Conscious Crafts: Whittling is part of a series on mindful crafting, this volume by Barn the Spoon (Barnaby Carder). Due out 12th April 2022 from Quarto on their Leaping Hare imprint, it's 144 pages and will be available in hardcover format.
I don't think many would disagree that it's been a stressful and difficult few years. There is a disconnect between our daily consumerist lives and our hands. Many of my friends and colleagues have picked up knitting, painting, or other crafts. This is a good general primer on whittling wood with hand tools. The author writes authoritatively and knowledgeably about woodcarving, but he also has salient points to make about process and how we relate to our crafting and the creative process.
The introduction includes a good overview over tools, materials, and basic skills. The following chapters contain the tutorials: food/prep items (egg cup, fork, tongs, chopsticks, a very clever whisk (pictured on the cover), and salt spoon), utility items (letter opener, soap dish, card holder, etc), and some small decorative and handmade crafts tools (buttons, crochet hook, drop spindle, plant label, and a nifty wooden whistle).
Tutorials contain a bullet list of tools and ingredients; measurements are given in standard (metric) units with imperial (American) units in parentheses. Instructions are clearly and simply written and are easy to understand. Each of the tutorials is accompanied by clear colour photographs and simple line drawn illustrations.
This is a very restful and very useful book. The author is quite talented at explaining the processes and the result feels like a well organised masterclass with a very competent and patient teacher.
Five stars. This would be a good choice for public or school library acquisition, maker's spaces, or home crafter's studio.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes
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