I came across the cutest book last night, Sock and Glove by Miyako Kanamori, I have to share it with you! Part children's story, part instructional guide for creating softies with personality, it's great for all ages because it gives lone socks, gloves, and mittens purpose again and gets you back into sewing without a huge time commitment.

The book has 13 adorable friends to make, from fish to dogs, cats to mice, and the author encourages creativity by explaining that each doll can have a unique personality according to how you arrange the face and how much stuffing you use in the body. She encourages experimenting with different looks and not copying one for one what she shows in the book. In other words, live a little, it's okay to go outside of the line. It's simple format and darling photos lured me in at first, especially since I've had a thing for Japanese craft books since I first "discovered" them in San Francisco back in '01, but find them hard to follow in Japanese and looking at pretty images only takes me so far when sewing... Sock and Glove released in Japan a few years ago, but was recently translated into English and released here in America just this month.

Simple Sparrow reviewed this book on her gorgeous blog, make sure you take a moment to read what she has to say about it, she wrote a nice review and has some great photos.

(image by holly becker for decor8)