Photo: Nicole Radja

Fuzzy Felted Friends (Chronicle Books, $15)
I am not a crafty person, but the adorable pups on the cover of this book proved irresistible. Flipping through the pages, I decided that even though the felted friends were absolutely heart-warming, they were probably better suited for crafters with more (okay, any) experience. I chose a simple felted rabbit-shaped plate instead. Easier said than done. I stocked up on supplies—raw wool, felting needle tools and liquid detergent—at Loopy Yarns (719 S State St, 312-583-9276, loopyyarns.com) and got to work.

This project involves “water felting,” a technique that turns wool into felt using hot water and liquid detergent. The directions were easy to follow, and I thought I was doing everything right, until the next day when my still-damp “felt” looked nothing like the example in the book. Frustrated, I brought my project back to Loopy Yarns on a Friday night, where Meg, an employee who oversees the shop’s weekly Stitch ’n’ Bitch session, helped me get back on track. It turns out I was using the wrong type of wool (my fault, not the book’s), and Meg convinced me that making one of the cute dogs from the cover would be an easy task, after all. (For one thing, it doesn’t involve water felting; you only need the wool and your needle.) Over the next two and a half hours, I sat at the front of the shop with Meg and we each made a pooch (pictured), following the instructions from the book. I admit that if I didn’t have the one-on-one instruction (not to mention the support from the Stitch ’n’ Bitch ladies, who would venture up front to check on my progress) it would’ve taken me a lot longer. But now that I have needle felting down pat, I’m confident that I can use examples from the book and finish my next project all by myself.

Photo: Nicole Radja

Woolly Embroidery (Chronicle Books, $15)
While I’ve frillied-up a handful of American Apparel shirts with decorative stitching over the past few years, my experience with the Woolly Embroidery marked my first dalliance with following embroidery instructions. At first glance, the pictures of berries, and flowers looked fairly simple to replicate, but by the time I flipped to the patterns, I realized I had my work cut out for me. I stopped into my neighborhood yarn shop, Nina (1655 W Division St, 773-486-8996, ninachicago.com) and then Jo-Ann Fabrics & Crafts (2639 N Elston Ave, 773-227-7874, joann.com), to pick up the supplies—an embroidery hoop, fabric, needles, crewel (loosely twisted yarn) and tapestry wool and thread. I hoped to get a jump-start with help from store employees, but unfortunately, no one could offer any advice.

So, flying solo, I retreated to my couch, an episode of This American Life in the background (the perfect crafting companion), and carefully absorbed the step-by-step instructions. I’ll admit, I cut a few corners: Rather than photocopying and tracing the design of trees onto my hemp fabric, I approximated the outline with a pencil. Then came the hard part. The book maps out where the needle should move with numbered steps and pictures; translating those steps into 3-D is another story. If only it came in flip-book form, it would have been easier to follow. Rereading the “1 out, 2 in, 3 out, etc.” until my head hurt, I ditched the confusing diagram and turned to the photo of the finished product to get a better sense of how the pattern should look. After about an hour and a half of improvising, I’d barely made any headway (pictured, page 39), but at least I was enjoying the process.