Books on sale at Joann Fabric

I had plenty of time to browse at Joann Fabric today. They had all quilting, knitting and crocheting books on sale at 40% off! I browsed a few of the smaller booklets with thread edgings and doilies and a few learn to knit and learn to crochet booklets while standing at the counter. Then gathered a large stack of books and settled at the pattern book table.
There were a lot of great books, wish I had taken notes so that I could write a review of all of them, but you'll have to make do with the three that I finally selected. I brought home one quilting book, one knitting and one crocheting! That's a strange assortment, since I sew, but don't quilt at all; and only do a small amount of knitting. However, I'm learning to find crochet inspiration in a great variety of places.
The quilting book is by Joen Wolfrom, it's entitle Visual Coloring: A Foolproof Approach to Color-Rich Quilts. The beautiful triangles and squares in blues, greens, and purples attracted by attention,...my three favorite colors. The designer selected colorful nature photos as the inspiration for selecting colors to use in her quilts. The nature photos alone would make a gorgeous book, but the quilts they inspire are just as beautiful. Next the designer selected a group of other quilters to take a workshop on her method. They each selected a photo, then selected fabric and designed a quilt. It's fascinating to see several extremely different quilts all based on the same photo. This is a lovely book, and I hope to use it as a starting point on selecting colors for future afghans.
This was the most expensive of the books, at a regular cost of $28, it cost just under $17.
Next, the knitting book, Big Book of Knitting Stitch Patterns by Sterling Publishing Co. This book has 550 stitch patterns, each has a beautiful color picture, written instructions, and a chart. I haven't had a chance to look at all the stitch patterns, yet, but I've started looking closely at the ones I really like. I read through the directions, and try to visualize how to work them in knitting, and in Tunisian. I have made a long list of stitches to try. Oh, for some time in the next few days for swatching knitting and Tunisian! This huge book, close to 8 1/2 by 11, and almost 300 pages was a huge bargain at just shy of $9!
The crocheting booklet covers a technique that I've heard of, but I don't remember ever trying it. When I actually get hook in hand, I might find that I played with it in the past, there's very little that I haven't done at least once. Anyway, the booklet is by Nancy Nehring and is title Learn to Do Waffle Weave. You create multi-textured fabric with little pockets that hold air to keep you warm, the subtitle includes the term "thermal-look crochet". There are six projects which range from a pot holder and place mat, to a scarf, afghan and pillow, and a baby afghan. The baby afghan is the project that really caught my eye, and first talked me into looking at the booklet. It's made with pink, lilac, and a variegated, and the coloring is spectacular. I've purchased a lot of variegated baby yarn on sale lately, I think I'll selected two pastels and make up a blanket in this technique. This was my true bargain, at $4! If all that I ever make from this booklet is the baby afghan, I've paid a great price for that pattern. However, I think that learning the technique and having one more skill that I can apply in a design or project is well worth the money.
I think that I'll end my celebration of National Crochet Month by learning a new technique, sharing my book finds at the CGOA chapter meeting next week, and doing a lot of swatching. Maybe I'll even create a new design with some of the swatching.