Book Review: Linda Lehman's Bead Crochet Jewelry

Bead Crochet Jewelry Tips, Tools, and 15 Beautiful Projects by Linda Lehman
with Shelley Grant. Schiffer Publishing Company, 2004, ISBN 0-7643-2023-8

I bought this book from Jane's Fiber and Beads for $18.95 plus shipping. It
doesn't seem to be on Amazon yet.

I really like this book, but I don't think I could have learned how to bead
crochet from this book. There are instructions for how to bead crochet, but
there are only a few pictures and the written instructions would probably
not be comprehensible if you hadn't seen it done.

Having said this, there's a lot of good information in the book, although
Linda Lehman takes a very different approach to threads than I have seen in
other material. She uses cotton crochet threads or silk, rather than the
100% polyester top-stitch threads most books recommend and recommends
blocking finished work to control the stretching.

The patterns are nice and progress from easier to harder. She has a lot
more information on finishing bead tubes in different ways than I had seen
before.

And she does offer a couple of web sources for threads that I hadn't found
befo

Elise

"Kathy N-V" wrote
Thank you for posting this. I think that posting book and magazine
reviews
is a wonderful service to the group. Especially where the books aren't
exactly pocket change, and it's impossible to get a good feel for them
before
ordering.


Thanks. I have to mail order almost everything, and I'm a real book
junkie -- at least this way I feel like other people get some benefit from
my addiction.

And thanks for the information - I've been looking at the book on Amazon
(they say it will be available next week), but if it cannot teach me bead
crochet, I think I'll pass on this particular title.

Kathy N-V

None of the books I've bought were adequate alone. The best instruction
I've found is the Iverson/Forsyth article in the December 2001/January 2002
issue of Beadwork.

I did take a class, which was not exactly productive. I'm lefthanded; the
teacher was distinctly not and had no idea what I needed to change. I left
almost as confused as I started. The one thing I got from the class (and
you can get this from a Bead and Button article) was to start your tube with
a ladder stitch of beads rather than a crocheted loop. Makes that first row
a bit more stable.

Elise

I'm taking a class from her at the B&B show. She e-mailed students last week
and seemed very nice and accommodating.

Barbara

I'll really look forward to hearing how you liked it! (at least after I get
over my green-with-envy-snit that I can't go to B&B because it's in MAY and
school's still in session).
Elise

"Barbara Forbes-Lyons" wrote in message
...
I'm taking a class from her at the B&B show. She e-mailed students last
week
and seemed very nice and accommodating.

Barbara

I too appreciate looking forward to your book reviews since books are
expensive and I am a book junkie.
Roxan
"EL" wrote in message
...
Bead Crochet Jewelry Tips, Tools, and 15 Beautiful Projects by Linda
Lehman
with Shelley Grant. Schiffer Publishing Company, 2004, ISBN
0-7643-2023-8

I bought this book from Jane's Fiber and Beads for $18.95 plus shipping.
It
doesn't seem to be on Amazon yet.

I really like this book, but I don't think I could have learned how to
bead
crochet from this book. There are instructions for how to bead crochet,
but
there are only a few pictures and the written instructions would probably
not be comprehensible if you hadn't seen it done.

Having said this, there's a lot of good information in the book, although
Linda Lehman takes a very different approach to threads than I have seen
in
other material. She uses cotton crochet threads or silk, rather than the
100% polyester top-stitch threads most books recommend and recommends
blocking finished work to control the stretching.

The patterns are nice and progress from easier to harder. She has a lot
more information on finishing bead tubes in different ways than I had seen
before.

And she does offer a couple of web sources for threads that I hadn't found
befo

Elise