I have a new book that I’m ridiculously excited about: Patalappuja á la Carte, by Jaana Vehkasalo (Ravelry link).
It’s all pot-holders. And nothing but pot-holders. Of course it is.
The book was published by an organization that strives to uphold traditional Finnish handcrafts. They asked people to send in their designs or designs passed down in the family, and received 250 distinctive pot-holders. Out of these, 27 were chosen for the book. The book also includes a short history of pot-holders which was surprisingly interesting, and a few recipes which seems apropos.
There are so many my fingers are just itching to make. Whenever I leaf through the book, I can’t help but think of a box of chocolates. It’s all in the pictures: colorful, clear, just the right amount of detail versus overview. Who knew pot-holders could be photographed so brilliantly.
The pictures sell the whole concept to me, because mediocre photography of the subject matter would’ve made me glance through the book and conclude that it’s silly to dedicate an entire book to pot-holders of all things. Now I can’t wait to try all these techniques, and crochet these little beauties.
Bamboo number 1 knits! 
