to put holes through important directions) and I can remove a pattern for a single project. When I try a craft and find I want to get more involved with it, I allocate a binder for it, and depending on how often I think I will return to it, purchase books on that subject. If I discover I don’t really care for a particular craft, I just leave the patterns in a computer file (I have lots of space on my hard drive).
A broad search for free patterns comes into play when I feel like trying something new, but am not sure what I want to do. I use “free craft patterns” as the search criteria and follow the leads. One such search led me to www.favecrafts.com, which has things as diverse as candle making, knitting and woodworking. It is a site I have bookmarked and return to often. There are other websites that also feature a variety of crafts to choose from, and the hunt can lead you to interesting crafts you might not have thought about.
Have fun searching! Next week I’ll delve into ebooks from the library.
Betsy
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