Book Review- The Unofficial Book of Cricut Crafts: The Ultimate Guide to Your Electric Cutting Machine

The ultimate Cricut how-to book that covers everything you need to know to purchase a Cricut and use it like a pro!

Are you new to Cricut crafting? Returning after a hiatus and desperate for a refresher? Perhaps you’re an old pro looking for brand-new ideas, tips, and tricks for your crafts? Look no further than The Unofficial Book of Cricut Crafts.

Throughout the more than 300 pages of this book, author Crystal Allen will not only present you with craft ideas that embrace every awesome element of this popular cutting machine, but, perhaps most importantly, she’ll start you at the very beginning of your Cricut journey with loads of information about the different Cricut machines (Cricut Explore Air 2, Cricut Maker, and Cricut Joy) so you can determine which is best for you before you buy.

After you unbox your Cricut and have a general understanding of the parts of your machine, Crystal will teach you how to use Cricut Design Space and get images from Cricut Access, and then you’ll be presented with projects that use the most popular materials your Cricut can cut. These include fabric (cotton, felt, and fleece); basswood and chipboard; leather; vinyl; paper; and heat transfer vinyl. Crystal even tackles infusible ink!

Projects meant to inspire you will include step-by-step instructions and photos. They include:

Personalized leather keychains
Etched wine glasses
Engraved quote bracelets
Felt coffee cozies
Paper luminaries
Chalkboard signs
Inspirational quote pillowcases
Sleep masks
Photo puzzles
Leather headphone keepers
Infusible Ink coasters
A rag quilt
and more!

The Unofficial Book of Cricut Crafts is perfect for the first-time Cricut user, the small business owner who has been using Cricut for years, and everyone in between

I rarely understand why something becomes a trend in crafting. Gnomes and geese are both cute I guess, but I never thought we’d be making them for all seasons. (See, for example, this collection of gnome knitting patterns, or these knit geese.)

Another one I don’t totally understand is sardines or little fish more generally. Sure, they’re cute, and the shape is fun, but I had no idea when I was sharing this pattern for a fish-shaped pouch last year that it would become a hugely popular pattern that people are still searching for on the site. It is pretty cute, though, so if you weren’t around then or don’t remember you should got check it out.

Recently another fishy knitting pattern crossed my monitor: the little knit fish from Classical Songbird Designs.

Just as the name suggests, these fish are little, about 4.5 inches or 11 cm from end to end. They look like little sardines and take about 12 yards of sock yarn to make.

You can even make a two-tone fish and use just 6 yards of each color.

This sounds to me like just about the perfect use for the yarn that’s left over after knitting a pair of socks, or a mini skein or several that have been sitting around unused in your stash.

The fish are knit flat in one piece, which makes it easy to stitch on the eyes with more yarn or embroidery floss before stuffing, and you can stitch up the sides while you stuff (though it’s not a very big piece so you could probably stitch and then stuff, finishing with the end of the tail).

Because I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one wondering, I measured an Altoids box and as the pattern is written the fish are a little too big to fit in it (the box is about 4 inches/10 cm long). But you could make the fish a little smaller if you want to make a box of them. Or just make a fishy bag to put them in!

You can grab the free pattern for the little knit fish at Classical Songbird Designs.

[Photo: Classical Songbird Designs.]

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