What would an ideal craft book look like for you? (ie sewing/knitting etc)

[screamingj]

I was thinking about this this morning. I'd love to have a craft book full of beautiful new ideas and richly coloured photographs. The sort of thing I don't see in book shops. And I'd like loads of content in it too, not just the standard 20-odd projects. Something that takes craft ideas to another level. Then I thought, maybe I need to do this myself...

So I thought I'd ask, what would a fabulous craft book look like to you?

Spiral bound book with slip in acetate sheets or pockets for paper notes so I can write notes for the project I’m doing, and have those notes in the right place! Not floating freely around or written in the book itself - because that’s got to stay pristine!

I think if you haven't fixed on a specific craft you would be talking about an entry-level themed book - so crafts for Christmas, or traditional crafts, or mid-century modern crafts . . .

I buy quite a lot of craft books - looking at my shelves I seem to have several hundred - and they fall into a few key categories.

1. technical books: either big encyclopaedic guides (eg: the Walker stitch guides for knitting), or books about a particular technique (brioche knitting; mariner's compass quilt design).

2. inspiration from particular designers (eg: Kaffe Fassett for both quilting and knitting; Norah Gaughan for innovative cable designs).

3. historical inspiration - big books on quilting / knitting / weaving traditions. These are often very luxuriously printed and based on big museum exhibitions.

For crafts where I am still at a fairly early stage - weaving, tapestry weaving, spinning, woodworking, etc - I buy detailed introductory guides. I don't really buy books for projects, and don't tend to use the projects in the books that have them. For that purpose I'd buy a single specific pattern, often from the designer's website.

I don't think I'm your target market, though - good luck if you do go ahead with it. I think the current publishing model seems to involve establishing a social media presence (would have been blogs a decade ago, now more usually instagram) for your projects before approaching a publisher.

I have settled on a few crafts and I'm not interested especially in 'entry level', I'm considering doing something more exciting. The tip about a pocket inside is a good idea. I'm a visual learner, I much prefer books with loads of lovely pictures & minimal blurb - obviously a certain amount of instruction is needed.