Conscious Crafts: Whittling: 20 mindful makes to reconnect head, heart & hands (Conscious Crafts)

by Barn The Spoon

In Conscious Crafts: Whittling, maker Barnaby Carder, aka Barn the Spoon, reveals the meditative nature of the whittling process and its empowering skill set for creating, and mindfulness.

Making is mindfulness made practical, and whittling is a renowned and rewarding craft. Drawing on the traditions of green woodworking, Barn the Spoon has created 20 modern makes, ranging from simple tools including the classic spoon to decorative items such as animals and woodprints. He shares the basic techniques to whittling and shows how these can be developed for different projects, as well as reconnecting us to nature’s raw materials.

Packed with inspiring ideas and practical guidance, Conscious Crafts: Whittling gives you the simple skills to get started with this fulfilling craft, and explores how the joy of creating your own unique makes can enrich your well-being. Clean photography, contemporary step-by step illustration and heart-affirming text are neatly carved together to celebrate handwork and the act of crafting for a sustainable future.

The projects: light pull; letter opener; chopsticks; pickle fork; spoon rack; toaster tongs; plant label; comb; hair pin; drop spindle; crochet hook; knitting needle; button; pliers; bird; horse; whistle; tent peg; walking stick; double ended hook; heart or floret decoration; and woodprint.

The Conscious Crafts series places mindfulness and well-being at the heart of making. Picking out proven meditative crafts and bespoke authors, these practical, contemporary guides are an inviting introduction to reconnecting head, heart, and hands. Also available from the Conscious Crafts series: Pottery, Quilting and Knitting.

• ISBN10: 0711266069
• ISBN13: 9780711266063
• Publish Date: 15 March 2022
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: The Ivy Press
• Imprint: Leaping Hare
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 144
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

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