Top Ten Craft & Gardening Books according to Booklist

1. Crochet in Color: Techniques and Designs for Playing with Color, by Kathy Merrick. Designer Merrick has created a book that veteran and novice stitchers will keep at their immediate beck and call.

2. The Feisty Stitcher: Sewing Projects with Attitude, by Susan Wasinger.
Wasinger’s latest volume is a panoply of good-looking, well designed, and ecologically sound items for homes and shelves.

3. Growing a City Garden, by Jeremy N. Smith.
Bright, vibrant, and buoyantly accessible, this effervescent celebration of the local food movement thrums with regional, national, and international implications.

4. Growing Tasty Tropical Plants in Any Home, Anywhere, by Laurelynn Martin.
Fun facts, handy tips, and eye popping color illustrations and photographs round out a comprehensive yet accessible guide that will fascinate and inspire both beginning and established gardeners.

5. Luxe Knits: The Accessories; Couture Adornments to Knit and Crochet, by Laura Zukaite. It’s hard to resist the seductiveness of the four collections presented here, with thanks to top model photography and airy illustrations.

6. Of Gardens: Selected Essays, by Paula Deitz.
Deitz masterfully celebrates the myriad attractions of gardens great and small, public and private, and their ability to enrich, ennoble, and entertain.

7. The Quilters Album of Patchwork Patterns, by Jinny Beyer.
An amazing amount of meticulous research elevates this compendium from a ho-hum aggregate to one that inspires and engages.

8. Real Life Journals: Designing and Using Handmade Books, by Gwen Diehn.
This is a lovely, helpful volume that will inspire and attract journalers and scrap-bookers alike.

9. Thoughtful Gardening, by Robin Lane Fox.
This immense wealth of practical information and insight supports the maxim that sometimes devoted gardeners love reading about gardening almost more than the actual act itself.

10. Understanding Garden Design: The Complete Handbook for Aspiring Designers, by Vanessa Gardner Nagel. In this thorough and thoroughly accessible book, Nagel’s seasoned yet personable approach to an often intimidating subject will benefit both home owners and design professionals.