New books

Oh-kaaay, so it's not, strictly, a book, but I wanted to sneak this in as it's my latest 'make' and I'm really pleased with it.  It's made from some lovely old fabric that my gran gave me - it feels like a linen/cotton blend, though I can't be sure - and I've had to patch it together as there were only strips of it left, but I deliberately made the joins visible because I think that they somehow enhance the look and 'old' feel of it.  And how could I resist adding a big, bright pink satin ribbon bow?  Subtle.

And now on to the booky bit hinted at in the title.
I went on a bit of an Amazon spending splurge over Christmas and thought I'd share my spoils with you.  The first book, Stitch With Love, I bought after seeing on Homebird's lovely blog, here. 

It is my mission for 2012 to learn to embroider and obviously, before I actually got on with any real, actual embroidery, I simply had to buy a book to gaze at first.  And embroidery hoops, fabric and a veritable rainbow of thread...so now I'm all set - just need to get my act together and get on with it now.
The second book I actually bought a while ago after an exciting discovery on Pinterest (oh Pinterest, how I love thee so, even though you suck me in and make hours of my life disappear before my very eyes.)  You may remember that I made a Little Boy Blue Granny Squares blanket for my big boy recently - well, in the interests of fairness and a peaceful life, I also have to make one for my baby boy - obvs.  I had it in my head that I wanted to make a starry blanket, but couldn't find a pattern for a star in a square that I liked.  So I was more than a little excited (some might say tragically excited, in fact) when I found this here.  Just what I'd been looking for!

The book is called Crocheted Gifts: Irresistible Projects To Make And Give and I have to say, I probably wouldn't have bought it if I hadn't been so in love with the blanket - a lot of the things in it aren't my normal style, but I'm glad I've got it nonetheless.  I am absolutely, one hundred percent, prime-time in lurve (name that film) with this pattern, but gawd I'm struggling to find yarn!  I want something fairly light (my Rico blankets are actually quite heavy beasties), I much prefer natural fibres to man-made, I can't spend a fortune, and I want grey, denim blue, cream and possibly a red.  Any suggestions??
And the final book is this:

There are some great things in this book, but why do so many crochet books use really dodgy colour combinations??  I don't get it - do the authors not read blogs?  Do they not cruise Pinterest for hours on end?  What's the deal with the fuddy-duddy styling?  Erk. 

That said, this above is lovely - and as for this:

there's not a chance I won't be making a load of these for a bit of spring-y, Easter-y accessorising! x
PS - I'm approaching some landmarks in my little blog - it's nearly my 'first birthday', I'm nearly at my hundredth post, and I've nearly got a hundred followers.  In honour of this bit of blog-related excitement, I'm planning a bit of a giveaway when I hit the first milestone, whichever that may be!