Mindful Thoughts for Makers

Mindful Thoughts for Makers by Ellie Beck

There are things to enjoy about this book. It includes a whole spectrum of making -- knitting, sewing, pottery, woodworking.  The illustrations are lovely. But I think it's going to be more useful to readers who aren't already making things and want someone to tell them how to do it. Not the specific techniques, but how to settle down and approach a project.

It quickly became obvious that I'm not the target audience for this book. There's a focus on silence, on drawing inspiration from nature, on putting aside outside sources of inspiration.There's lots of encouragement to work alone...until a later chapter when the author recommends joining a local group because that will expose you to makers with different experiences and backgrounds, as opposed to online groups. (My experience has been the exact opposite, but maybe that's just a quilting thing.)

I felt like the book concentrated more on meditation and considering your impact on the environment than actually creating things. The author's perspective was interesting, but I'll keep multi-tasking and doing things in a room full of noise and distractions.

Disclosure -- The publisher provided me with an advance review copy. This post contains affiliate links.