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A review by kalira
The Crocheting Witch: New Age Arts and Crafts by RJ Montgomery
1.5
While the author says she has been crocheting since she was a child and a Wiccan since she was a teenager, one gets the impression that she's not quite . . . in a position to teach either of these things.
She bounces unpredictably from catering to a beginning crocheter audience, even explaining what crocheting is (using finished yarn and a hook to make fabric), to things like tapestry crochet matching this grid I provided with no explanation.
She presents at the beginning of the book that she expects a reader to know how to chain, single crochet, half-double crochet, and double crochet, but she'll explain the intermediate stitches needed. She introduces a handful of stitches (not very well, for someone who doesn't know them; I'm unfamiliar with some and was entirely lost - and the ones I am familiar with I found poorly done and even missing important steps), and also calls several of them by her own personal names. Which is . . . fine, but please at least say 'commonly called' names? (Especially when she had instructed a reader unfamiliar with anything she expects to look for a plethora of sites online that will explain. Not if you're looking for, say, 'teddy-bear stitch' . . . instead of lemon peel stitch.)
The instructions for many of the projects are likewise patchy - the projects themselves mostly houseware type things with little adjustment for magical focus, mostly as an aesthetic. Using a band of another stitch for different elements, tapestry patterns of a sigil, eye, or rune. . . A poppet that is two spheres sewn together. Two wine bottle bags for some reason. Six small pouches. (Not counting the tarot deck pouch, which looks messy and unfinished to me where the author describes it as elegant; to each their own.) (Also not counting the Viking-inspired/themed book bag, which she says she "gave a rustic, handcrafted look on purpose" - it is handcrafted? and using 'rustic' for 'sloppy' or 'poorly made' is a bit . . . especially in imitation of a people known for phenomenal textiles, in this case).
In general another editing pass was badly needed. There are places with foolish mistakes, repeated sentences. . . In one area the author correctly lists the elemental associations with the cardinal directions . . . and then in absolutely zero of the charts, descriptions, or photos is the piece actually aligned properly with the items on it or right way up. For the same piece, the author repeatedly says 'you'll see I've used white for air' and similar - the piece has yellow for air, in every photo and chart.
She bounces unpredictably from catering to a beginning crocheter audience, even explaining what crocheting is (using finished yarn and a hook to make fabric), to things like tapestry crochet matching this grid I provided with no explanation.
She presents at the beginning of the book that she expects a reader to know how to chain, single crochet, half-double crochet, and double crochet, but she'll explain the intermediate stitches needed. She introduces a handful of stitches (not very well, for someone who doesn't know them; I'm unfamiliar with some and was entirely lost - and the ones I am familiar with I found poorly done and even missing important steps), and also calls several of them by her own personal names. Which is . . . fine, but please at least say 'commonly called' names? (Especially when she had instructed a reader unfamiliar with anything she expects to look for a plethora of sites online that will explain. Not if you're looking for, say, 'teddy-bear stitch' . . . instead of lemon peel stitch.)
The instructions for many of the projects are likewise patchy - the projects themselves mostly houseware type things with little adjustment for magical focus, mostly as an aesthetic. Using a band of another stitch for different elements, tapestry patterns of a sigil, eye, or rune. . . A poppet that is two spheres sewn together. Two wine bottle bags for some reason. Six small pouches. (Not counting the tarot deck pouch, which looks messy and unfinished to me where the author describes it as elegant; to each their own.) (Also not counting the Viking-inspired/themed book bag, which she says she "gave a rustic, handcrafted look on purpose" - it is handcrafted? and using 'rustic' for 'sloppy' or 'poorly made' is a bit . . . especially in imitation of a people known for phenomenal textiles, in this case).
In general another editing pass was badly needed. There are places with foolish mistakes, repeated sentences. . . In one area the author correctly lists the elemental associations with the cardinal directions . . . and then in absolutely zero of the charts, descriptions, or photos is the piece actually aligned properly with the items on it or right way up. For the same piece, the author repeatedly says 'you'll see I've used white for air' and similar - the piece has yellow for air, in every photo and chart.