Having published my own electronic book for iTunes (Crochet Pretty) recently, you can imagine that I am a big fan of self-publishing and electronic books. I think it’s the way forward for anyone who wants to see their name on the cover of a book. Why wait for a publisher to contact you with a book deal if you can get your laptop and camera out and do it yourself? (Of course I will DEFINITELY not say no to a book deal! A hard copy book in a bricks and mortar book shop is still a huge dream of mine.)
Getting back to self-publishing, I’d like to introduce you to a fellow self-publisher, Shelley Husband. Shelley is a very talented blog and Instagram buddy of mine. We “met” when she asked to use my free Granny Square In Bloom pattern for her Crochet Along back in September 2013. Since then I’ve been hooked (I’m not going to ask to be excused for that pun) on her Spincushions Instagram feed and Spincushions blog.
Shelley’s electronic book of 20 granny squares, More Than A Granny, is available at Amazon for Kindle, on iTunes, kobo and Barnes & Noble. The book is available in US and UK crochet terms versions. Read what Shelley says about her book over on her blog here.
All the patterns from More Than A Granny are also in the Ravelry database. Check them out here.
I love the cover of the book, don’t you? So colourful and it tells you exactly what you can expect.
As soon as I got my hands on More Than A Granny I knew this was going to be difficult. Difficult to decide on a square that is. Each and every one of the 20 squares are so pretty and Ihavetomakeitable.
In the end I decided to use Dawnie to make a tray mat for my ugly black tray. I use the tray to take the teapot, milk jug and mugs to the living room but it’s black. It’s a great shape, but the colour is so not me. I needed a tray mat to soften the black and match my teapot. Dawnie in light green cotton was perfect!
Dawnie is a beautiful square with an open flowery design in the centre. Shelley called it as Dawnie because it reminded her of dawn and the sun rising over fields. I love this!
Because I needed a square without raised stitches (don’t want my milk jug toppling over) I couldn’t go for the equally beautiful Ridge, Lottie or Dogwood. These beauties are definitely still on my to-hook list. Shelley really does design very interesting and beautiful granny squares!
The instructions for Dawnie was very clear and easy to follow. Shelly doesn’t tell you when to change colours, rather leaving it up to the crocheter to decide. You can of course use the accompanying photos for each pattern as a guide for the colour changes. You could also do what I did and make the whole square in one colour. This way the design of the square does all the talking – not the mix of colours.
What I like about More Than A Granny is that you can have a good play with all the squares and mix and match them to make a unique blanket or cushion. Shelley gives suggestions at the beginning of each pattern of which square would look good with the one you are making.
I would highly recommend More Than A Granny. It’s available in lots of ebook formats, the patterns are beautiful, it’s well written and you will be able to make a myriad of crochet pieces with the 20 beautiful granny squares.
Well done Shelley, you have a great book and I wish you tons and tons of sales!
